About Robyn
After many years of living deadline to deadline as a Creative Director and agency owner of a Philadelphia-based design firm (she admits to truly loving the work), Robyn H. Stone now focuses her creativity on surface design and writing and illustrating children's books.
Robyn's Journey
Education
An author-illustrator, educator and former creative director, Robyn has combined her interests in science with writing, art and design throughout her life. She graduated with a BA with honors in biochemistry and art from Middlebury College, VT, and a Masters in English literature from a dual program at Lincoln College at Oxford University and Middlebury College’s Bread Loaf School of English. She studied fine art at Sarah Lawrence College in Lacoste, France and graphic design and advertising at the School of Visual Arts in New York City. When her children were young, Robyn shifted from full-time advertising to pursue a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) to focus on art and teaching. In 2017 she graduated with an MFA in painting from Pennsylvania Academy of the
Fine Arts.
Career
Robyn has worked in advertising agencies in New York, Philadelphia, Tokyo, Japan and Frankfurt, Germany. She launched and ran an award-winning boutique design firm, Yellow Dog Design Group in Philadelphia, managing blue chip, national and local accounts in print, advertising and web design with a specialty in science-related industries. As an adjunct professor, Robyn has taught creative thinking and design at Villanova University, Chestnut Hill College, and the Art Institute of Philadelphia.
After a shift into teaching, Robyn built an art and science enrichment program for children, Spark Park, which won Philadelphia Magazine's "Best of Philly," and taught art and math in schools for K-12 students. In addition to her work as an author and illustrator, she supports young artists who are considering careers in the arts, through her consultancy, Art Careers and Education (ACE).
Professional Affiliations
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Recent President of Artists Equity Philadelphia: Curated in-person and online exhibitions
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member of Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCWBI)
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member of Rhyming Writers, Busy Beavers picture book writing critique groups
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member of Society of Illustrators (SOI)
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member 12 x 12 Picture Books
Awards in Art and Writing
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Mentorship through Picture Book Rising Stars
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Our Bodies, Ourselves exhibition, Artists Equity, juried show, first place for painting
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Women's Art Initiative annual exhibition, juried show, second place, for painting
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Best of Philly, first place for best children's program awarded to Spark Park
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The Sketch Club, juried show, second place for print
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Metropolitan Life full scholarship to the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, for fiction