My name is Mary Clark, and I was raised in the frozen north among the smell of beer yeast and cheese. With long cold months in Wisconsin and Michigan I dove into sci-fiction and fantasy novels, a love I shared with my brothers and father before discovering anime. Drawn into the art style and storytelling, it shifted my mind and motivated me to draw the universe in my head instead of writing it. I was inspired by the story of Sailor Moon and the animation of Studio Ghibli's films, while books such as the Dark Hunter series, Dresden files, and Chronicles of Amber influenced the genre for my stories. I also enjoy researching modern religion and mythology to help influence some of my character designs. 

I took the risk to move to a new city in hope to learn more about a career in animation and improve my skill. I had only my Father’s side of the family as support when I made this decision, while my Mother’s side stayed agnostic to my choice. I do like the idea of being able to be flexible about location and moving to pursue more knowledge and gain more experience, so I packed up for a thousand mile long adventure. I have dealt with a few steps back along the way such as changing schools and losing several credit hours, spending roughly 10 years to achieve my goal of a degree in animation with heavy focus on storyboarding. In pursuit of being stable and having some flexibility to continue my degree I had to find better employment rather than simply wasting away because of the stresses from retail jobs. My experience and art knowledge soon got me on a path to my goal with a job that offered the income, flexibility, and more experience I needed, as I continue to strive for my end goal of succeeding in an animation career. With several sleepless nights to work on classwork and commission work, I continue my drive to reach my goals.

I have been looking into books about screenwriting to help work on a personal script in my hopes to one day either animate it or turn it into a comic. Some of my interests and inspiration influenced the Burning Embers. Many of the characters were drawn from Christian lore and backgrounds from Middle-Eastern mythology.  There is also lots of Greek lore and stories to influence some of the events that take place in this world. It’s a modern fantasy series with a mystery that plagues the characters as they learn more of the forces on this outside at work. 

I am looking forward to meeting you in my colorful world of chaos. I am thankful for you looking at work and may we work together. If you happen to swing by the conventions in the Kansas, Missouri area, feel free to make a stop at the Nerdy Foxtails’ table to join me.

In the words of an impatient friend:

“jmnkjhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”

-B.B. the cat, still learning to type.