Karen Fredericks is an illustrator and cartoonist. She says, “I knew cartooning and illustration were for me at an early age. My older, and therefore larger sister, won all our fights by simply sitting on me. So, I drew a picture of her . . . naked . . . and left it out for all to see on the day of her ninth birthday party. To this day, my heart pounds with pleasure, recalling the uproar, tears and threats that ensued upon the very public discovery of the drawing. It was on that day I learned the pen is indeed mightier than the sword — or was it, A picture is worth a thousand swords? I did of course forfeit my slice of birthday cake that day, but it was definitely worth it.”#Karen often illustrates under the name of Fred Rix. Her work appears in major publications from Time Magazine to the New York Times, as well as dozens of smaller publications you’ve probably never heard of. She also illustrated Pimp Your Cubicle, a humorous book with instructions on “How to Take Your Office from Boring to Bling!” Her portfolio of work is online at www.fredrix.com.#After graduating from The Cooper Union in N.Y.C., she spent time as an art director & creative director at various agencies before becoming an illustrator. Karen’s award-winning cartoon strip, “Is It Just Me?” appears weekly in the Independent newspaper in East Hampton. After graduating college, she published a book of cartoon stories called Modern Love with Arbor House Publishing. The handbound precursor to that book is in the Artist’s Book Collection at The Museum of Modern Art.#Karen lives in New York City and East Hampton, N.Y., with her husband Rick, their two dogs and four very noisy parakeets.

Janice Nadeau studied graphic design and illustration at the Université du Québec à Montréal and at the École supérieure des arts décoratifs de Strasbourg (France). She likes to explore different applications of her medium, whether it’s illustrating books or designing textile. Janice is a three-time recipient of the Governor General’s Award for Illustration, Canada’s most prestigious literary prize.

Rosemary Woods grew up in Northern Ireland and moved to London, England, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in illustration from Central St. Martins. She is an experienced illustrator with a diverse portfolio and has been commissioned to create paintings for book covers, poetry books and children’s books for most of the leading publishing houses and magazines. She also has created illustrations for packaging ranging from wine labels and CD covers to product packaging for leading brands.#She started drawing at an early age in the back of her classroom during math classes because she usually couldn’t do her sums! Her inspiration comes from being surrounded by beautiful landscapes and animals where she grew up in Northern Ireland. She lived by the sea and could see a lighthouse from her house. This became influential when she was illustrating The Lighthouse that Ran Away by Roger McGough. At night from her studio in Ireland she can see four lighthouses glowing in the dark, guiding the twinkling fishing boats.#“I remember my childhood extremely vividly as I have a twin brother to help jog my memory – he remembers the start of a particular incident and then I remember the rest. We used to have lots of adventures growing up in an old house which was also the local bank – bit like one out of the Wild West. One day our little dog Sandy dug up a pile of old disused coins in the garden. To us it was like finding buried treasure. It kept myself and my twin brother in sweets and pocket money for years!”#She currently lives in London, England, where she works from a gothic-style building which has a resident ghost, but keeps Coco her chocolate labrador close by her feet for protection!

Steve Mack is a freelance illustrator and has been illustrating professionally for the last decade. Steve has always loved illustrating from the time he could hold a pencil. When he was a young boy his mother would bring him home reams of dot matrix print-out paper from work that had been used on one side; the other side became Steve’s first canvas to explore his imagination through illustration.#Steve finished high school with an award in art and moved on to a three-year diploma program at Medicine Hat College, where he became an honor roll student in the field of Visual Communications.#After graduating, Steve embarked on his freelance illustration career and set up his first Web site in 1998. Shortly thereafter, jobs began coming in for publishing opportunities. He began to work with greeting card companies as well, such as Hallmark and American Greetings. Soon American Greetings signed Steve to an exclusive freelance contract: they made him an offer to work in-house in Cleveland, Ohio. #Steve has recently returned to Canada and his freelancing roots and now works for many clients, such as Target, Hallmark, American Greetings, Kids Can Press and many more. He has a small studio on a farm in the valley and lives with his wife and two small children.