a b o u t

Hi, I’m Lisa Clow!
(pronounced like CLOWN WITH NO N)
Thank YOU for stopping by!

The short bio: (scroll to bottom for long bio)
I get to sing and write a lot of songs, stories, and poems. I draw a lot of pictures and design a lot of products. I love doing this for children. I live with my husband, three kids, a dog, and chickens. I love being hired to tell stories through lots of media, but I do not love that my sunny studio gets so hot in the sticky Tennessee summer.

You can find my artwork, music, words, goods, and products across the internet and in stores across the country.

Currently, I am open for representation as an author/illustrator of picture books and middle-grade author. Please send an email to lisaclowstudio@gmail.com if you are interested in chatting more about working together. I am an active member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.

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Publications and Things:
* Most Recently Published Song: “Silent Night, Lonely Night” - cowritten with Lacy Condy released Dec 2022
*My most recent manuscript for a Middle Grade Novel received the “Best/Most Publishable” Honor at the SCBWI Midsouth Conference this March 2022
*Picture Book Animals In Ink - longlisted in the 2021 Unpublished Picturebook Showcase with dPICTUS.
*Song “From Everlasting” co-written with Lacy Condy released March 2022
*Children’s mural in The Owl Yard at New Hopewell Elementary School Winner of The Orchids Award for Public Art given by Keep Knoxville Beautiful- April 2022
*My most recent fabric collection with Hawthorn Fabrics released April 2022 can be found here: Whimsical ABC Animals
*My most recently published poem “I Can No More Slice A Flowing Stream” can be found in the KOKORO Issue of Pigeon Parade Quarterly April 2022.
*Song “O Come, All You Unfaithful” written with Bob Kauflin released in 2020

A few recent clients, publications, and interviews include Primitives By Kathy, Hawthorne Supply Co., Southern Made Tees, Bravery Magazine, Emily Ann Roberts, Uppercase Magazine, Whimsy and a Dream, Sovereign Grace Music, The Pigeon Parade Quarterly, and Mornings with Carmen LaBerge, The Knoxville Voyager, and more.

FAVORITES:

•A few favorite picture books include:
Madeline, Last Stop on Market Street, Little Big Boubo, They All Saw A Cat, Chirri & Chirra, The Hungry Caterpillar,

•Children’s novels/stories: (in no particular order)
The Graveyard Book • A Wrinkle in Time • Bud, Not Buddy • Esio Trot • The Giver • The Tale of Despereaux • The Moomins and the Great Flood • The Horse and His Boy • The Tales of Winnie the Pooh • The BFG • Mary Poppins • Peter and the Wolf

•Illustrators:
Ludwig Bemelmans, Maurice Sendak, Taro Yashima, Arthur Rackham, Chris Raschka, Brian Wildsmith, Josef Palecek, Gyo Fujikawa, Beatrice Alemagna, Pauline Baynes, Enid Marx, Jiri Trnka, Eric Carle, and my Dad.

•Authors:
Kate DiCamillo, Neil Gaiman, Lois Lowry, Emily Brontë, The Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Andersen, Matt Haig, Madeleine L’Engle, C.S. Lewis, Roald Dahl, Flannery O’Connor

•Movies:
The Birds, Shop Around the Corner, Song of the Sea, Edward Scissorhands, Harvey, You’ve Got Mail, Singing In the Rain, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Peter Pan, Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Secret of Kells, and Ponyo

•A few of my favorite things: Bitterly Cold Winters, Strangers who talk too much, Thai Food, Estate Sales, Studio Ghibli & Hitchcock Films, Vintage Toys, Quirky Old Books, Sumi Ink, Tiny Things, Folk Art, Puppets, Animals that Talk, and the Smoky Mountains

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The Long Bio: I dropped out of college, stopped pursuing a degree in Marketing and performed with the Penguin Players for Dolly Parton’s Imagination Playhouse. I toured the Southeast to libraries, schools, and reading festivals performing in musicals like The Gruffalo, The Little Engine That Could, and Hank the Cowdog. My peers who were earning degrees thought I was weird and crazy. I don’t blame them, singing, dancing, acting, doing voice overs, and puppetry six days a week isn’t a normal vocation for a twenty year old girl. I finished my contract with performing those shows at Dollywood.

That time in my life was pivotal in stirring my desire to create for children. I am the daughter of a children’s illustrator and wife of a teacher, and I’ve collected children’s books long before I even knew I was collecting them. Since I was young, I have sung and performed for thousands of people, very “important" grown-ups, but there is nothing I prefer more than writing and creating for children.

Since that time with the Penguin Players, I earned a degree in Graphic Design, worked as a songwriter, artist, illustrator, performer, muralist, and graphic & surface designer– for almost fifteen years. I’ve run my business, Lisa Clow Studio, selling my illustrations, paper and home goods all over the country. I’ve written technical manuals, songs and poetry, a musical, created a local storytime, created art camps and curriculum, lived in Mexico, designed for a large manufacturing company, sold original fabric collections. I’m raising three children and many chickens. I love to create. I love to work hard.