Elaine Clayton is an internationally known artist, teacher, intuitive healing arts practitioner. She is the author and illustrator of many children's books, including illustrating for Pulitzer Prize winning author Jane Smiley and Gregory Maguire, author of the popular novel the smash hit Broadway play is based on, WICKED. Elaine has illustrated for The New York Times and New York Times Book Review, among other periodicals. Elaine’s work is both figurative and abstract, exploring themes of intuition, spirituality and empathic sensing. “I paint and draw, using visual components of color, light, shape and form to communicate a sense of unconditional love and acceptance of dynamic conditions in our world of light and shadow. Often through hardship we deepen our understanding and I seek to capture what stirs the human spirit to believe all good is possible, even in a world that presents us with dramatic difficulty at times.”