country road take me home
Our motorcycles sit tucked in the barn most of the time, since motorcycling isn’t really a family hobby. But once it awhile, Marty and I head out off the island onto back roads. Daisy did this drawing for Marty for Father’s Day of my GB500, which is an ’89 Honda bought new in 1991 in San Francisco. We did an impromptu ride to my native state, New Hampshire, a few weeks ago. This water tower is on Route 113 near Brownville, Maine. Our destination was the Indian Head Resort, up the highway from where I grew up at the Red Doors Motel in Lincoln. I’d always been curious...
Read MoreSketchbooks on Peaks Island
On Saturday I partnered once again with MECA colleague Judy Labrasca to lead a Peaks Island Sketchbooks Workshop through Maine College of Art’s Continuing Studies Program. Every year the weather’s a little different, the day unfolds at an organic pace, and I meet the best artists with whom to spend a day drawing. Judy meets students at Casco Bay Lines and I greet them on island, where we make introductions and discuss materials for making books. Judy brings such bounty! I brought pre-cut pastel papers. We share the philosophy that sketchbooks are not precious, but vehicles for...
Read MoreDraw Off & Draw On
When Scott Nash challenged me to a Draw Off, I didn’t know what I was in for. But I wasn’t gonna say no to my fearless leader in the Illustration Department at Maine College of Art. It was a foggy morning at the Fifth Maine Museum but the crowd was eager for action. Scott has done these several times, and takes requests from the crowd, kids first. Our first challenge: draw your opponent! Another: draw yourself as your dog: We got a few requests involving chickens; this one about drawing yourself as a cat: The entertainment was enhanced by accordion music by Peaks Island’s...
Read MoreDrawing with Color at TEIA
Last week, I headed down the hill to the TEIA, also know as “the club” to lead a 2 day class in Drawing With Color for kids aged 8 – 12. The last two summers, I’ve done this class with adults. Kids’ turn this time. We began a discussion of terms with a color wheel I inherited from my Uncle Roley. It’s one thing to talk color, it’s even better to draw. This is Mia’s curvaceous color wheel. I brought my stash of Color Aid paper so everyone could try their hand at a classic demonstration of the relative nature of color: Josef Albers’ ...
Read MoreStorybook Waters
The Storybook Waters of Illustrator Jamie Hogan opened last week, with a swell flock of peeps gathering to see my originals from 7 picture books, and hear Eva Murray read Island Birthday. It’s not every day two island girls make a book. We both deal with crossing water; I was delayed leaving Peaks Island because of capacity crowds on the Casco Bay Lines ferry. Eva flew from Matinicus, thanks to clear weather. Smiles abound when serendipity brings us together, in the Sam L. Cohen Children’s Library at the Main Branch of the Portland Public Library....
Read MoreEpic Side x Side report
A week ago today, I found myself happily in the mix of buzzing teachers at the Portland Museum of Art for the first annual Side x Side Summer Arts Institute. Side x Side is an arts organization whose mission is bringing arts integration into public schools in Maine. They were awarded an Arts in Education Model Development and Dissemination (AEMDD) grant of $1.9 million from the U.S. Department of Education, marking the significance of collaborative work between educators and their creative communities. Side x Side was formed in 2013 by Beth Wilbur Van Mierlo and Annette Kraus, and partners...
Read MoreVisit JamieHogan.com
