choice for me: Francisca. I love the name Francisca and wish it had been my chosen name instead of Claudia, but since Tim made "Fran" stick as a nickname, it's the next best thing!

I was born in Chile 5 months before the coup d'état, which landed me and my family in Montreal. After a lovely childhood as a typical yet pigment privileged immigrant, we ended up in Toronto. Scarborough, to be exact. Escaping there I studied Fine Arts at York University and left in a huff two years later to get some real education. Well, although that never happened, I did teach myself graphic design and illustration and worked as a designer in various jobs, the most memorable of which was as Art Director at Chirp and Chickadee magazines. My love of children's publications only grew and after leaving Owl for a freelance career I has had the pleasure of designing and illustrating a number of children's books. For samples go to the Illustration and Design pages.

Perhaps the most blessed thing about working at Owl is that that's where I met my husband, Michael Cho the illustrator. Today we work together on vendetta projects to battle capitalism and evil in the western world. See some of my personal Vendetta campaigns.

And last but not least, I am a bonafide lover of foods. My passion is vegan cooking and spreading the love by feeding as many friends and family as possible, and by running a Recipe Club and making small run cookbooks. Getting hungry? Visit my First Love for scrumptious recipes.