Ray Friesen is in his mid twenties, and draws lots of silly things, mostly penguins.Ray has been drawing cartoons for pretty much his whole life, but has been a professional artist since the age of four (That was the first time he got paid for his art -- a wind energy company used a bunch of his cutesy animals and windmills drawings for their 'clean energy for everyone' campaign.)Ray self published his first comic book at the age of 12, titled 'The Continuing Adventures of Raymond Q. Wonderful' the titular character of which bore a very similar resemblance to the author. When confronted with claims that he has an enormous ego, Ray will be the first to point out that he is writing this autobiography in the 3rd person. "I'm just great!" he has been known to quip, when feeling especially boisterous.Ray was nominated for the 2003 Ignatz award for Promising New Talent ("the youngest person ever!" Ray claims, though has done no actual research to prove this.) Ray does school visits, so if you are a teacher and would like Ray to chat with your kids, please get in contact! Ray recently gave the Keynote address at the Susanville Litjam, talking for 45 minutes on the theme of Follow Your Dreams to a thousand students. He could bring the same fun to your school!Ray is very fond of hats, and has a rather impressive collection of them he will show off if you ask nicely. If you are thinking of buying Ray something for his birthday, hats, toy penguins, and chocolate are recommended. Hint hint.Ray was married to his lovely wife Michelle in April of 2013, and the are currently expecting their first child, due in October of 2014.Read more of what Ray has to say, at RayFriesen.com