The early reader books written and illustrated by artist Sharon Lane Holm are bursting with unique personalities. From a dog with “catitude” named Meatball to animals steering the wheels of dump trucks, Holm’s illustrations reach out to children with humor and whimsy.
“My illustrations are funky. They’re not realistic,” says Holm, whose books are colorfully adorned with quirky images guaranteed to make you smile.
The cover of “I Love Lizards!” features a cartoonish girl in a pink and white striped shirt and googly eyeglasses smiling broadly while a reptile perches on her head. And the cover of “Teeny Tiny Cars” presents two dogs driving down the road in an old-fashioned yellow taxicab with a smiley face.
Whether writing and illustrating her own books or collaborating with other authors to illustrate theirs, her pictures serve a dual-pronged purpose: to entertain young readers, who generally range in age from 3 to 7, while at the same time teaching them something new.
For example, children learn what takes place on construction sites and how vehicles such as tractors work in the board book “Diggers and Dumpers.”
They learn about the many roles of grandparents, some spooky, in “How to Spot a Grampire,”
authored by Leslie McCrary. That humorous children’s book received the Silver Medal in the international Key Colors Competition in 2022 and already has a sequel in the works.
Billed as a book “for curious children ages 5 and up,” its lighthearted ways of informing youngsters how to identify a grandparent’s “inner vampire,” and thereby avoid becoming a tasty treat is particularly popular around Halloween.
In all of her more than 40 published books with Clavis Media, which has the distinction of being the largest publisher of Dutch-language children’s literature, Holm conveys the most important message she has to share.
“Follow your dreams! Don’t let anybody tell you that you can’t. I did it!”
Indeed, Holm has enjoyed success with writing and illustration since her first published project in 2001. A degree from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale helped launch her creative career.
“I studied visual communications, which is advertising. Every picture tells a story,” she explains.
After earning her degree, she relocated to Connecticut when her husband, Gregory, received a job offer he couldn’t refuse. As the couple raised their son Michael and settled into life in the northeast, Holm worked as an art director, fulfilling the dream she had since the third grade of becoming an artist.
“It’s the only thing I ever wanted to be,” she reveals.
Now happily relocated in Vero Beach, Holm savors total creative freedom as she paints with acrylics for pleasure and creates her illustrations assisted by computer-generated programs. She is also in the process of obtaining a license for a Halloween-themed puzzle for the Vermont Christmas Company.
“It’s my turn, my stuff, my illustrations,” the artist asserts.
She is currently enrolled in a mosaics class, and is also developing a line of greeting cards. And, although she uses Adobe Photoshop to create the finished product for her greeting card and book illustrations, Holm begins with a more traditional medium.
“For me it’s tactile. I have to start on tissue paper. Then everything gets scanned into the computer, and that’s when I go in and color it on the computer,” she explains.
Her many projects keep her close to home, where she tends to her three rescue pets, a Staffordshire bull terrier named Lily, Cherry the parakeet, and Kevin the cat. As with her artwork, rescuing animals is yet another passion that organically evolved during childhood.
“It was always Noah’s Ark in our house. My mother was always bringing home animals in need,” she shares.
In that same spirit, Holm channels her mother’s love of animals by running a home hospice service for terminally ill dogs.
“I take in the ones who are left dumped in the shelters because they’re old, and most of them have cancer. I remember Brandy; I loved her so much. She was in hospice in my home for two years. She had PTSD and had been abused.”
When she’s not dreaming up new book illustrations, Holm enjoys taking classes and exchanging engaging ideas with fellow members of the Vero Beach Art Club.
She can also be found practicing her drop kicks. She studied martial arts for almost a decade, earning a Taekwondo black belt.
“Don’t mess with me! All 5 feet of me,” Holm jokes.
But, at the end of the day, Holm says her true love is art.
“I love what I do. I will never stop doing what I do. Right here. Florida is home.”
Photos by Joshua Kodis
