MIRACOLA Jeff

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Jeff Miracola was born in Baltimore, Maryland, on October 10, 1971. By 1973, Jeff, his older brother, and his mother moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he would remain until after college.
With little financial means, Jeff, his brother and mother, moved from one poor housing project or apartment to another, finally settling on the north side of Milwaukee in one of the deadliest neighborhoods in the city.
At a very early age, art became a means of escape for Jeff. He would spend a lot of time indoors to remove himself from the violence, drugs and death that plagued the city streets and, unfortunately, claimed the lives of so many of his friends. Jeff credits his mother for saving his life during these hard times. "My mother encouraged my artwork no matter how disturbing or dark it was. She would buy art supplies for me at times I knew we didn't have the money to spend. She wanted something better for me than to end up dead in the streets."
At the age of 15, faced with being sent to one of the worst high schools in the area, Jeff was on the verge of dropping out when his mother discovered a newly formed art school, the Milwaukee High School of the Arts. An audition was required at the school and Jeff's life took a dramatic turn when he was accepted.
High school years were spent learning as much about art as possible. Unsure of what he would do with his talent, Jeff found the direction he needed when a friend gave him a book entitled "The Art of Frank Frazetta." The young artist found the inspiration he longed for in the brush strokes and pen marks of this great, modern master. Having a taste of fantasy art opened an entirely new world for Jeff as he began to discover one great artist after another, such as Brom, Michael Whelan, Boris Vallejo, Bernie Wrightson, Michael Kaluta, Jeff Jones, and so many more.
After high school, Jeff attended the Milwaukee Institute of Art & Design and, after two years, embarked on a freelance career that would lead him to work on the world-famous trading-card game, Magic: the Gathering, from Wizards of the Coast, inc. He also worked on other successful card games, such as Shadowrun, Changeling, Battletech, Rage, Vampire: The Eternal Struggle, Judge Dredd, and more. Book covers and magazines would follow, as well as conceptual toy design for Warner Bros.' Batman Beyond and Nickelodeon's Animorphs.
Today, Jeff has slowly shifted his style of art as he becomes more focused on children's books, editorial work, and video game graphics, like those created for Electronic Art's Mini-Golf game, released on the Apple iPod.
Jeff works out of his home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin where he lives with his wife and three children.