objects of affection
I have a little box in my studio that displays my collection of souvenir cameras and various objects of my affection. I have a thing for starfish and urchin shells, very rare to come across on the rocky shores of Maine. I draw them every chance I get. This illustration is on the title page of Nest, Nook, and Cranny. I used this drawing, titled “Urchin Experiment” for a postcard mailer awhile back. Backstory: I did a lot of diving off the diving board growing up at my parents’ Red Doors Motel, where the pool was my spot. No urchins there, though… When I brought my...
Read Morenook books are here!
Hooray! I got my box of Nest, Nook and Cranny books! O happy Pub Day! I worked feverishly a year ago on the illustrations for this book of poems by Susan Blackaby. About animal habitats, it was a delicious challenge to immerse myself in the wordplay and my own environment, my radar always on the look out for immediate reference. The book is punctuated by spreads that define a particular habitat: desert, grassland, shoreline, wetland, and woodland. Except for desert, I could mine my own territory, more or less. Since there is a beaver colony on Peaks, I thought I could do some direct...
Read Morerock paper space
I love my rock. Peaks Island is only a mile long by a mile and a half wide, but I am stuck to it like a barnacle. You know it’s going to be a good day when you start off finding just the right stick for the dog. And then, you notice how lacy the low tide has made the edge of the sea. Even the ice makes you think of an Angela Adams design. But, I reluctantly leave my rock for the mainland now and then. I go to share a classroom with bright students, and then take three middle school girls to hang out at the Portland Museum of Art, where there is an amazing collage exhibit. Here they are...
Read Moregimme space
I dragged this out of the flat files yesterday, looking for any kind of portrait to send off to a group show in Brooklyn. More on that later. I did lots of self-portraits during art school, that chapter of self-conscious scrutiny. I didn’t draw myself for a really long time, until submitting the above instead of a photo to the contributors page of a magazine, several years back. Polka dotty me, on the dark side. Today will be a hectic day: teaching in the morning, hunting for nursing homes at lunch, dallying with middle school girls before the dance drop-off, and the finale: Free for...
Read Morelessons in learning
Yesterday’s MLK holiday felt like a day off from a day off. Snowed in, with plans cancelled, it was time to pray and ponder. Having been in San Francisco during the big 1989 earthquake, it is still difficult to grasp what Haitians are enduring. Even on a good day, they face poverty and corruption. I decided to reread Phil Hoose’s book, “Claudette Colvin: Twice Towards Justice” which just won the Newbury Honor. Bravo to Phil, for bringing non-fiction to new heights. A brave Claudette Colvin tells it like it was, and often still is. My daughter was involved in a...
Read Morenature calls
As I head back into the classroom, I confess I didn’t do the daily drawing that I urge my students to do. Practice, practice! I say. Yeah, yeah…. I was busy making cards, mailing, wrapping, and crisscrossing the White Mountains of New Hampshire to the Motherland. On my most recent trip, I screeched to a halt along the Kancamagus Highway, one of the most scenic and curvy journeys one could make. I’ve passed the signs that say beware of moose countless times, but have very rarely seen one. This sighting made my day completely. What a beast! Ascending to Kancamagus Pass, at...
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