Here Comes April! Yes, the award-winning author of Here Come the Humpbacks! came east from Indiana, and migrated to my shore last week. What a pleasure to meet April Pulley Sayre for the first time.

1april_blog

April’s always on the search for natural wonders and wanted to explore tide pools. I brought her to the best spot at low tide, Picnic Point, where she didn’t waste any time getting her feet wet.

I perched nearby, sketching Whitehead Passage.

3rocksketch_blog

She caught me in a pano shot.

photo © April Sayre

photo © April Sayre

We watched a tanker emerge from the distant mist.

The steady tanker flow into Portland harbor became ready reference when I made this illustration for Here Come the Humpbacks.

6HCTH12_blog

We decked out the guest room in a whale theme, of course. April slept under this pastel from the book.

7HCTH9_blog

My handy humpback prop kept her company on the night table.

8nighttable_blog

photo © April Sayre

My grandfather, Roland Bell Hogan Sr., hooked this rug, which last summer became my prized possession.

Finally, I got April to sign my copy of our book!

10J-hcth_blog

photo © April Sayre

She took this pano of my messy studio as I worked on a new project, this one about porcupines!

11Jstudio_blog

photo © April Sayre

We had a grand time talking about books, the birds, our families, and the fog. April had come to Peaks Island via other travels, and enjoyed a bit of island relaxation.

12april_blog

Thank you, April, for making the trek. It’s a special place that we share, in the vessel of a book. I’m honored that it continues to make a splash. I hope your island wanders bring forth new book wonders in the future!

2 Comments

  1. Jamie,
    As allways, Wonderful !
    Your grandfather hooked that rug???
    It’s beautiful!! Fantasti!!
    When?? How old was he?
    A pure work of art. Would love to see it some day.

    • Gunnel, Yes, my Grampy Hogan made that, probably in his retirement years. My cousin has had it for years but bequeathed it to me last summer, thanks to my humpback fixation. Come visit!

Leave a Reply to jamiepeeps Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.