Cheryl Ryan Harshman wears several hats, sometimes all at the same time. In real life she is daughter/sister/wife/mother/friend. Professionally, she is a librarian, for more decades than she would like to admit, first as a children’s librarian and currently as the Library Director for the Elbin Library at West Liberty University. Her early years in the library world were centered on children and books for children. She told stories everyday in the library and at folk festivals around the region. Those stories helped launch her husband’s writing career as well as her own. She is the author of four books for children, including Sally Arnold, Red Are the Apples, and Christmas Morning.

More recently, Cheryl has turned from the black and white world of writing and books to the full color world of making art. Cheryl Ryan Harshman began her art making with a needle and thread, first as a seamstress and then as an art quilter. A workshop on clay monoprinting changed her life. Her clay
monoprints have won berths in numerous regional juried including Cross Currents at Oglebay Institute, West Virginia Juried Biennial, and Tamarack’s Best of West Virginia exhibits. Her paintings have been shown at the Westmoreland Art Museum, Greensburg, PA in the Juried Biennial and have been included in Cross Currents at Oglebay Institute, the West Virginia Juried Biennial, and Tamarack’s Best of West Virginia exhibits. In civic affairs, Cheryl serves on the City of Wheeling’s Arts Commission.