Meet Bryony's Illustrator, Kathleen Rose Van Pelt

Last summer, an acquaintance of mine called me one day and asked if I would write a story for the newspaper on her cousin and her amazing art.

“Is she local?” I asked. She was not.

“Has she ever lived in our readership area?” Again, no, so I politely explained the newspaper would not allow me to write a story about the artist if she had no local connection. My acquaintance insisted otherwise. “Just look at her art,” she said.

Reluctantly, since a story was impossible, I clicked onto http://www.imaginarylinesstudio.com/ and was instantly enchanted by her line style and carefully placed spots of color. It was perfect for Bryony. Might Kathleen be interested in creating the cover art for the book, if and when I had a publisher and if the publisher agreed?

My acquaintance assured me it was possible and then suggested I contact Kathleen. I did, and she was open to the idea. We began working together in earnest when WriteLife accepted Bryony for publication.

Our collaboration was simple and unstructured. Basically, Kathleen read Bryony, loved it (although she’s not a fan of vampire stories), and worked from her inspirations. It was her idea to add the interior black and white drawings.

Kathleen made everyday seem like Christmas. I’ve never had so much fun signing onto my computer! Every morning, I couldn’t wait to see if she had sent an image. I’ve adored watching my story come alive under her hand.

Samples of Bryony’s artwork are posted on the Facebook page underphotos: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bryony/115857775121196?ref=sgm.

Check out Kathleen’s interview Wednesday.

Denise M. Baran-Unland