Dai Thomas

Dai Thomas (pen-name "Danny") has been an artist all her life. She interrupted her studies at the Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis, Indiana, when her refined brush and painting skills landed her the position of head artist at the Marzi Sink Factory during the years it was located in Seaside, California (Marzi is now in Grants Pass, Oregon).

Dai's custom art and design studio, Twelve Miles West, is an art-lover's haven in Carmel Valley, California, where for nearly two decades she has created everything from major mural installations for large venues and galleries to custom ceramic tiles and art, to the tiniest cake decorations or hand-painted beads. Dai usually has at least two hundred garden signs on the fence at her studio, and can't paint them fast enough for her fans. (See the photo.)

Dai Thomas met fellow Carmel resident Ginna BB Gordon in 2008 and they clicked as friends and art colleagues. The "Sunny Mae & Bird" Read-Aloud Series (2015) is their first book project together.