Shannon Reinbold-Gee would quickly tell you that, "I've always drawn." She loves to relate the tale of her early inspiration. "Well, my kindergarten teacher had assigned each student to do some sort of drawing involving people. It must have freaked me out pretty badly because I remember going into the kitchen and asking my Mom to draw a person for me, insisting that I couldn't. Well Mom told me she certainly couldn't draw a person and (in what has now become a signature Reinbold move) grabbed an envelope, flipped it over and drew the saddest little stick figure you could imagine. I thought, I've got to be able to do better than THAT, so I gave it a shot. So, because my mother drew sad stick figures, she gave me the courage to try and do better. Good parenting technique or bad art training--I never asked her, but I think it must have been the former."

Art and writing also worked as an anesthetic for Shannon in her youth. "When my Grandmother was hospitalized I felt really alone and depressed, so I started writing and illustrating a story about a little unicorn separated from his family by a volcanic blast. He struggled to find a way to reunite with his family--discovering along the way that one of his grandparents had died. That's probably why I dread psychologists trying to analyze any of my stuff--I can be kind of transparent."

In middle school she continued drawing and writing, but the writing soon took most of her time and she was published for the first time in eighth grade. "You have to understand, middle school for me was a complete Hell. Almost every kid in my classes acted like they hated me and made me as miserable as they could. I'd never give those seemingly ignorant kids credit for inspiring my writing, but they sure did give me ample material to draw from. When I first got published, it was like a light at the end of the tunnel. Every cruel thing that dribbled out of their lips meant so much less because I had done something they hadn't. But I think it also gave me a little ego issue, too. It was the first thing I'd ever submitted and it wasn't one of my better pieces--just one with the right word count.

"Looking back, circumstances may have made it too easy. So I didn't draw as much, unless I was trying to get a handle on my characters' looks. I think that switch of focus slowed down my artistic growth. That continued until high school ended. In college I didn't dare do too much creative work during my freshman year (my roommate was pretty wretched and not a creative type at all). When I finally broke away from her and her jock boyfriend (oh, the stories I can tell!) I moved in with this great art major. Things were great in the beginning, but my new roomie let it slip one day that she thought art came too easily to me. I think that was when I put my talent into hiding again--because I didn't want to stunt her growth in her chosen field. I didn't really rediscover my art until I was out of college and married. My husband Karl just inspired me. He was always so proud about what I was trying--he's really been my rock. My middle school students didn't hurt my ego, either--they kept asking me why I didn't teach art instead of social studies (or both, some suggested) and I had to admit I had no formal training to back me up. That always amazed them and made me feel great, too, that they were amazed by anything. They helped to build up my courage for what I'm doing now."

In Florida, Shannon explored comic books and sequential art. She participated in several great conventions and more and more people started buying her cutpaper art. "I wasn't sure what to expect. I just wanted a cool comic cover--something different, so I did it in cutwork. The response was great and so I shifted into cutting more art. I got back into the Renaissance Faire scene in Florida and when we moved back north, I signed on with the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire."

A lighthouse was built as her seasonal gallery and Shannon joined the Guild of American Papercutters. "They are one of the greatest groups of artists out there," Shannon says. "Very inspirational and totally willing to share techniques and knowledge. And they challenge me to keep pushing forward."

Shannon also joined the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators in order to pursue her interest in writing and illustrating children's books. "My imagination's going pretty much full tilt right now and my portfolio's growing by leaps and bounds." Inspired by talents like David Wisniewski and Aki Sogabe, Shannon is working to blend her cuttings with her stories.

See Shannon's Epilogue Art Gallery