Tis the Season
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...
Read MorePastels ici!
I am thrilled to share that my pastel, Regatta, is included in Paintings of Portland by Carl Little and David Little. The book spans two hundred years of art in all seasons featuring my pretty city across the bay. Check it out! I did this pastel years ago for a show on Peaks Island, and it’s in the collection of Bill and Patty Zimmerman, wonderful patrons of the arts. That’s Fort Gorges, which I pass on every ferry trip, and I love seeing it under clouds of all shapes. Pastel studies of seascapes and changing light have kept me busy between illustration projects for many years....
Read MoreOpossum Tails to Come
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...
Read MoreLook up, lunatics!
Happy Fall, everyone! When the air is crisp and the skies cloudless, I enjoy wandering the neighborhood on nights like these. The moon inspires my life and art in so many ways. Taking little breaks to witness natural beauty keeps me balanced. I’m pleased to announce the arrival of the 2019 Lunar Calendar, which I illustrated back in June when the dandelions were in full bloom. Do they not remind you of the moon? The publisher, Nancy F. W. Passmore of The Luna Press, sent along an envelope full of poems in May. One by Beatrice Greene titled “ms. dandelion” struck a chord....
Read MoreIllustration Parade
This summer has been a marvelous parade of illustration. What a life! On August 14 Ricardo Siri, an Argentinian cartoonist known as Liniers, gave a talk for the Illustration Institute. Even a rainy day couldn’t keep the illo peeps away. He brought his adorable daughters up on the Lions Club stage to sing and warm up the crowd before his presentation. He is well known in Latin America for his cartoon Macanudo which has recently been syndicated and will appear in the US. With the news in Argentina so often miserable, he aimed to feature a little bit of something positive every day. He...
Read MoreAnita Kunz
When an internationally acclaimed illustrator lands on your little island, the sun shines so much brighter. Anita Kunz arrived for a residency at the Illustration Institute in early August and my family eagerly attended her workshop at the Fifth Maine last Tuesday. Anita’s presentation began with the claim “Art has power” and her show of illustrations by others from history and contemporary culture made that point brilliantly. Art can incite violence, recruit people to war, or to resist war. Art can challenge the status quo or invoke worship, provide satire or remind us of...
Read MoreVisit JamieHogan.com
