[1] As a young girl, her brother, whom she admired greatly as an artist, taught her to draw a tree and a simple cartoon.
During the enforced physical inactivity, she used the time to refine her drawing ability by working through several "learn-to-draw" books.
Her childhood goal was to become an Olympic rider,[2] and after she recovered from her illness and was no longer bedridden, she rekindled her love for horseback riding.
During her childhood, she became an admirer of the works of great artists, particularly that of Michelangelo, as her parents had large replicas of his paintings that she particularly enjoyed.
She also enjoyed the work of Howard Pyle, an artist she discovered on a trip to the college art museum.
[3] After a visit to an art museum during college, she set aside her dream of becoming an Olympian to focus full-time on becoming an artist.
During college, she turned her artistic talents to fashion illustration, but she realized quickly that beginning a career in this field was very difficult.
The Secret Order of the Gumm Street Girls, c. 2006, Harper Collins Fred and Anthony Escape from the Netherworld, (As Esile Arevamirp), c. 2007, Hyperion.
Fred & Anthony Meet the Heinie Goblins from the Black Lagoon, (As Esile Arevamirp), c. 2008, Hyperion.
Fred & Anthony's Horrible, Hideous Back-to-School Thriller, (As Esile Arevamirp)[10] The Mermaid's Cape, by Margaret K. Wetterer, c. 1981, Atheneum.
Uncle George Washington and Harriet's Guitar, by Miriam Anne Bourne, c. 1983, Coward McCann.