KOHL, MaryAnn F(aubion) 1947-

PERSONAL: Born January 23, 1947, in Seattle, WA; daughter of John Ross Faubion (a book binder manager, real estate broker, and golfer) and Betty Louise Fritzlen Faubion Clement (an artist, golfer, children's store owner, and realtor); married Michael Ladd Kohl (in construction and development services), July 13, 1968; children: Hannah Cathryn, Megan Lindsey. Ethnicity: "American, with strong German-English ancestry." Education: Attended Linfield College, 1965-67, and Western Washington University, 1967-68; Old Dominion University, B.S. (elementary education), 1969; Western Washington University, fifth year teaching credential, 1970. Politics: Republican. Religion: "Spiritual." Hobbies and other interests: Playing outside, skiing, travel, reading, family.

ADDRESSES: Home and office—P.O. Box 31338, Bellingham, WA 98228. E-mail—maryann@brightring.com

CAREER: Author, 1985—. Bright Ring Publishing, Bellingham, WA, founder and owner, 1985—. Former teacher in Ferndale, WA, and at Whatcom Community College and Bellingham Technical College; educational consultant.

MEMBER: National Association for the Education of Young Children, Publishers Marketing Association.

AWARDS, HONORS: Self-Publisher of the Year, Publishers Marketing Association, 1987; Washington Press Communicator Award, 1993; Top Ten Award, Education Source, 1999; Director's Choice Award, 2001, for The Big Messy Art Book: But Easy to Clean Up; Mayor's Arts Award, Bellingham, WA, 2001; Parenting Resources Gold Award, National Parenting Publications Awards, 2001, for Drawing: Preschool Art; Readers Award, Practical Homeschooling magazine, 2002, for Discovering Great Artists: Hands-on Art for Children in the Styles of the Masters; numerous Benjamin Franklin Gold and Silver Awards for excellence in independent publishing.

WRITINGS:

Mudworks: Creative Clay, Dough, and Modeling Experiences, illustrated by Kathleen Kerr, Bright Ring Publishing (Bellingham, WA), 1989.

(With Cindy Gainer) Good Earth Art: Environmental Art for Kids, illustrated by Cindy Gainer, Bright Ring Publishing (Bellingham, WA), 1990.

(With Jean Potter) ScienceArts: Discovering Science through Art Experiences, illustrated by K. Whelan Dery, Bright Ring Publishing (Bellingham, WA), 1993.

(With Cindy Gainer) MathArts: Exploring Math through Art for Three to Six Year Olds, illustrated by Cindy Gainer, Gryphon House (Beltsville, MD), 1996.

(With Jean Potter) Cooking Art: Easy Edible Art for Young Children, illustrations by Ronni Roseman-Hall, Gryphon House (Beltsville, MD), 1997.

(With Kim Solga) Discovering Great Artists: Hands-on Art for Children in the Styles of the Masters, illustrated by Rebecca Van Slyke, Bright Ring Publishing (Bellingham, WA), 1997.

(With Jean Potter) Global Art: Activities, Projects, and Inventions from around the World, Gryphon House (Beltsville, MD), 1998.

Making Make-Believe: Fun Props, Costumes, and Creative Play Ideas, illustrated by K. Whelan Dery, Gryphon House (Beltsville, MD), 1999.

The Big Messy Art Book: But Easy to Clean Up, illustrated by Kathryn Davis, Gryphon House (Beltsville, MD), 2000.

(With Jean Potter) Snacktivities: Fifty Edible Activities for Parents and Young Children, Gryphon House (Beltsville, MD), 2001.

(With Jean Potter) Storybook Art: Hands-on Art for Children in the Styles of One Hundred Great Picture Book Illustrators, Bright Ring Publishing (Bellingham, WA), 2002.

Contributor of short stories to Where the Heart Is: Stories of Home and Family, Personal Power Press, 1995, and Mentors, Masters, and Mrs. MacGregor: Stories of Teachers Making a Difference, Health Communications, 1995. Contributor of essays to anthologies and periodicals, including Parenting, Family Fun, and Let's Find Out. Many of Kohl's works have been published in other languages, including Czech, Polish, Spanish, Hebrew, Lithuanian, Slovenian, Korean, German, and Portuguese.

WITH OTHERS

Scribble Cookies: Independent Creative Art Experiences for Children, illustrated by Judy McCoy, Bright Ring Publishing (Bellingham, WA), 1986, revised edition published as Scribble Art: Independent Creative Art Experiences for Children, 1994.

Preschool Art: It's the Process, Not the Product (also see below), illustrated by K. Whelan Dery, Gryphon House (Beltsville, MD), 1994.

Painting: Preschool Art (excerpted from Preschool Art), Gryphon House (Beltsville, MD), 2001.

Clay and Dough: Preschool Art (excerpted from Pre-school Art), Gryphon House (Beltsville, MD), 2001.

Craft and Construction: Preschool Art (excerpted from Preschool Art), Gryphon House (Beltsville, MD), 2001.

Drawing: Preschool Art (excerpted from Preschool Art), Gryphon House (Beltsville, MD), 2001.

Collage and Paper: Preschool Art (excerpted from Preschool Art), Gryphon House (Beltsville, MD), 2001.

First Art: Art Experiences for Toddlers and Twos, Gryphon House (Beltsville, MD), 2002.

WORK IN PROGRESS: "Researching American artists, their photos and portraits, their bios, and their lives as children."

SIDELIGHTS: MaryAnn F. Kohl has produced a series of art resource books for children and their teachers and caretakers that some reviewers have found both inspiring and useful. In MathArts: Exploring Math through Art for Three to Six Year Olds, for example, Kohl presents more than two hundred activities that gently lead preschoolers through early math concepts such as sorting, matching, counting, and measuring, using hands-on art activities with varying levels of sophistication and adult supervision required. "The value of this book is that it utilizes both right-and left-brain thinking by allowing the child to discover math concepts and develop creativity, thus integrating the two subject areas of math and art," remarked Kathleen Dommer Bell in Science Books & Films. Each project is accompanied by instructions concerning preparation time, adult supervision with hazardous materials, and an explanation of the concept illustrated, making this a useful resource for teachers and homeschoolers as well as parents and other caretakers, Bell concluded.

Making Make-Believe: Fun Props, Costumes, and Creative Play Ideas relies upon children's natural affinity for open-ended imaginative play as its inspiration for creative projects ranging from painting and puppet-making to cooking. Kohl again makes effective use of icons indicating levels of skill and adult supervision required, but "there are many books of crafts or theater games of young people," remarked Cris Riedel in School Library Journal. What makes this book a standout is the author's "excitement" and the book's "ease of use," concluded Riedel. Likewise, for Mudworks: Creative Clay, Dough, and Modeling Experiences, Kohl effectively uses the same approach as her other books, this time to promote the creation of projects that kids can really dig their fingers into. Kohl offers more than a hundred different recipes for a wide variety of modeling, sculpting, or playing experiences, remarked Denise Perry Donavin in Booklist, adding that dough-lovers "will be ecstatic over Kohl's book."

Kohl told CA: "I believe that art is an adventure and an exploration of materials and ideas. I like to say 'Art is a Process, Not a Product.' Children have only themselves to please as they drip, smudge, glop, glue, and sculpt their way through hundreds of open-ended art ideas. The art activities in my books have unlimited creative possibilities with no right or wrong way to create and no set rules or expectations for outcomes. Process art expands the creative experience and awareness of children in all aspects of the visual arts through painting, drawing, printing, sculpture, architecture, and other manipulations of art materials. The activities in my books work well for all ages and abilities.

"I founded Bright Ring Publishing, Inc. in 1985, when I published my first book of independent art experiences for children, Scribble Cookies: Independent Creative Art Experiences for Children. My background began as an elementary school teacher, later a college educator and educational consultant, and now author, publisher, and speaker. My interest in children's creative art comes from my years teaching kids from preschool through middle school, teaching kindergarten enrichment and college level courses, and consulting with teachers and parents throughout the world. I love everything creative with children, and art seems to be the thing I love best.

"While growing up in Longmeadow, Massachusetts, and later on Bainbridge Island, Washington, my favorite things to do were art, music, reading, and especially playing outside. I treasured my box of pastel chalks, my Indian Princess bicycle, and my brunette Ginny doll with a toy trunk full of doll clothes. Now that I've grown up, I live with my husband in Bellingham, Washington, where we raised our two grown daughters. And you know what? I still enjoy playing outside! When I'm not writing or publishing, you'll find me reading, skiing, working outside on our property, playing Frisbee with my dog, or enjoying some family fun. Consulting in the schools, offering workshops around the world, writing for Parenting and Family Fun magazines, consulting for Fisher-Price and the Jim Henson Company, and being a guest on numerous television shows keeps me busy year round. But it's writing my books and spending time with kids that makes me happiest of all. …

"I still have one more dream to come true … to write a children's picture book. I have the idea. I just need a publisher!

"I owe my hunger for creative expression to my spunky mom and gentle dad, and my dad's super-creative-in-every-area mother. She was the first published author I ever knew, and this influenced my sphere of reference significantly. My dad was a hobby-level cartoonist, and my mom an oil painter and decorating nut. All of my relatives were musical, [including] my aunt Czerna Faubion [who] lifted her mesmerizing contralto voice in an operatic performance at the Hollywood Bowl when she was only twenty-four (two years before she died unexpectedly). The same night she sang, I met Roy Rogers and Dale Evans. Magical!"

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Bellingham Business Journal, May, 2002, "Kohl Snares Award," p. B21.

Booklist, Denise Perry Donavin, review of Mudworks: Creative Clay, Dough, and Modeling Experiences, pp. 25-26.

Kirkus Reviews, July 15, 1989, review of Mudworks, p. 1077.

School Library Journal, December, 1991, Eva Elisabeth Von Ancken, review of Good Earth Art: Environmental Art for Kids, p. 123; October, 1999, Cris Riedel, review of Making Make-Believe: Fun Props, Costumes, and Creative Play Ideas, pp. 138, 140.

Science Books & Films, December, 1997, Kathleen Dommer Bell, review of MathArts: Exploring Math through Art for Three to Six Year Olds, p. 272.

ONLINE

Bright Ring Publishing Web site,http://www.brightring.com (August 4, 2003), "About MaryAnn."