look and learn
Getting out to see current exhibits is always a refresher. I jumped at the chance to chaperone Susannah Green’s French 4 field trip from Portland High School to the Portland Museum of Art recently. She intended to expose the class to the French Impressionism on the second floor, but many students were mesmerized by the Richard Estes work in the main gallery. His work is photorealism extraordinaire, yet on close inspection, reveals brushwork and fascinating layers of perception. I’m fond of this one in particular because of the phone booths. I grew up at the Red Doors Motel, where...
Read Moredaring adventures in collage
When my super talented kin Mati Rose McDonough asked to interview me for her colorful e-course, Daring Adventures in Collage, I said YEAH! It prompted me to consider my connections to collage and the currents running through all my work. I didn’t discover collage formally until art history class at RISD, but had made cut paper cards as a child. This is my first published illustration, incorporating a scrap of Dick and Jane text to reference an educational crisis in teaching, August of 1980! My first eight years of freelance illustration in Boston brought opportunities for collage added...
Read Morethree cheers for Chelmsford
I knew I was in the right place when I arrived at the Center Elementary School in Chelmsford for two days last week. The halls are alive with color and art on display. I spent Thursday with first grade classes, reading Seven Days of Daisy, talking about how I made the book and shaped the story. I gave them blank booklets to begin writing and drawing their own story. They knew just how to add visual detail. Before moving to another classroom, a few volunteers shared their story. The best part is meeting kids, seeing their curiosity and listening to their ideas. Thanks to Mrs. Mackinnon, Mrs....
Read Moremuir meander
Curious City recently invited me to be part of a panel discussion about children’s books with the venerable Baxter Society, a fine flock of bibliophiles who meet monthly in Portland, Maine. I was honored to join Daniel Minter and Stephen Costanza to chat about how we do what we do. I always learn something new about my colleagues. In a nod to esteemed illustrator/bookseller/author/Vice President of the Baxter Society, Michelle Souliere, I shared this gem from my 2013 Sketchbook Project. Michelle is the owner of The Green Hand Bookstore, where a booklover can swoon all day with the...
Read Morebeard up
Any idea who this bearded wonder might be? It’s John Muir, subject of the current non-fiction picture book I’m working on with Charlesbridge Publishing. The story, by Julie Danneberg, is spun directly from Muir’s own journal, about an event in Yosemite in 1871. Drawing Muir’s beard has become quite the challenge, and now beards are on my brain. In one scene, Muir gets soaked by a waterfall. Hmm, what happens to a wet beard? I found the curious social network, Wet Beards, but it wasn’t much help. I noticed a colleague at Maine College of Art has a very Muir-ish...
Read MoreSeven kickers
1- With yesterday’s news that I am on the New York Public Library’s first Top 100 books of the last 100 years, I am OVER THE MOON. Hooray for Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins! To see what amazing company I am in, see the full list here. This chapter book was my first children’s book published, and Mitali remains an amazing mentor for me in the field of children’s books, leading the way in my first outings at schools and libraries. My portrait barely catches her brilliant smile. 2- Cool news: I will be illustrating another Mitali title, Tiger Boy, still in the...
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