Lyse never colored in the lines as a kid. Oh yeah, she was a scribbler. But eventually that changed when she started giving her dad the pictures she colored in first grade. He'd take them into his work and show off his daughter's awesome talent to all of his coworkers. He never doubted those scribbles.

She liked coloring, and loved her crayons. She was never happy when her fellow classmates broke them, even if it was on accident. Who colors that hard, anyway? Lern2color, noob.

Lyse would always draw on the back of used paper because she'd get in trouble if she used lined paper. And one day, her dad came home with a surprise. He made her her very own sketchbook. It was a blue binder with white letter stickers spelling, "Elyse's Art Book". And inside were hundreds of blank sheets, front and back. Inside she'd draw bunnies and cats and a bunch of other little cute animals that girls drew. But that wasn't all she drew...

She made comics, and as embarrassing as they are now, she was very proud of them. Her first comic was about birds playing volleyball on the beach, and this little punk kid always tried to catch them. Of course at the end of each comic, the birds would fly away. Lyse was so original. XD (Un)Fortunately, those comics were lost and/or thrown away.

Her second comic was about a monkey and his friends fighting crime in the jungle. That one was a little better, but still very corny. She still owns these, and they sit in a purple folder on her bookshelf at home.

As she grew older, she still drew animals, but never bothered with people because they were just too complicated. But in middle school, when she was introduced to anime, she gave drawing people another shot. After a lot of practice, she was able to cartoon her favorite characters, and that led into her designing her own characters.

Her mother encouraged her artwork and signed her up for summer art classes. Lyse took many drawing, cartooning, and animation classes at many local colleges. When Lyse entered high school, she dropped band her sophomore year to take art. And it was her junior year she knew she was going to be an animator. She applied to Edinboro University of Pennsylvania, and then in October of her senior year, she received her acceptance letter.

Lyse graduated from Woodland Hills High School on June 8, 2006.


Accomplishments and/or awards:

-Won the t-shirt design contest in 6th grade. She was competing against two other middle schools, besides her own. She still owns her shirt.
-Had art displayed in her school's district-wide art show. (district as in K-12)
-Drawings and short stories were published in her high school's literary magazine.
-A self portrait was displayed in a local art show.
-Her linoleum print, Taxidermy Study of an Ibex, won an honorable mention in "An Artist Discovery", the Congressional Art Competition for High School Students. Twelve school districts were involved.


Lyse believes she wouldn't be where she is today if it weren't for her mother and father's constant and loving support.