Side x Side Slides into Summer
Working with Side x Side, Portland’s coup in the name of arts integration, has been truly satisfying, as well as a juggle. This spring I visited three schools, East End, Reiche, and Ocean Avenue Elementary, where our Land Forms project had a happy culmination. I attended last week’s Summer Arts Institute at the Portland Museum of Art along with a hearty crowd of teachers on their first day of summer vacation. Now that’s dedication! Mark Bessire, Director of the PMA, welcomed us and our coffee into the auditorium. He introduced Mayor Ethan Strimling, who supports the arts,...
Read MoreWonders at the Weymouth Waterfront Library
Last Tuesday I visited the Weymouth Waterfront Library on the last day of my MECA residency. What a blast! The library sits, literally, at the edge of a salt marsh on the Sissiboo River in Nova Scotia. I visited the day after my arrival to meet their gracious library clerk, Margaret Thibault, who invited me to share my children’s book illustration with two grades in Azure Thurber’s French Immersion classes from the nearby Weymouth Consolidated School. I made a quick flyer from my pastel of the view from the Jenny Family Compound. It was a kick to find that Margaret had posted it...
Read MoreBaie Sainte-Marie Artist Residency
I am fresh back from a divine two weeks, thanks to Maine College of Art’s Baie Ste Marie Residency. As an adjunct professor at MECA since 2003, I was unaware of the deep renewal a residency can offer until I lucked into three nights at the Pace House a few years ago. Since then, I’ve had my eye on this opportunity in Nova Scotia, a beloved place of family ties and epic light. Thanks to the Jenny family, the house overlooking St. Mary’s Bay in New Edinburgh has provided inspiration for MECA alumni, faculty, and staff since 2009. Our journey began by driving from Portland,...
Read MoreBun Bunny Fun
When award-winning children’s book author Cynthia Lord invited illustrators to come sketch the baby bunnies she’s been fostering, I was so there. I’ve followed her regular posts on Facebook, and did this sketch of Benjamin, a Netherland Dwarf rabbit she brought home from Cottontail Cottage Rabbit Rescue. She also brought home Peggotty at the same time, who surprised them soon after by delivering four baby bunnies! Following their progess was fascinating and a dose of reality. Two of them, Tiny Tim and Pip, did not thrive and died. Meanwhile, Dodger and Fezziwig have grown...
Read MoreSide x Side at Reiche Elementary
As a Side x Side visiting artist, I made four visits to Reiche Elementary to spark their Moving Oceans program. The kick-off featured Mary Cerullo, non-fiction author and Associate Director of Friends of Casco Bay sharing her books. I was excited to finally meet her! She told a lively anecdote using this critter for emphasis. For the first visits to 4 second grade classes, I showed them my stash of sketches for the cover of Here Come the Humpbacks. I do LOTS of drawings! I also brought along my collection of natural objects, such as clam, mussel, and scallop shells, barnacles, sea urchins,...
Read MoreMECAmorphosis 2016
The Textile and Fashion Design Department at Maine College of Art staged their fourth fashion show last Friday, as splashy as ever. My colleague in Illustration, Department Chair Mary Anne Lloyd and I snagged seats next to Jill McGowan, who taught in TAF this year, so faculty pride was brimming! I love the diversity of models in all shapes and sizes, many of them students. The fresh looks, too, like “Gray Circles” by Jianna Bennetti ’18, modeled by Theresa Uwamahoro. Some sights begged a sketch. This is Jianna’s also, modeled by Tanner Skilten. Seated at the edge of...
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