Skywatchers Downeast
These have been heavy times, for Maine and for the world. I hope you’re holding on OK, dear readers. The natural world has been a tremendous solace. It’s a privilege to find sanctuary there. It lifted my spirits to see my book, Skywatcher, featured in Waterville’s Story Walk along the Messalonskee Stream. Serena at Waterville Creates, Miss Liz at the Waterville Public Library, and Amarinda at the Children’s Discovery Museum combined talents to create the catchy text that accompanies the book pages. It was a much needed exhale, to stroll along outdoors and read my book...
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 MoreBear and the Oxbow Island Gang
It’s for real! Rae Chalmer’s debut chapter book is here: Bear and the Oxbow Island Gang is an environmental mystery set on a Maine island for readers 8 – 11. Last fall, after reading Rae’s manuscript, I began illustrating the story by doing small, preliminary sketches for the cover. She’s a fellow Peaks Islander, so instead of scanning and emailing my rough ideas, I brought my sketchbook to her house a few minutes away. So analog and refreshing! These are a few more ideas, which all reflect an island setting that residents of Peaks may find familiar. I also did...
Read MoreLa Chance
I worked on a really different project this past summer, for Pathfinder International, a non-profit organization based in Watertown, MA. Since 1957, Pathfinder has partnered with local governments, communities, and health systems to remove barriers to sexual and reproductive health services. Together, they expand access to contraception, promote healthy pregnancies, save women’s lives, and stop the spread of HIV infections so young people can choose their path forward. They devised an educational game called La Chance aimed at young female teens in Burkina Faso, West Africa. I was...
Read MoreAlmost, Maine
I worked on poster ideas for John Cariani’s play, Almost, Maine last winter, the perfect season for a love letter to northern Maine. I borrowed a pastel background from another poster (Babette’s Feast) when I mocked up my sketches, which all involved a big night sky. The vignettes in the play involve two people connecting, with many of the scenes outside on a Friday night in the deep winter. I was inclined to add a moose in this one… The rough with the snowmobile got the go ahead. I did some research on Northern lights, which I only saw once in my life, when I was a child...
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