SHERIDAN - A

woman with a "wild child" streak and a yearn to journey has finished her first children's book project.

Bobbi Roswall, 62, of Sheridan, has combined her photography, graphic design and creative writing skills to produce a book that will feature her own illustrations.

The book is finished except for one key item - finding the perfect, real-life mountain girl to represent the book's main character and capture the girl's image through illustration.

"It's going to be a unique book and I think children will like what they read and see. The way it's set up is a way children can relate to it," Roswall said. "It's different than what's currently on the market."

Roswall began writing and illustrating the book more than a year ago.

"I was outside in the yard when the idea came to me and didn't let go," she said.

Finishing the book could take another year because Roswall is determined to find the right girl to feature in her illustrations.

"I don't care how long I have to search, but I know I'll find her," she said.

Roswall, who lovingly remembers her father calling her a "wild child" as she was growing up, has lived up to the phrase in creative and talented ways.

An interest in art has always flowed through her veins, but the aspiring children’s' author did not take time to aggressively pursue the art world because she focused on working to raise two boys - J.R. and Rodney.

Rodney is the artist/author's youngest son. The oil company employee resides in Richmond, Ky. He said his mother was always an artistic person, but her priorities are with the family.

"I know she'll succeed with her book because she put everything she had into raising us and sacrificed every time she had to," he said. "Now, I know she's put that same 'everything she has' into her book."

And if Roswall doesn't succeed?

"If I do not get this book published, I'll ask what my mistakes are and learn from them. I'm not the type to give up on goals I've committed myself to accomplish," she said.

In 2001, Roswall began showing her oil paintings she had done years before. During that same time period, Roswall decided to expand her interests in the arts and attended Ohio University Southern to study photography and graphic design.

The retired law environmentalist for the government and Procon Rust employee has won several ribbons and sold some of her paintings and photography work locally.

Roswall was raised in West Virginia and made her home in Ohio for the past 30 years. Currently, Roswall is remodeling her home and planning to move so she can pen more books and seek her photography interests.

"I'll probably end up in the Smoky Mountains, but who knows," she said.