Lupine Land
It’s been two weeks since the Reading Round Up, the annual conference of Maine Children’s Librarians held in Augusta on May 1. This event brings together those serving youth in a Maine school or public library and celebrates children’s literature while honoring individuals who have made significant impacts on the literary landscape. I drew this for my Rabbit rabbit rabbit good luck post before heading out the door wearing my best purple attire. A few weeks before the conference scheduled for April 4, I got a surprise phone call from Camden Public Library’s...
Read MoreHowdy, Austin
I’ve known my dear friend, Kathy Mahoney, since our early days freelancing as illustrators in Boston in the 80’s. She’s been inviting me to her new place in Austin for almost four years. Instead, I’ve caught up with her when she’s in Maine every summer. Opportunistic, I know. This year felt like the right time to go, and coincide with the total eclipse. Last Saturday, we caught the 7:15 am ferry from Peaks and arrived at Kathy’s house on the edge of downtown Austin by around 9 pm. Ample lulls between each leg of the journey were good for sketching while...
Read MoreSkywatcher school visits with IRW
I was delighted to visit three schools this past week at the invitation of Island Readers & Writers, a wonderful non-profit literacy organization centered in Mount Desert Island! On St. Patrick’s Day I drove three hours down east to Birch Harbor where this sign greeted me. After a warm welcome from Alison Johnson, the IRW school coordinator, at their wonderful farm house, a rainbow showed up. A lucky sign! Their frisky dog, Pip, inspired this sketch. On Monday, March 18, we arrived at the Ella Lewis School in Stueben, Maine. After reading Skywatcher to a group of Pre-K students, I...
Read MoreSkywatchers Downeast
These have been heavy times, for Maine and for the world. I hope you’re holding on OK, dear readers. The natural world has been a tremendous solace. It’s a privilege to find sanctuary there. It lifted my spirits to see my book, Skywatcher, featured in Waterville’s Story Walk along the Messalonskee Stream. Serena at Waterville Creates, Miss Liz at the Waterville Public Library, and Amarinda at the Children’s Discovery Museum combined talents to create the catchy text that accompanies the book pages. It was a much needed exhale, to stroll along outdoors and read my book...
Read MoreThe Lobster Lady
Ahoy, it’s me, the Bluffer. Last summer I hiked up this trail in the White Mountains, thinking of my looming deadline for The Lobster Lady by Alexandra S. D. Hinrichs. It was a challenging time, juggling two book deadlines at once for the first time in my career. This sign spoke to my doubts about my ability to capture the iconic Virginia Oliver, aka the Lobster Lady. When Charlesbridge art director, Kristen Nobles, contacted me about the assignment in early 2022, I was ecstatic about the opportunity to illustrate a picture book biography about the oldest person lobstering in Maine,...
Read MoreLeap Frog
I love collaborating with my island neighbor, author Rae Chalmers. Her newest Oxbow Island Gang story, Leap Frog, is the fourth book I’ve illustrated that has published this year. How lucky am I?! Late last fall when she handed me the manuscript, she also gave me this little fellow to cheer me on. It’s also the fourth book in her series, and we have our process pretty much down. She gives me a list of things to illustrate for each chapter and a month or so later I show her rough sketches. She gave me this cup by McKone Pottery and I swear drinking her husband’s coffee from...
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