Welcome to Tortuga Design Studios . . .


The artist Cheri Haskell, lives in Southern Indiana. She is an artist, a teacher, a scuba instructor, and a craftswoman. Although she has been creating art with pen and ink for many years she was recently Inspired by photographs taken by her son Sam and daughter-in-law Kirsten while she was on a recent anthropological research trip to Tanzania--these prints are the result.

My name is Guy. I am the husband of the artist and contribute the prose to this site. Married for thirty-four years, I can say with assurance that the character we hope you see in these creatures is a reflection of Cheri's own character. Fearless, she has been my constant companion in a life of adventure-- in the air, on the sea, under the sea, on land, on two wheels, and in the classroom.

When she began creating this unique menagerie in June of 2022, it was clear to me that she had found her medium. Not only that, she had found a way to project the goodness, kindness, strength, perseverance, wisdom and optimism that are the elements that make up her soul.

When these animals began emerging from the black dots on empty white paper, I realized that she had found a subject, medium, and technique that was capable of expressing her heart. She always begins with the eye; and when I look into the eye of each of these animals, I feel as if I am not looking at a picture of, say, a lion. I am looking at a picture of THIS lion, his thoughts, his personality, his character. For me, that is the magic in these remarkable creations. I hope you feel the same way about Cheri's work as I do.

WARNING: All of the descriptions herein were written by the artist's husband, Guy. Any resemblance between his musings and reality is purely by chance. The artist takes no responsibility for his ramblings.