Thanks for ckecking out my illustration portfolio. A little about myself might be helpful...
Memories of my home country have always been an influence in my work. I was born in the Philippines where I spent most of my childhood. I grew up speaking a tribal dialect, loving the smell of durian, making bamboo cannons, and thinking that everyone decorated Christmas trees in September. After moving to the United States, I received my MFA from The School of Visual Arts in New York. I have been a professional illustrator ever since, working for such clients as Sky Pony/Simon & Schuster, Young Dragons Press, Annies Publishing, Oxford University Press, Crooked Lane Books, Book of the Month Club, The Chronicle of Higher Education, The AARP, Education Week, Sojourners, Improbable Philanthropy, and Christianity Today to name a few.I am also a university professor. My illustrations have been published by a number of institutions such as Harvard University, University of Massachusetts, University of Washington, Lafayette College, Cumberland College, and Northwest Nazarene University among others. I have been the recipient of the Paula Rhodes Memorial Award, the Society of Illustrator’s Stevan Dohanos Best of Show Award, the Gelett Burgess Children's Book Award, and have artwork in the Society of Illustrator’s “Illustrator’s 64” annual exhibition and book.Of the handful of awards I have received over the years, my greatest joy was to serve as a Fulbright scholar in the Department of Fine Arts and Architecture at the University of Mindanao, Philippines. I am extremely proud to be from the Philippines and more specifically, the island of Mindanao. As an illustrator and author, I hope to honor and preserve the culture and traditions of my childhood home, one story at a time.
