About Ms. Askin Stewart
Baby Boomer Ms. Askin Stewart was born after World War II just in time to experience the McCarthy era, The Korean War, basement bomb shelters and Elvis Presley. Hippiedom in the Sixties, Counseling in the Seventies, Spirituality in the Eighties, Reality in the Nineties and Wisdom in the Millenium helped to shape the mind and psyche of this Child of the Universe. A writer for over twenty years, a teacher for over thirty years and a musician for over forty years, Ms. Askin Stewart is also an avid gardener and an intrepid traveler. Whether she is camping in one coastal Redwood forest after another, hiking along the top of California’s stunning Sierra Nevada ridges, stopping to see nearly every castle from Germany to Norway, or flying high above the crashing slender waterfalls of interior Kauai, the Kodak and Sony cameras were always her faithful companions.
A lover of deep color, Ms. Askin Stewart was drawn to the intense shades of blue from reflected skies in mountain lake water, the purple sunsets over Maui, the deepest pinks and reds in the heart of velvety flowers and the sparkling concentration of brilliant yellow-green reflected in the streams running through California’s Redwood forests. Whatever else was in the picture was gravy. It was only a matter of framing the intense color as beautifully as possible.
A psychological background coupled with an intense spiritual life experience produced in Ms. Stewart a mind focused on the healthier aspects of human relationships. Pairing amazing photography with the perfect spiritual adage became the creative endeavor that lasted four years and produced produced four pocket books of wisdom and a memoir of life in a cult.
Ms. Askin Stewart lives in California with her husband and two Jack Russell terriers. She teaches and composes music at a Performing Arts Magnet School as well as teaching private piano and keyboard lessons. Look for her upcoming songbook entitled, Character Trait Songbook, A School-Year Collection of Songs of Integrity. It includes eleven up-beat, kid-tested elementary school songs – enough for each month of the typical school year on topics such as Respect, Cooperation, Responsibility, Kindness and Determination. A CD of the songs is sold with the lyric songbook.