Awesome Opossums in Orono
Author Lyn Smith and I traveled north to Orono on Monday to visit the awesome Asa C. Adams Elementary School. What a warm and welcoming learning place filled with color and history! The knotty pine halls are lined with fantastic art by students from Pre K to 5th grade. Librarian Diana Smart and art teacher Nancy Fitch had prepared well for our visit, with an Arts and Literacy celebration prior to our arrival. We were tickled by this decorated door to the library! Lyn read aloud What Makes an Opossum Tick? to each of the 6 groups who gathered during the day. I detailed my process of making...
Read MoreTis the Season
Did those early snowstorms jump start your holiday spirits? They did mine! I kept thinking about that time I tapped my inner deer… and worked out an illustration for this year’s holiday card. This Deer Spirit is a cross between Ba from Hans Christian Andersen’s Snow Queen and a sister in Babette’s Feast by Isak Dinesen. On a starry solstice night, our wild selves shine on, with some cut paper snowflakes for good measure. Shortly after I sent off my image file to be printed, we gathered for an intimate Thanksgiving here on Peaks, where the temps hovered around 4...
Read MorePutting the A in STEM
I was invited to be a volunteer exhibitor at the 5th Annual STEM Expo sponsored by Portland Public Schools and Envirologix last Friday. Since many of my children’s books are nature-themed, I brought my collection of nature objects and some life-like toy models for nature studies with students. The event was held at USM’s Sullivan Gymnasium, and it was like a trade show for careers in science. Over 50 exhibitors, ranging from ecomaine to Maine Total Weather to Engineers Without Borders to IDEXX Labs to the Electro Toy Company drew busloads of local students along with displays...
Read MoreSome Illustrator!
My illustration orbit has been downright full of goodness and it’s only June. On June 5, MECA’s Illustration Department Chair Mary Anne Lloyd and I brought our art student daughters to see Melissa Sweet and Martha White discuss Melissa’s latest book, Some Writer!, about Martha’s grandfather, E.B. White. It’s always a joy to hear Melissa talk about her research process, and about the bounty of artifacts she was able to work with, thanks to the generosity of Martha White’s family archives. They both talked about what drew E. B. White to Maine as well as...
Read MoreMoody Point Creative Retreat
A retreat, even one that’s two nights away, can be quite nourishing. I traveled to Wells Beach, Maine last week with Kirsten Cappy to step away from our usual, thanks to the generosity of Lyn Smith‘s family. Each of us starting new picture book projects was the main goal. We arrived under foul weather, but that didn’t stop us from walking to the shore where Lyn got a windy weather report from Kirsten. Back at the Cottage, a little blue bedroom became my work and dream space. I found a nature journal by Lyn’s son, Eric, from when he was 9. It proved the best prompt as...
Read MoreOctober vibes at Moody Point
October adventures abound. Last week we had the pleasure of staying in an antique cottage at Moody Point, thanks to Brian and Lyn Smith. It’s only a short ride from Portland but the outing hit the refresh button immediately. We stopped in to peek at the new Mothers Wing at the Graves Memorial Library and then visited the Corey Daniels Gallery. That place is full of wonders. Being the lunatic I am, I saw moons and eclipses in this series of Portals by Harrison Walker. No surprise I was drawn to Sarah Bouchard’s Orbs. They breathe so well next to Corey’s wood sculptures. The...
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