Book: John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall

Bounty

Posted by on Sep 7, 2016 in Book: John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall, Children's Book Illustration, Drawing, Illustration, Maine College of Art, Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing | 3 comments

What an honor to be included in the 2016 Biennial Faculty Exhibition at the Institute of Contemporary Art at Maine College of Art! The catalog’s cover (designed by Nicole Holmes ’14) is a detail from Treppenhaus, an oil painting by Hilary Irons. Guest Curator Sage Lewis writes “Artists have a deep and often private relationship with their subject matter before it becomes public. It develops and changes over time as life experience, research, and inspiration comingle with the handling of materials, the recording of images, and the reading of texts. As I was selecting work...

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Launching Land Forms at Ocean Avenue Elementary

Posted by on Mar 28, 2016 in Book: John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall, Drawing, Illustration, Pastels | 4 comments

Thanks to Side x Side, I had more adventures in second grade, this time at Ocean Avenue Elementary School in Portland, Maine. I’d received an out-0f-the-blue letter from a Professor Amir Sneedlebaum of the University of Papua New Guinea, as did my colleague, Pamela Moulton. He also wrote to each of the second grade teachers as well. He needs their help in creating a model island of diverse land forms, so that his team of researchers can study earth’s changes. Cool! Count me in! I arrived in a costume quite suitable for me, a native of the White Mountains of New Hampshire! I...

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art roaming

Posted by on Jan 10, 2016 in Book: John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall, Children's Book Illustration, Drawing, Fashion Illustration, Illustration, School Visits | 0 comments

The holiday season brought sweet joys: family time, baking, and wonderful things in the mail. I was thrilled to land work from John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall in 3 x 3 Annual 12! My annual arrived just before the Certificate of Merit. YES. Meanwhile, I was in the middle of a surprise commission. A secret Santa asked me to draw my former student/amazing illustrator Liz Long. Such an honor! I drew this quick gratitude for my neighbor Eleanor Morse, who gave us a lovely paperwhite plant. Right after Christmas, we began some art roaming, starting with the 17th Annual Animation Show of Shows at...

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long live lunacy

Posted by on Dec 17, 2015 in Book: Island Birthday, Book: John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall, Book: Tiger Boy, Children's Book Illustration, Collage, Illustration, Luna Press, Pastels, Peaks Island, Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing, Publisher: Tilbury House | 3 comments

Have you heard? There will be a full moon on Christmas for the first time since 1977. I’m well versed in lunar cycles, thanks to my contributions to the Lunar Calendar since 1983. Over the years, I’ve had the honor of creating the color cover several times, always a treat. These are a few of the ideas I presented to publisher Nancy F. W. Passmore for the 40th edition. The calendar is a vertical format with a fold, and I like to cross that, if possible. Nancy is fond of the idea of keeping her moon boat afloat, so she picked the bottom left. I was happy to develop the one idea...

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Draw Off & Draw On

Posted by on Jul 25, 2015 in Art Classes, Book: John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall, Drawing, Maine College of Art, Peaks Island, Travels | 4 comments

When Scott Nash challenged me to a Draw Off, I didn’t know what I was in for. But I wasn’t gonna say no to my fearless leader in the Illustration Department at Maine College of Art.   It was a foggy morning at the Fifth Maine Museum but the crowd was eager for action. Scott has done these several times, and takes requests from the crowd, kids first. Our first challenge: draw your opponent! Another: draw yourself as your dog: We got a few requests involving chickens; this one about drawing yourself as a cat: The entertainment was enhanced by accordion music by Peaks Island’s...

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Storybook Waters

Posted by on Jul 17, 2015 in Book: Here Come the Humpbacks, Book: Ice Harbor Mittens, Book: Island Birthday, Book: John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall, Book: Seven Days of Daisy, Book: Tiger Boy, Book: Warmer World, Children's Book Illustration, Illustration, Maine College of Art, Pastels, Peaks Island, Portland Public Library, Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing, Publisher: Tilbury House | 0 comments

The Storybook Waters of Illustrator Jamie Hogan opened last week, with a swell flock of peeps gathering to see my originals from 7 picture books, and hear Eva Murray read Island Birthday. It’s not every day two island girls make a book. We both deal with crossing water; I was delayed leaving Peaks Island because of capacity crowds on the Casco Bay Lines ferry. Eva flew from Matinicus, thanks to clear weather. Smiles abound when serendipity brings us together, in the Sam L. Cohen Children’s Library at the Main Branch of the Portland Public Library....

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