Babette’s Feast
I worked on the poster illustration for Portland Stage’s world premiere of Babette’s Feast about a year ago. It wound up being a circuitous journey to the final piece, which can happen sometimes. I faintly recalled having seen the movie years ago, but didn’t want to see it again or color my approach too much by what had been done cinematically. I based my ideas on the script written by Rose Courtney and adapted from the short story by Isak Dinesen. Local actor and Affiliate Artist Abigail Killeen conceived and developed the play, which is set in the small town of Berlevag...
Read MoreWinter walks
As the anniversary of the Women’s March arrives, I’m reflecting on when I walked the very slowest in my life. Being in a huddled mass of humanity was life-affirming, our scrawled signs of dissent, our loud voices, our crush of bodies moving through Manhattan that historic day. In the year since, I have walked daily, mostly solo but sometimes with others. I am deeply nourished by these walks and none more so than now, in the heart of winter on an island in Maine. I recently came across two things that confirm why my winter walks are so important. In Brain Pickings, a marvelous...
Read MorePortland Public Library Bookmarks!
Here’s the tale of how my Portland Public Library 150 Commemorative Bookmark came about. When Marty and I were contacted last May about participating in a series of artists’ bookmarks the library would use for fundraising, we said YEAH!!!! Of course! Well, right after asking when did they need the art, because that’s always my first consideration. Project manager extraordinaire Heather Wasklewicz didn’t need the artwork until the end of August. That meant I could stall until a couple of weeks before. I have a saying (it comes from teaching) the more time you give an...
Read MoreIt’s a Wonderful Life
When I learned last winter that this season’s holiday show at Portland Stage Company would be It’s a Wonderful Life, I couldn’t WAIT to see the live radio play version. Joe Landry’s adaptation brought in all the vintage touches of a live radio broadcast, with applause signs, a foley table, and period commercials for cake soap and hair tonic. I worked on rough ideas for the theater poster last February. My first idea used a big radio as if it’s the pivotal scene on the bridge between George Bailey and his guardian angel, Clarence. Another composition, with a...
Read MoreSweet finish for Illustration MECA juniors
I last wrote about my class at Maine College of Art after the first month of the semester HERE. So so SO much has happened since! I’ve gotten to know the Junior Major illustration students better, their abilities and voices have grown, and it has been one blur of productivity. Project 2 finals were brought in, and the crit was quite articulate and thoughtful, regarding the success of illustrating a figure in an environment with convincing space and depth. These two used the phone as a prop. Project 3 involved illustrating one of three editorial essays for a magazine. One was from...
Read MoreFull moon soon
Calling all lunatics! This Sunday will be the last full moon of 2017. I know this because of my handy dandy Lunar Calendar, to which I have contributed since 1983 at the invitation of Nancy. F. W. Passmore, editor of the Luna Press. I worked on the cover of the 2018 edition during my trip to Ireland in May. Well, I did a quick sketch anyway. From the cottage where we stayed in Dunquin, I saw a distant island. Everywhere we went, it was there, like a body floating. It’s called Inis Tuaisceart and I couldn’t get it out of my head. Plus, there are goddess faces in unlikely places....
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