| But Have I Always Been A Cartoonist? And How Did I Start, You Ask? I am an Ottawa cartoonist, living with my terrific husband and two equally terrific children. Ottawa is a very inspiring place for a humourist to live--where else, for example, do people pay homage to Ice Hogs? But I wasn't always lucky enough to be a cartoonist. Before that I was a Psychology researcher who did humour writing on the side; drawing was always just a hobby. And before that I was doing theatre work, and doing humour writing on the side. I tried to write more serious things, but people kept asking me when I was going to write my funny stuff again! And who am I to argue? At some point, when my children were toddlers, I realized I didn't have big blocks of time to devote to writing. So, I started cartooning. It turned out to be a great venue for that varied mixture of psychology, writing, humour and theatre knowledge I'd acquired. The visual perception work I did in Psychology helped a great deal with the drawing part of cartooning. All that and a great family too. It all adds up to one happy cartoonist! |
| Some cartoons don't appear with the 'Life Outside The Box' title, depending on the needs of a particular publication. But they are still part of the 'Life Outside The Box' family. |
| Back to home page Cartoon of the Week Left-Handed Cartoons Items For Sale Art Shows and Links Captain Weather! Comic Strip |
 |
| About My Cartoons I started selling my cartoon strip 'Life Outside The Box' around fourteen years ago. My cartoons appear in books, magazines, news magazines, journals and calendars, all over North America. |
 |
 |
 |
| I Teach Cartooning and Illustration Too! When I'm not creating cartoons, books and other artwork I'm teaching fabulous groups of adult students how to create their own cartoons, which includes illustration, through classes at Algonquin College. And I teach children and youth (7 to 13 years) classes at Canterbury Community Centre. I also do cartooning workshops and drama workshops for children, teens and adults. I do professional development workshops for adults, and for three years taught the very popular 'Mad Skills' Cartooning Career Sampler day camps at Algonquin College for 12 to 17 year olds. |
| A few years ago I formed a company in order to make and sell items with my cartoons on them, which includes mixed media artworks I create. Some are for sale on this website, and others at art galleries, theatres, bookstores and various other places around Ottawa. It's all very, very fun. |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| How Does Mixed Media Art Fit In? The artworks I create allow me to use my cartooning and general art skills to create three dimensional works on two dimensional surfaces. I sometimes stick to one medium, such as oil pastel or inks, but usually prefer to mix things up. I also get a kick out of using re-claimed materials. And, I do sculptures as well! Whether the art ends up mixed media or not, it's always very much cartoon inspired! |
 |
| Click on picture to view larger image. |
Cartooning & Illustration Class Information Cartooning Skills For Hire Talks/Workshop Information Guest Book |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
| In 2010 I signed on as the Editorial Cartoonist for The Winchester Press, Winchester, Ontario. And in 2012 I moved on and became the Editorial Cartoonist for Blacklock's Reporter, in Ottawa. I do editorial cartooning in addition to my regular freelance cartooning. My cartoons with Blacklock's Reporter focus more on social issues, along with laughter, of course! |
 |