Maggy-Pierre Pelissier was born in Tlemcen, Algeria, and moved to France when she was 10 years old. She studied business and art in Grenoble, France. Maggy-Pierre moved to California in 1986 and further developed her education as an illustrator at the Academy of Art in San Francisco, while teaching art for the Cupertino and Palo Alto school districts. She received a Clara Fitzgerald Memorial Award from De Anza College, and exhibited her paintings at many art shows. In 2007, Maggy-Pierre published her first children book as an illustrator, and was involved in several mural projects. In 2008, she moved to upstate New York, where she painted and exhibited her 'Woman As Geisha' collection at the Anam Cara Art Gallery. From 2014 to 2018, she was commissioned to paint numerous collections, including 12 watercolor masterpieces for The Conference of the Birds, produced by EnActe Arts and Sangam Arts. In 2018, Maggy-Pierre moved to South Carolina, where she continues to paint. She recently finished a commissioned work of six watercolor/acrylic paintings; and completed her first alphabet book.
Cecile Gabrielle Gregoire knew at an early age that she wanted to work in the communications field. Through a career in public relations, she discovered her passion for storytelling to promote brands and create a buzz by connecting the right messages to influence the right audiences. The art of the pitch, spinning stories, bringing the spectacular to the mundane—these are some of the things she enjoys doing as a PR professional. A French native, Cecile moved to California in 1986 and attended ESL where she excelled and learned English in three months. The local paper wrote a story about English classes for foreign-born students and her teacher was quoted saying that she gets a lot of help from Cecile, one of her students from France. “She has more English than the others, so I think she can empathize with the others,” she said. “She should be a representative of the United Nations. Cecile won’t shut up; she’s even speaking Japanese.” With more than 15 years of experience writing articles for tech publications, Cecile has a unique voice that shines through in her newest book ‘The Amazing Alphabet Book of the Last Dodo Bird’, which was written in collaboration with her mother and illustrator Maggy-Pierre Pelissier. In her spare time, Cecile loves to play Chopin, Schumann, Mozart, Beethoven, and Satie on her piano. Following in her mother’s footsteps, she is a self-taught artist and finds inspiration from her favorite Cubist painter Pablo Picasso. Cecile currently lives in San Francisco, California and works out of her home where San Francisco’s most recognizable icon, the cable car, glides up and down her street every day.