Caroline is a storyteller who works in illustration, written word and audio.  Born in Indonesia, she moved to Los Angeles, CA to live on her own when she was 12.  She survived hustling in New York City for seven years before moving to Maine in 2018 to study Audio Storytelling at the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies.  See her work at www.hadilaksono.com.
​
Caroline is the author and illustrator of Surprise! (Scholastic, 2018).  It is a picture book about how hart it is to make friends.  She says it is partly inspired by her online dating experience in NYC.  

These days Caroline draws her inspiration from the artists at Spindleworks.  They're teaching her about embroidery and fiber arts.  One day she hopes to return the favor by showing them some watercolor techniques and working on some audio projects together with them.  She enjoys bringing art into the community and sharing her skills in audio and visual arts with anyone who’s curious to learn. And, as she continues to make Maine her home, she hopes to find ways to get involved in art-related community projects here in her new home.

To follow her latest projects/updates, find her on Instagram for what she humorously calls "a not-so-accurate representation of her life."  And, these are links to the two women whose art and work she admires: Eleanor Davis and Jillian Tamaki.  

***This episode was pre-recorded from our home studios during the Covid Social Distancing period.  Special thanks to Caroline for recording and sharing her end of the conversation and to the good people of WMPG who are keeping the station running with MP3's like this one being submitted from producers in the field.  

Music: "This Land Is Your Land" by Las Cafeteras.

Ina is from Semarang, Middle Java, Indonesia and arrived in Maine in 1974.  She was a teacher by trade, but because of her Chinese ancestry was not allowed to be hired as a teacher in Indonesia.  She came to the US, got her Bachelors, teaching certification and Masters degree from USM, and has been an educator since.  She currently works in the Portland Public Schools as an Education Technician III, teaching English in an ELL classroom (English Language Learning).  She is also active in the union to advocate for Ed Techs in the Portland Schools.

Ina has a passion for service and supports many programs including the Multi-Cultural/Multi-Lingual Center, The Center for Grieving Children, and runs a drop-in English Conversation program for adult learners, hosted at Whole Foods conference room in Portland.