J. M. Orise, a Maine native, earned her BS degree in Art Education, with an Endorsement to teach Computer Science from the University of Maine, Gorham, ME. She later studied Children's Book Publishing and Illustration at the Portland School of Art (now known as Maine College of Art and Design), Portland, ME, where, for teacher certification renewal, she also studied creative storytelling and writing poetry. Her twenty-year teaching career occurred mostly at the high school level, where she taught art, computer science, web design, desktop publishing, and introduced computer animation at Gorham, Wells, and Waterboro high schools. She finally taught at Portsmouth High School, Portsmouth, NH, where she introduced Internet Safety into the curriculum, assisted by the Portsmouth Internet Forensic Police Department. Orise often writes poetry, which she stores in a briefcase. While at the Portland School of Art, she wrote a children's story based on an ancient tale, which she stored with her poems. Being an artist, Orise considers writing as painting with words. When not writing, you will find her at Orise Studio Gallery painting and teaching beginner and advanced art lessons. Orise and her husband live in mid-coast Maine, as well as on Florida's Nature Coast, where they feed the crows who sit in the branches of a nearby tree, next to the patio, to chat with Orise. https://jmorise.com/