Sharada Tolton draws dream-like worlds in colored pencil. Placing child and animal subjects in dense fantasy scenes, she illustrates an inner life of innocence in a sometimes gentle, sometimes violent natural world.

Sharada pulls character inspiration from Henry Darger, Gerhard Munthe, and Shoujo Manga, while her botanical patterns borrow from medieval manuscripts and cross stitch.

Originally from the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, Sharada now lives in Berkeley, California, where she draws and tattoos from her home. She is the cofounder of Neuro Fuzzy Press and editor and designer of Syms, a journal of visual art and writing about symbiosis.