my mountains
I’ve lived on an island for 22 years, yet every autumn when the air turns crisp, my mountains in New Hampshire beckon. Sailing over the Kancamagus Highway last week with my curious partner in creative retreats, Kirsten, we saw sunset clouds tumbling over a ridge in the White Mountains. We arrived at dusk at the Indian Head Resort, where I waitressed one season in high school. The motel my parents owned down the road has changed owners many times since they sold it in 1977. Yet Indian Head is remarkably the same as I remember it. We checked into a wee cottage with a gas fireplace for...
Read Moremaking merry
I’m getting back to my Sketchbook Project today. Yes, I really am. I showed this sketch done a month ago to my colleague, Anne Dennison, at Maine College of Art. I’d put her adorable niece into my Sketchbook Project 2013, eating a cookie from Katie Made Bakery. My theme this year is favorite shopfronts around Portland. It gave her the idea to commission me to do a portrait as a gift for her sister. So I did, in pastel. Kyler is one very, very cute girl; hope I have captured even an ounce of that. Thanks, Anne! It was my last “to do” before beginning the whirl of...
Read Morepop up show at Charlesbridge
In honor of Children’s Book Week, Charlesbridge Publishing had the brilliant idea for a pop-up show in the empty office space two flights below theirs, on Main Street in Watertown, MA. I bopped down with Curious Co-Pilot, Kirsten Cappy, in dotty style. Trivia question: what are we holding? I brought along original sketches and my toy polar bear that provided handy reference for A Warmer World. Some framed pieces were part of an incredibly abundant exhibit of children’s book illustration. I’m thrilled by the company I’m in! Here’s one of Rafael Lopez’s...
Read Morebetween deadlines
I’m in that delicious place I call “between deadlines” during which I get a teeny bit more sleep, and fill my well. Recently, this meant spending more time in Portland, drinking in the vibe there and being inspired by art and artists. My illustration class enjoyed an engaging visit from Mike Gorman, who previously taught illustration at Maine College of Art. Now he does web design, and maintains a prolific freelance career. He shared his formative years working feverishly for multiple regional papers, as well as the process from preliminary sketches to final art for two...
Read Morebequeathing books
There’s been a harmonic convergence of vintage books coming into my possession lately. Perhaps it’s the advent of e-books, or the passing of an era, or the legacies that books can bestow that explain this phenomenon. Nobody wants to just throw away a good book. Here are some old books that have lovingly exchanged hands recently. Kirsten Cappy threw a little mid-week frolic at Curious City around a musty box she received from a beloved professor in need of letting go her collection of children’s books. Fruit, nuts, and a zesty zin rounded out the occasion. Mary Anne Lloyd...
Read Moreword.
Fun things are happening in the Teen Zine Factory over at the Telling Room. I’m leading a workshop on making zines with a group of very fresh kids, thanks to my fanaticism about the punch that can be packed in such little paper vehicles. Zines are any kind of self-published statement, maybe words, maybe pictures, ideas made real. I’ve used them as an ice-breaker assignment many times, and have quite a collection. Here’s just a few of my favorites: At the Telling Room, everybody spreads out and gets into their creation. Some were sketching, like Elias, who drew a favorite...
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