Celebrating Literacy at PIES
It’s a treat to visit schools where literacy is celebrated. But it’s downright spectacular when it’s the island school down the street, where your own child learned to read. The Peaks Island Elementary School invited Scott Nash, Anne Sibley O’Brien, and me to meet teachers and students who read our books and created book reviews, skits, and reports. Teacher Leader Renee Bourgoine-Serio opened the evening with questions from kids. Mainly they wanted to know: WHEN is Scott coming out with a sequel to The High Skies Adventures of Blue Jay the Pirate? And then the Draw...
Read MoreEast End Fairy Tale
Once upon a time, on a cold winter’s day, Red Riding Hood set off through the woods to her Nana’s house. Her basket was full of pencils and paper because she loved to draw. Just for a moment, Red thought she saw a wolf. She decided it was just the shadows in the snow tricking her eyes. She kept going, all the way across Casco Bay to Portland where Nana lived. She climbed a steep hill and heard children’s voices. Red Riding Hood couldn’t resist going inside the big building with so many windows. She gasped when she saw all the welcoming words in so many languages! A...
Read MoreDear Watson
Whether you’re a Sherlock Holmes fan or not, the Portland Stage production of The Hound of the Baskervilles is one relentless spoof. When I read the script last year, adapted by Steven Canny and John Nicholson, it didn’t read that funny. But I attempted some hyperbole with my preliminary sketches for the poster. How about a towering fang-bearing menace looming over the Baskerville estate? Or the classic vintage pipe with a smoking title? A hound’s shadow on Holmes’ silly hat? Or the flashlight trope? A stalking hound of epic proportions? I can keep going…the...
Read MoreSweet Art Pops Up @ Portland Museum of Art
I’m back in the Illustration studio at Maine College of Art this semester, after taking one semester away from that buzzing hive. The junior illustration majors are a sharp crew; I’m honored to share the classroom with such a fine bunch. They hit the deck running with their first assignment: to create valentines for the Sweet Art Pop-Up Shop at the Portland Museum of Art. This project was launched three years ago in Scott Nash’s elective Development and Finish. The success of that effort drew the attention of Sally Struever, Director of the PMA Store. Last year, the Pop-Up...
Read Moreart roaming
The holiday season brought sweet joys: family time, baking, and wonderful things in the mail. I was thrilled to land work from John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall in 3 x 3 Annual 12! My annual arrived just before the Certificate of Merit. YES. Meanwhile, I was in the middle of a surprise commission. A secret Santa asked me to draw my former student/amazing illustrator Liz Long. Such an honor! I drew this quick gratitude for my neighbor Eleanor Morse, who gave us a lovely paperwhite plant. Right after Christmas, we began some art roaming, starting with the 17th Annual Animation Show of Shows at...
Read Morelong live lunacy
Have you heard? There will be a full moon on Christmas for the first time since 1977. I’m well versed in lunar cycles, thanks to my contributions to the Lunar Calendar since 1983. Over the years, I’ve had the honor of creating the color cover several times, always a treat. These are a few of the ideas I presented to publisher Nancy F. W. Passmore for the 40th edition. The calendar is a vertical format with a fold, and I like to cross that, if possible. Nancy is fond of the idea of keeping her moon boat afloat, so she picked the bottom left. I was happy to develop the one idea...
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