This Island Life
For the past two weeks, I’ve been up to my salty eyeballs with all things Illustration, largely thanks to the Illustration Institute’s second season of incredible programming. I’m excited to co-lead a Nature Sketchbooks By the Sea Workshop with author Lyn Smith this Thursday on July 26! Details HERE. On July 10, my MECA colleague, Judy Labrasca, joined me and several kidlit friends for Gregory Christie’s Illustration Institute bookmaking workshop at the Fifth Maine. Gregory is an award-winning illustrator and author with a special interest in book-binding. On the...
Read MoreColor of Peaks
The ferry to Peaks comes and goes, as always, carrying more people and memories than ever before. I have lived here for 26 years, and continue to marvel at the beauty. I document the boats, the reflections, the ever changing light, and they inform my personal work and my illustration. The 15th Annual Color and Pages of Peaks event held at the TEIA on Friday night was that kind of island gathering that reminds everyone what a shiny rock we share. I had spent the weeks prior preparing work for sale. I made this petite pastel titled Marsh Spirit and Marty placed it in a vintage frame....
Read MoreSeeing Stars in Fairfield
I was warmly welcomed last Thursday to the lovely Lawrence Public Library in Fairfield, Maine. With the help of Children’s Librarian, Alyssa Patterson, I set up my pretend beach in the cheerful children’s reading room. Thanks to Library Director Louella Bickford for this shot of me reading Ana and the Sea Star. Kids tried the locomotion game with their sea stars in hand, and then colored a pocket for keeping. I brought some sanded pastel paper, like I used in illustrating the book, and invited everyone to try it. Stella gave me her drawing! Thank you! I also brought a large pad,...
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 MoreSea Star Splash in So Po
Thanks to Kim Campbell at the lovely South Portland Public Library, my recent book, Ana and the Sea Star, got a sweet splash last Saturday. I brought shells for touching. We, too, found a sea star once, but it had already dried up. It became the model I drew from when illustrating the book. After I read the story by R. Lynne Roelfs, kids drew sea critters and colored sea stars. I drew a rather unremarkable mermaid on a big pad, but the kids didn’t care, they wanted to add to it and draw, too! …like this adorable mermaid… A vigorous scribble can be really fun. My Maine...
Read MorePicture Book Finale!
I couldn’t have asked for a more satisfying ending to my story at Maine College of Art than the Picture Book course that just wrapped up last week. I wrote about the first half of the semester HERE, and the second half really picked up speed. After a snowy spring break, I returned to class with props for a life drawing session meant to warm us all UP. Students volunteered to model. Meet Queen Veronica. Drawing with my students is better than spring! The sheer variety of results is a delight. This sketch is by Aric. This one’s mine. My teaching assistant Liz Long’s sketch...
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