Pastels ici!
I am thrilled to share that my pastel, Regatta, is included in Paintings of Portland by Carl Little and David Little. The book spans two hundred years of art in all seasons featuring my pretty city across the bay. Check it out! I did this pastel years ago for a show on Peaks Island, and it’s in the collection of Bill and Patty Zimmerman, wonderful patrons of the arts. That’s Fort Gorges, which I pass on every ferry trip, and I love seeing it under clouds of all shapes. Pastel studies of seascapes and changing light have kept me busy between illustration projects for many years....
Read MoreOpossum Tails to Come
I met Wilbur well before I began illustrating a picture book story about opossums! Last October the Center for Wildlife brought him in as a wildlife ambassador to my junior illustration class at Maine College of Art. We were all smitten by his toothy grin. This was my first sketch of many. By the spring of this year, author Lyn Smith sent me her manuscript for What Makes an Opossum Tick? and another journey of illustrating a picture book began. I gathered all I could on opossums and traveled to Moody Point for a creative retreat in late May. This house would become the setting for the...
Read MoreMarilyn Faison Artist Residency
Many thanks to the Illustration Institute for a week’s artist residency a mere five minute walk from my Peaks Island home. So close, and yet so far away. The dirt road winds up into the woods where tall pines make you forget the summer hubbub that is now Peaks Island. The chance to be in a place apart brings a new awareness for any artist. I found so many objects of affection around the house, and drew some into the little book made in Gregory Christie’s Illustration Institute Workshop. Fallen petals urged me to capture the welcoming bouquet. too. I chose a work space on a second...
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...
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