hurly burly
Here’s my “Moto Ood” for the Monsters show at Pine Cone & Chickadee, opening this First Fridayin Portland. He looks just like I feel this week. Since our return from London, I’ve been vrooming. I shipped off 5 framed pieces for the Children’s Book Week exhibit at Charlesbridge Publishing next week. I’ll be there on Monday, 2 – 4 PM and also for the reception. Do stop in! I also dropped off 8 art works at Portland Stage Company. My illustration on the posters for their latest production, “Marie Antoinette: The Color of Flesh” and...
Read Morelondon loop
We’re back from a blitz of a trip to London. From Darwin to Diana, the Beatles to the Bard, we covered a lot of ground, thanks to the Tube. Here’s a slice of our jolly good time. After wearily arriving at our hotel, we crashed for a few hours. Being right near Kensington Palace, we then had a lovely stroll through Hyde Park, past so much wide open green space and romping dogs, we felt restored. Especially by the Peter Pan statue. Nearby is the serene memorial for Princess Diana, where a rolling loop of flowing waters calmed our jet lag immensely. This sculpture by Simon Gudgeon...
Read Morecircus of wonders
It must be spring. Illustration 2 students are warming up for their final project: a circus poster. With the Shriners Circus due in town next week, we drew from a model who was a ringmaster, a clown, and strong man in the eyes of the class. I made the above drawing pretty quickly. Chris Snowman drew this on a Wacom tablet, upon being handed a small plastic animal toy. I asked students to incorporate one somehow in relation to the figure. Here’s a drawing by Morgan Cremins: Below, Lucas gets loose with brush and ink, and the idea of looking but also imagining. The model didn’t...
Read Moreon the Illustration 2 trail
My amazing troupe of sophomore illustration students at Maine College of Art are stretching their skills in many ways. Recently, they invented 3 dimensional characters drawn from fables and folklore. Here is a sculpy Baba Yaga in progress, made by Shannon Owen. Now, she’s dressed and ready for a good story by the fire. Isaac Atkins decided his character needed a glossy coat. Hana Firestone made resourceful use of paper and plastic for her Fox and the Crow. Beware, Eric Wilbur’s Hydra fiercely guards Casco Bay. Molly Steinmetz’s Leshy found his way to the woods in the...
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 Morethar she blows
I am feverishly fussing over the last touches on my illustrations for Here Come the Humpbacks by April Pulley Sayre. Above is a detail, since the art’s all too large for my scanner. Here’s a humpback spouting, just as I’ve been blowing blue dust all over my studio for weeks (cough, cough..) Ahoy, thar be a whale in Casco Bay this morning? Oh, what fun! I just came across a very life-like toy by Schleich that I had to play with. If only I’d had this at the beginning of this project! Here’s another detail in which I got to draw other sea creatures, a welcome...
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