The artists for  Stories Light and Dark.

Lucy Arnold ("Lure"): Lucy grew up in California and graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz in 1976.  Creating art has
been vital to her life since she was old enough to grasp a crayon. Nature--
even the discarded bits such as a stray feather or a broken shell-has provided constant inspiration.  Her professional artistic career began with needlepoint designing, then veered to fine art. Ms. Arnold works
in a wide range of media and styles, from elegant,
realistic renderings
to cosmic abstracts.
Her art is widely exhibited and can
be seen online
at lucyarnold.com.

Barbara Bigbee ("What I Did
for Summer Vacation"): It wasn't until her two children were born that Barbara finally began trying the artistic waters beyond the hitherto intermittent shore dabble.  From painting grandiose, oversized portraits
of the kids' chihuahuas to
making Halloween party goblins and Christmas animal ornaments, her endeavors remain un-studied, instinctive and child-centered. Says her 7-year-old daughter, Katie Belle, "She gets good art ideas when we go, like, to the beach, we found a lot of shells and she got good ideas to make butterflies and she thought the broken ones looked like lilies in their middles.  She likes
to sing when she does her art."

Sabrina Dalbesio ("An Occurrence at Owl Creek High"): San Francisco-based photographer Sabrina Dalbesio grew up in Santa Cruz, California and graduated from Sonoma State University in 1997 with a degree in Natural History. Her love for both art and the natural world combined with her constant desire to travel have kept her inspired to get out and capture moments of life on film.  She enjoys creating both traditional photography and alternative art works beginning with a photographic image, like the one created for this book.  She can be reached at sabrina@cruzio.com.

Teena Gores ("The Lady and the Tiger"): Teena has been a graphic designer and art director since graduating from Central Washington University in 1993. After moving her way down the left coast of the United States for the better part of the 1990s, she now happily resides in the San Francisco Bay Area.  Teena previously collaborated with Chris as the
designer of his fun and colorful Swingin' Chicks
of the '60s book
and says she is thrilled to provide
a piece for his
latest venture.

Robin Noel Hiers ("Clocky"): Boulder, Colorado artist Robin Noel Hiers is known for her bright and expressionistic paintings of women and her cheerful pastel drawings.  When not found in her studio painting she is busy with her three beautiful children. To
see Robin's
latest work go to absolutearts.com/
portfolios/r/
robinnoelhiers.

Larry Noggle ("The Next 43 Seconds"): A Bay Area graphic artist, Larry is also an amateur chef, gardener, and 20-year mountain biker on the trails of Northern California and Utah.  A chile pepper zealot, he's the author and designer of the popular Chile Peppers calendar, now in its seventh successful season (see cedco.com or calendars.com).  In the last twelve years, he has been seriously growing chiles with some very interesting results (the calendars' chiles are all from his garden).  This has led to a variety of gourmet hot sauces and chile powders. E-mail Larry at peppahead
@pobox.com, or look for his new Web site, peppahead.com.

Sheryl Patton ("Yarn"): Sheryl's goal for "Yarn" was to invoke the story's sense of longing.  Her photograph is a composite of the open skies above Marin County and the empty desert around Highway 50 in Nevada, known as "The Loneliest Road in America." Sheryl has enjoyed many careers:  showroom model for a clothing designer, tax accountant, and caterer.   Presently she works for a police department, where she specializes in crime prevention, identity theft, and child safety.  Sheryl writes for local publications and has appeared on television.  She lives with her boyfriend and 20-year old cat near her favorite trails in Marin County.

Daphne Phillips ("The Moon-
stalker"): Daphne has experimented with many styles of drawing and painting since she was very small. She particularly enjoys fine-tip pen drawing and watercolor painting, as well as botanical illustration, making cards, and small collage compositions. She attended the Fine
Art program at Oregon State University, graduating with a degree in fine arts, graphic design
focus. Currently a graphic designer
and writer in the communications group of a large mental health care company, Daphne also enjoys reading, cooking, hiking and traveling. She lives
in Oakland with her partner and their three cats. E-mail
her at girlcat24@
yahoo.com.

David Shearer ("Wordsmitty"): David lives in Connecticut with his wife Susan, daughters Erin, Kelly and Lauren, and beagle Phoebe.  He works as a graphic arts designer in Hartford.  David has illustrated three previous books for Red Hen Press:  Hope Slaughter's Plato's Fine Feathers, and Chris Strodder's Lockerboy and The Wish Book.