About Anne Peterson
Author~Poet~Speaker
Hi, my name is Anne Peterson. Welcome to my website. For me, writing is like breathing! Life is hard. I write words to make it softer. I am a poet, speaker, and published author of Broken: A Story of Abuse, Survival, and Hope, Real Love: Guaranteed to Last, and poetry books for those who are in grief.
My children’s books include Emma’s Wish, The Crooked House, Lulu’s Lunch, and Sonny Follows His Heart.
You can see all of my books here. In addition, I have 42 published Bible Studies and over 30 articles with christianbiblestudies.com. You can read my articles in Today’s Christian Woman, Better Mental Health Magazine, and Crosswalk.
I’ve been married for 39 years to my husband, Mike, and I have spent most of my life in Illinois. I’m the mother of two grown children and four grandchildren. Of all my titles, my favorite is “Grandma.”
I also collaborate with my daughter, Jessica, who produces whimsical art that draws the reader in, young and old alike.
My Words, Her Pictures
A Mother & Daughter Collaboration
How it all began?
In 1994, my husband, Michael and I started collaborating after a friend made the suggestion,
“Why don’t you put your husband’s art with your poetry?”
Slowly, we designed twelves pieces with his pen illustrations, creating our first collection of matted poetry pieces. And soon, our business Line Upon Line was born.
Years later, when I needed to expand my illustrated poetry, I turned to my daughter, Jessica, who always had her camera in hand. Little did I know that Jessica was also an artist like her father. I began working with my daughter as early as 2004. Those pieces grew into a collection that is always evolving.
I write about different subjects, including relational, memorial, inspirational, and encouragement. Below is a sample of our matted pieces. While many are illustrated with Jessica’s photography, some show her drawings, and more recently, her digital art.
New Poetry Plaques
Some of our newest pieces are 6×9 poetry plaques, printed on MDF board, accented with twine. Every piece has an easel back for table display, and a hanger for the wall. These plaques would make a meaningful gift for someone special in your life.
You can visit our online shop here.
Once Upon a Time...
In 2014, Jessica’s former boss, Lizz Barnes, a jewelry artist in Peoria, offered a challenge for anyone who wanted to create a children’s book. Jessica and I decided to take that challenge. The book needed to be finished and printed by August for IGNITE, an arts event, which was just a few months away.
Jessica had a small sketch of a little crooked house, and I said, “I bet there’s a story behind that house.” It was just days later that I wrote the story of The Crooked House. Then it was Jessica’s turn to fill the blank pages.
As she started working on illustrations, she wondered if she would be able to finish them in time.
She said to me, “I wish we could do something with the art I already have.”
And I responded, “Let me look at your art for a while, and I’ll see if something comes to me.”
I starred at her charcoal drawings and oil paintings. I kept focusing on her oil painting, which is a self portrait of Jessica dancing with the moon. And the next day, Emma’s Wish was born.
Soon after Emma’s Wish, we published The Crooked House.
Jessica also has a love for making videos, so she created trailers for our books.
Within a year, we started creating the art books: StoryLines, Make Believe, and Chills: The eerie side of poetry. In these books, I wrote poems inspired by Jessica’s pictures.
Chills is one of Jessica’s favorites because she loves spooky. I’m not really into spooky, I did this for her. Jessica was surprised by what I came up with. She says I have a little bit of a dark side.
When Preston Jackson, a renown artist in Peoria, looked at some of our books, he wrote an endorsement for our work.
“Two lights become one in order to shine more brightly. Collaborations such as this one stand alone. It is evident that they care deeply about each and every line – both drawn and written.”
—Preston Jackson, Professor Emeritus, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Illinois
I have been writing poetry for a gift company, Dexsa, since 1995. Dexsa was recently featured on Fox Business News.
Jessica is now a two-time award winning artist, once with an ArtPop billboard in 2017, and a second Sky Art Peoria billboard in 2022.
Jessica wants to draw the viewer with her imagery; I want to encourage others with my words.
Visit our online shop to purchase poetry pieces. Browse our books here.