Tim Bowers bio

Bio

Tim Bowers was born in Troy, Ohio, where he began drawing at an early age. His career in illustration grew from his childhood interest in art and an active imagination. Even then, his artwork reflected an interest in storytelling, using humorous characters.

Bowers continued his art education at the Columbus College of Art & Design (Ohio), where he would pursue a career in illustration. During those years, he was introduced to the work of many great illustrators of the past, including Howard Pyle, N.C. Wyeth, J.C. Leyendecker, Maxfield Parrish and Norman Rockwell. He was influenced by the work of popular illustrators, including Mark English, Bob Peak and Bernie Fuchs. This is also when he began collecting children's books and admiring the work of Maurice Sendak, Wallace Tripp, Etienne Delessert and Tomi DePaola. Such a diverse group of artists inspired Tim to explore his interests in both decorative and realistic imagery. He graduated from C.C.A.D. with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.

Tim worked in a Dayton, Ohio illustration studio after graduating from college and gained valuable experience doing work for corporations such as Procter & Gamble and Wendy's. His drawings were also used for local television commercial storyboards and his cartoon characters were used to promote various products.

The desire to illustrate children's books led Bowers to leave the Dayton studio and pursue that interest. He was soon recruited by Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, Missouri. There, he worked in several humor groups and helped launch the popular Shoebox Greetings card line. It was during those five years in Kansas City, that Tim also illustrated his first three children's books.

Since then, Tim Bowers and his family have moved back to Ohio where he continues to illustrate children's books. His work has been published in children's magazines, his illustrations have been used on a wide variety of products and his characters have appeared on hundreds of greeting cards. Each year, Tim travels to schools and libraries to share his artwork with students.