Phyllis grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, had a very happy childhood and, of course, has been drawing since a very early age. The daughter of a CPA and computer programmer, Phyllis had always assumed she would follow the same path as her parents, but her interest in art tugged her in a different direction. In high school, she became interested in fantasy art and traditional animation. By the end of high school, her interests had shifted more toward graphic design and with much encouragement from family and friends, she set off to attend The Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD) after graduating highschool in 1995.
At college, she was exposed to a wide variety of techniques, styles, and media after having spent a childhood of almost exclusively drawing in pencil. (Having to paint her very first painting in gouache proved to be a most daunting task!) After three years pursuing a double major in both Advertising Design and Illustration, Phyllis realized her true calling was in illustration. She dropped the ‘safety net’ that had been advertising and dove headlong into pursuing a career in children’s books.
In 1999, Phyllis graduated magna cum laude from CCAD with a BFA in Illustration. She immediately moved to New York where she pounded the pavement, dropping off portfolios with every children’s book publisher she could find. Like so many artists in the early stages of their careers, she had no luck finding work and received many a rejection letter. But, in her immense stubbornness, she refused to give up and continued to paint and send out promotional cards to publishers. By 2001, Phyllis had a fairly steady stream of freelance jobs that kept her busy on top of her day-job as a secretary. She soon relocated to Los Angeles and began working full-time as an illustrator. To date she has illustrated nine picture books as well as created art for various children’s magazines and educational publishers. She currently resides in Rockwall, Texas with her husband, Chris, who works as a video game artist and their cat, Bramble, who acts as her day-to-day supervisor. When she’s not hard at work painting (which is not often), she can be found hiking, browsing bookstores, reading, watching anime, and occasionally playing video games.
http://phyllishornungpeacock.com/
