Howdy, Austin
I’ve known my dear friend, Kathy Mahoney, since our early days freelancing as illustrators in Boston in the 80’s. She’s been inviting me to her new place in Austin for almost four years. Instead, I’ve caught up with her when she’s in Maine every summer. Opportunistic, I know. This year felt like the right time to go, and coincide with the total eclipse. Last Saturday, we caught the 7:15 am ferry from Peaks and arrived at Kathy’s house on the edge of downtown Austin by around 9 pm. Ample lulls between each leg of the journey were good for sketching while...
Read MoreSkywatcher school visits with IRW
I was delighted to visit three schools this past week at the invitation of Island Readers & Writers, a wonderful non-profit literacy organization centered in Mount Desert Island! On St. Patrick’s Day I drove three hours down east to Birch Harbor where this sign greeted me. After a warm welcome from Alison Johnson, the IRW school coordinator, at their wonderful farm house, a rainbow showed up. A lucky sign! Their frisky dog, Pip, inspired this sketch. On Monday, March 18, we arrived at the Ella Lewis School in Stueben, Maine. After reading Skywatcher to a group of Pre-K students, I...
Read MoreThe Lobster Lady
Ahoy, it’s me, the Bluffer. Last summer I hiked up this trail in the White Mountains, thinking of my looming deadline for The Lobster Lady by Alexandra S. D. Hinrichs. It was a challenging time, juggling two book deadlines at once for the first time in my career. This sign spoke to my doubts about my ability to capture the iconic Virginia Oliver, aka the Lobster Lady. When Charlesbridge art director, Kristen Nobles, contacted me about the assignment in early 2022, I was ecstatic about the opportunity to illustrate a picture book biography about the oldest person lobstering in Maine,...
Read MoreArt Camp
My island neighbor, dear friend, and author Nicole d’Entremont, has taken up drawing with a passion. She began creating what she called Trumpoons back in 2017 as expressions of satire fueled by outrage. This led to drawing more, taking sketchbooks on her travels to Vietnam and New York. She took her first drawing class this January with the legendary artist, Martha Miller, at Maine College of Art, and was transformed. Nicole enrolled in a portraiture class with Martha in June but it was cancelled because of Covid-19. She approached me about teaching her, and I was honored yet unsure I...
Read MoreFashion Illustration Week
Thanks to the Illustration Institute and sponsorship from the Roxanne Quimby Foundation, I was immersed in Fashion Illustration Week, held at the venerable Mechanics Hall in Portland, Maine. On Monday our class received a swag bag of treats including an Uppercase Magazine! Alex Rheault, a former colleague at Maine College of Art, demonstrated the croquis, a fashion sketch figure upon which any garment can be drawn. Our class of 20 included painters, designers, textile artists, actors, writers, retired art teachers, illustrators, and fashion thinkers. We worked in the spacious ballroom with...
Read MoreSkibby camp
A week ago I traveled with author Lyn Smith to Rockywold-Deep Haven Camps in Holderness, New Hampshire for the NESCBWI Squam Lake Writer’s Retreat. My little picture book dummy taking shape over many months was ready for review! We checked into our rustic room, giddy as campers. After mingling a bit and meeting our gracious event coordinator/Co-Regional Advisor Denise Ortakales we headed to the dining hall. The warren of lodges and cabins has lined the northern shores of Squam Lake since 1897, nestled beneath birches and pines. Such a treat to meet simpatico folks and find out what...
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