Tina Poe's Page

I was born an only child. As a very introspective child, I was often in my room playing silently with my toys and creating little worlds to call my own. At times, I would convert my whole room into far away lands with little bridges from my bed to my shelves, elevator platforms that worked with pulleys and hot air balloons with little baskets attached to my ceiling. Other days, my mother would asked me to draw, paint, or to tell her stories; sometimes I would sing these stories, making up everything as I went along. She told me that she had always wanted me to be an artist so she kept all of my artwork. The first of my documented drawings were of an apple, a bee, and a portrait of my father. My mother explained that we would often visit my grandfather’s farm where she had once been stung by a bee. She didn’t recall pointing the bees out to me but knew they were around for me to explore. These days, bees often find their way into my artwork, and I always think of that first drawing.

I was often shy but my shyness was never an issue at the library, where I would spend most of my free time. I would check out as many books as my arms could carry and read them as fast as I could. People assumed that I had been placed into speed reading classes, but no, I was just really smart. It also helped that I was always hungry for new material. It didn’t matter if I was reading and learning for school or for myself.

When I started middle school my interests in art and my hunger for education grew exponentially. Each year I would sign up for all of the art classes that were offered. I didn’t know it then but I was very lucky to have attended such a privileged middle school where I had the opportunity to take multiple art classes. In 8th grade, I signed up for the only art class left that I had not already taken, Advanced Art, and my teacher suggested that I apply to an art magnet program for high school called The North East School of the Arts. The next four years of my life were packed with an intense visual arts program where my technical skills grew daily. I learned all of the basics: life drawing, composition, problem solving, painting, art history, sculpture, photography, and more. I was creating realistic figure drawings, personally driven paintings, and experimenting with as many media as possible. This intensive education allowed me to skip most art college’s core programs targeted at freshmen. I also already knew what I wanted to major in; illustration!

I moved around, attended two different art schools, and graduated with a bachelor of fine arts in illustration with honors. Yep, still smart. Now days, I live in Austin, Texas with this boy named David and this boy cat named Mojito.