here, there, everywhere
It’s official! I’m getting postcards printed so the long held intention of celebrating Nest, Nook & Cranny is now gonna happen. At last. Author Susan Blackaby is coming east, and we’ll meet for the first time. Can’t wait! We’ll do a school visit to Peaks Island Elementary and also a visit to the Portland Public Library at 3 PM on October 14. We will write, draw, and be yappish. In other news, I am jazzed about autumn. Tis my season, y’know. It promises to be hectic. I’ve been all over lately, soaking up inspiration. Made a jolly good jaunt down...
Read Moresketchbooky
Back in the classroom at Maine College of Art, the senior illustration majors are drawing up a storm. Each was given a blank sketchbook at the end of last year, and asked to fill it during the summer. My first project this semester was for them to find some seed in there, and create a new piece. Illustrations are usually done via a series of sketchy steps. I wanted to see where we’d begin. Joe likes to create characters and imaginary places. He chose a purple guy named “Mikey” from his sketchbook. He decided to make it 3D, and photograph it. Joe’s got a great...
Read Moreice harbor news
I met the author of Ice Harbor Mittens, Robin Hansen, for the first time on Friday when we drove together to Down East publishing in Rockport. We headed for a meeting with the publisher and sales folks to discuss publicity for our book. And here it is! On the backseat in Robin’s car, strewn with her signature mittens… I used my island neighbors as models, and am hoping to make an island tour of Casco Bay libraries. This is Finn, who becomes Josie in the book, an 11 year-old who wants to be a sternman on his cousin’s lobster boat. I staged my reference photos back in...
Read Morenature trail
Woo hoo! The esteemed author, Susan Blackaby, of Nest, Nook & Cranny will be flying in from the other Portland in mid-October! It will be our first chance to meet before combining forces in a couple of book events. Meanwhile, I’m brainstorming with the brilliant Kirsten Cappy of Curious City to map out a nature walk in conjunction with an art show on Peaks Island. My island habitat has provided so much reference for that book, and my outlook in general, it seems only fair to share it! Every day, I’m trekking through some woods with my mutt, always with eyes peeled and just...
Read Morebook roamings
The whole brood went on a roundabout to Camden on Friday. This barn, spotted along Route 126, seemed like a good omen. We stopped in Rockland to check out our neighbor’s paintings hanging at the Dowling Walsh Gallery on Main Street. Scott Kelley’s huge watercolors of birds and warp are intricately compelling while swooping your eye all around. We skipped across the street to Archipelago, where my wee book is for sale. From there we checked in at our lodging and went straight to the pool, which brought back dappled memories of growing up, poolside, at the Red Doors Motel. Thanks...
Read Moresummer roamings
Here’s my sketch of Saskia, the daughter of Madeline Sorel, who I visited recently while her family was enjoying a stay on the lake in Wolfeboro, NH. We were classmates at RISD and used a bit of our visit to draw together, one of my favorite ways to spend time. It’s been such a hot week, I haven’t accomplished much else. I’m working slowly on sketches for Portland Stage Company, for a poster for next season. It’s fun doing lots of rough ideas but showing a lot of them invariably requires merging two or more favorites. For instance, these are the two roughs in...
Read MoreVisit JamieHogan.com
