Some Illustrator!
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...
Read More30 x 30 at the Portland Public Library
At the invitation of Portland Public Library’s Program Manager, Rachel Harkness, a group of Maine artists created panel art that included a scene in a library. She said, “Portland Public Library aims to highlight the work and importance of this art (and literary) form through our partnership with the Maine Comic Arts Festival. Exhibiting work by artists at the same size and shape, displayed identically lets the viewer see just how wide ranging and diverse comic art can be.” While I don’t consider myself a comic artist per se, I was happy to contribute a panel with...
Read MoreMoody Point Creative Retreat
A retreat, even one that’s two nights away, can be quite nourishing. I traveled to Wells Beach, Maine last week with Kirsten Cappy to step away from our usual, thanks to the generosity of Lyn Smith‘s family. Each of us starting new picture book projects was the main goal. We arrived under foul weather, but that didn’t stop us from walking to the shore where Lyn got a windy weather report from Kirsten. Back at the Cottage, a little blue bedroom became my work and dream space. I found a nature journal by Lyn’s son, Eric, from when he was 9. It proved the best prompt as...
Read MoreSex and Other Disturbances
Last night we saw Sex and Other Disturbances by Marisa Smith. When I read the script over a year ago, I had other thoughts for a poster besides that 3 letter word. The play touches many topics: marriage, aging, infidelity, female bonds, betrayal. Anney Giobbe plays Sarah, desperate for attention as the wife of Alan, an accountant preoccupied with environmental collapse, and mother of an off-stage teenager. She meets a sexy younger man in acting class, Niko, who becomes the catalyst for her changing identity. She visits his Tribeca apartment, loaded with plants, like an exotic jungle, or...
Read MoreMECAmorphosis 2018
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...
Read MoreSea Star Splash in So Po
Thanks to Kim Campbell at the lovely South Portland Public Library, my recent book, Ana and the Sea Star, got a sweet splash last Saturday. I brought shells for touching. We, too, found a sea star once, but it had already dried up. It became the model I drew from when illustrating the book. After I read the story by R. Lynne Roelfs, kids drew sea critters and colored sea stars. I drew a rather unremarkable mermaid on a big pad, but the kids didn’t care, they wanted to add to it and draw, too! …like this adorable mermaid… A vigorous scribble can be really fun. My Maine...
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