I just applied to my dream program: the Erasmus Mundus Master in Children’s Literature, Media & Cultural Entrepreneurship. So I thought I’d share a bit about my journey, this unique interdisciplinary program across Europe, and my application.

I'm taking a one year "Entertainment Preparatory Class" at ESMA (École Supérieure des Métiers Artistiques) in Lyon, France. Here's info about the program, how & why I chose it, and my artistic journey from self-taught to art school (including my recent Kickstarter campaign for my Alphabet book and taking my Creative Sabbatical Summer Break).

I am taking 6 weeks of art classes at 3 schools! I love learning and making art, and I’ve wanted to take a break and do more structured studio classes for a while. So I decided to give myself the gift of a creative sabbatical… like a DIY adult summer camp!

My final project for my Graphic Memoir course at the Center for Cartoon Studies was a 6 page comic about my 4-day Japanese calligraphy VAWAA last spring in Kyoto with Chikako.

During our weeklong Graphic Memoir class at the Center for Cartoon Studies with Mel Gillman, we were assigned daily diary comics to draw — a short, simple autobio comic strip based on a prompt.

I declared this summer to be my “art class summer” (or something, there’s not a real title for it… yet?), and my first class was a week-long Graphic Memoir course at the Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont.