COLUMBIANA Speaker draws on her own experience

The artist encouraged children to practice doing things they like to do.
By VIRGINIA ROSS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
COLUMBIANA -- What started out as a few dark lines on a drawing board quickly evolved into a color poster featuring a story book character named Jammer.
In less than five minutes, Jayna Miller reproduced a page from her children's book "Too Much Trick or Treat" for pupils at the Joshua Dixon Elementary School Thursday.
After one pupil asked 33-year-old Miller how she could draw so fast, she replied, "Practice. Lots and lots of practice."
Miller wrote, illustrated and entered the book in a contest when she was 19. A few months later, as a freshman in college, she learned the Kansas City-based publishing company Landmark Editions Inc. was looking to publish the book. Landmark specializes in publishing books written by teenagers.
"And then I really had to work on it," she said. "For six weeks, I worked on it and kept changing the pictures and making them better. But it was a lot of fun."
Speaker
On Thursday, Miller, in two sessions, spoke to more than 150 first- and second- graders and then about 150 third- and fourth- graders at Joshua Dixon. The visit was part of the school's ongoing effort to encourage pupils to read, write and be as creative as possible, said Natalie Hromiko, school librarian.
Each year, the school invites a writer, poet or storyteller to visit with the pupils. The program is in its 13th year.
"We wanted the students to see, by bringing Mrs. Miller here, what young people can do," Hromiko said. "She was very young, but she was still able to have her work published. There are so many things young people can do if they just work at it."
Miller told pupils her first drawings were actually scribbles on paper when she was about 3. But as she worked and continued practicing, her drawings got better.
"It's like soccer or softball or anything else you want to do and do well," she said. "You have to practice and practice to get better. Just work at it. Once you've drawn something over and over, you'll see how good you are and how fast you become at doing it. You'll just keep getting better and better."
Plot
Miller's book tells the story of Jammer, a rabbit that likes chocolate so much he becomes greedy and has to learn a lesson or two about how to behave and treat others.
"I wanted to use an animal because I like animals and write a story around a holiday, and my favorite holiday is Halloween," she said. "So I created Jammer, and one day, one of my friends told me I should write a story about my rabbit. And that's what I did."
Miller said she used her surroundings as a backdrop for the book, including a tree near the home she grew up in and a house she saw one day while driving. She said she hopes to one day have another book published, but for now keeps busy taking care of her two sons, ages 5 and 3, and honing her skills as an artist in her home-based studio.
"I get my ideas from things around and things I know and see," she said. "That's something you can do, too. If you like to draw, then draw. Again, the more you practice, the better you get. Anything you like to do, just work at it and practice, and you'll see how good you can be. And have fun doing it."