Yayoi Lena Winfrey Bio

Y a y o i . L e n a . W i n f r e y

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I l l u s t r a t i o n hibiscus illustration G r a p h i c D e s i g n

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Born in Tokyo, raised in Texas, Germany and Washington State, I always dreamed of becoming a fashion designer. Alas! I hated to sew. In spite of having a mother who was a tailor and, who could knock out a dress in a day, I inherited none of her patience for stitching. Instead, I learned how to draw, color, cut and paste from her. And, I developed my drawing style by studying the manga (Japanese comic books) that our relatives sent from overseas.

With my sights set on attending The Traphagen School of Fashion in New York, I abruptly made a right turn and ended up in California--living, first, in the Bay Area and Pacific Grove (near Monterey); and, later, in Los Angeles. By the time I enrolled at the Art Institute of Seattle, I'd held jobs in tv, radio and print publishing.

After graduating with a focus in fashion illustration, I freelanced. But rapidly-developing technology began eroding my client base, and I turned to dual careers in journalism and filmmaking while living in Honolulu and Santa Monica. Today, I've happily returned to my first love of visual art. After studying computer graphics at the Venice Skills Center and, recently, at South Seattle Community College, I'm once again drawing, coloring, cutting and pasting--but, this time, electronically.

Year of the Pig illustration

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. . . r e s u m e . . .	l i n k s	. . . e d i t o r i a l . . .	a w a r d s	. . . h o m e . . .