I’ve been an artist all of my adult life. I began as a film animator, then went on to illustrate children’s books and other commercial projects, but now I can feel myself edging closer to what I’ve been chasing all these years. My work consumes a lot of my attention, but I need companion for some continuing inspiration, and it's difficult to meet people when I'm in the studio so many hours a day.. I have enough resources that I don't need to work, too much, but I would work even if i were totally independent. I’m the regular sketch artist at rehearsals of the Minnesota Opera, but I like to draw performer in particular, and people in general. I make regular trips to East Africa, both to volunteer as a drawing teacher and to draw the people and their culture. Mostly Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Zanzibar.I’ve been a film animator, an illustrator, a columnist and writer. I continue to illustrate kid’s books and other projects, and currently teach drawing and life drawing. I’ve been an adjunct instructor at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, the College of Visual Art in St, Paul, the Rhode Island School of Design, and the University of minnesota School of Design. You can see samples of my work on my still-under-construction website: www.mikereedart.com (find my email address under the “about†link)Toys - just 2: a Kurzweill stage piano and a BMW 1150 RT motorcycle. I live alone in a comfortable duplex in the Kenwood neighborhood in Minneapolis.