Maine College of Art

Tis the Season

Posted by on Dec 6, 2018 in Book: Ana and the Sea Star, Book: Porcupine's Promenade, Children's Book Illustration, Illustration, Maine College of Art, Peaks Island | 2 comments

Did those early snowstorms jump start your holiday spirits? They did mine! I kept thinking about that time I tapped my inner deer… and worked out an illustration for this year’s holiday card. This Deer Spirit is a cross between Ba from Hans Christian Andersen’s Snow Queen and a sister in Babette’s Feast by Isak Dinesen. On a starry solstice night, our wild selves shine on, with some cut paper snowflakes for good measure. Shortly after I sent off my image file to be printed, we gathered for an intimate Thanksgiving here on Peaks, where the temps hovered around 4...

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Opossum Tails to Come

Posted by on Oct 26, 2018 in Children's Book Illustration, Illustration, Illustration Institute, Maine College of Art, Pastels, Peaks Island, What Makes An Opossum Tick | 8 comments

I met Wilbur well before I began illustrating a picture book story about opossums! Last October the Center for Wildlife brought him in as a wildlife ambassador to my junior illustration class at Maine College of Art. We were all smitten by his toothy grin. This was my first sketch of many. By the spring of this year, author Lyn Smith sent me her manuscript for What Makes an Opossum Tick? and  another journey of illustrating a picture book began. I gathered all I could on opossums and traveled to Moody Point for a creative retreat in late May. This house would become the setting for the...

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Pace Yourself, Class of 2019

Posted by on Oct 19, 2018 in Art Classes, Drawing, Illustration, Maine College of Art, Travels | 4 comments

What good fortune to chaperone the Illustration MECA field trip to Stonington along with fearless Department Chair Mary Anne Lloyd! Maine College of Art’s Pace House is a splendid destination even under overcast skies. Our troop arrived in four vehicles, 13 students in all. After grilled cheese sandwiches and soup, they set out for the nearby Lily Pond. A downpour brought them dashing back, where they gathered around a toasty wood stove to dry off, sketch, and play games, surrounded by Stephen Pace’s paintings. Nothing finer than breaking bread together! I made a couple of MECA...

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This Island Life

Posted by on Jul 20, 2018 in Art Classes, Children's Book Illustration, Drawing, Illustration, Illustration Institute, Maine College of Art, Peaks Island, Publisher: Tilbury House | 1 comment

For the past two weeks, I’ve been up to my salty eyeballs with all things Illustration, largely thanks to the Illustration Institute’s second season of incredible programming. I’m excited to co-lead a Nature Sketchbooks By the Sea Workshop with author Lyn Smith this Thursday on July 26! Details HERE. On July 10, my MECA colleague, Judy Labrasca, joined me and several kidlit friends for Gregory Christie’s Illustration Institute bookmaking workshop at the Fifth Maine. Gregory is an award-winning illustrator and author with a special interest in book-binding. On the...

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Some Illustrator!

Posted by on Jun 20, 2018 in Book: Porcupine's Promenade, Children's Book Illustration, Illustration, Illustration Institute, Maine College of Art, Travels | 0 comments

My illustration orbit has been downright full of goodness and it’s only June. On June 5, MECA’s Illustration Department Chair Mary Anne Lloyd and I brought our art student daughters to see Melissa Sweet and Martha White discuss Melissa’s latest book, Some Writer!, about Martha’s grandfather, E.B. White. It’s always a joy to hear Melissa talk about her research process, and about the bounty of artifacts she was able to work with, thanks to the generosity of Martha White’s family archives. They both talked about what drew E. B. White to Maine as well as...

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MECAmorphosis 2018

Posted by on May 10, 2018 in Fashion Illustration, Maine College of Art, Pastels | 0 comments

I’m a fan of fashion shows. I’ve attended every show Maine College of Art’s Textile and Fashion Design Program has produced, including drawing and blogging about shows in 2013 HERE, 2014 HERE, 2015 HERE, 2016 HERE, and 2017 HERE! The runway sparks my interests in figurative drawing, reportage, and fashion illustration. MECA’s event takes a village of staff, students, volunteers, and sponsors to pull off. Bravo to all and especially to new Chair of TFD, Alysha Kupferer. This year’s Sixth MECAmorphosis was marvelous! My colleague, Chair of Illustration, Mary Anne...

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