Tavisha Wolfgarth-Simons is an American born artist of German and Japanese descent (Yonsei (4th generation)), born May 28, 1966 in San Fernando Valley, California. Tavisha first started drawing in the anime and manga style when her grandmother sat her down in front of a television showing Kimba the White Lion and said, "This cartoon is Japanese, just like you." One-year-old Tavisha then began drawing in the only style she knew, first “anime,” and later "manga." From the start she felt a deep cultural connection with anime and manga - a feeling that hasn't faded in the least, even after many years of struggling in a very un-Kimba, super-hero-centric American comic market; she has always striven to be an independent artist with an original vision.

 

Tavisha produces her art and stories under the studio name of Tavicat (and sometimes “WiredPsyche”) along with her husband, Rikki. After a decade of publishing manga-influenced comics in the American market, Tavisha has had the opportunity to work with a variety of properties, attaching her much loved spin to them. A fan favorite, Tavisha has designed manga versions of established western cartoon characters for Nickelodeon Magazine, she has designed characters and fashions from the ground up for companies such as Tokyopop and Digital Manga, and she has co-created original titles such as Ranklechick and his Three-Legged Cat, and Super Information Hijinks: Reality Check!, and ShutterBox. Now with the tremendous success of her ShutterBox manga series (published by Tokyopop), Tavisha is looking to an even brighter future.