Take something like a star
I have stars on my mind. It never fails that I am working out of season when illustrating a picture book. Last July I was feverishly drawing deep snow for A Porcupine’s Promenade. As the ice forms outside, I am drawing a summer day at the beach for Ana and the Sea Star (for Tilbury House, coincidentally located on Starr Street in Thomaston, Maine) When we decorated our tree, I noticed how many star ornaments we have. This one, from former island neighbors Deb Deatrick and Scott Vile, is a joy to rediscover every year. The letterpress poem by Robert Frost always shines a light on...
Read MoreSotto Voce
Of all the scripts I read in January for Portland Stage poster development, Sotto Voce by Nilo Cruz stood out as multi-layered, romantic, and evocative. In the play, a young Cuban man finds a German-born novelist living in New York who shares a connection to the 1939 voyage of the MS St Louis, a German ship that left for Cuba with German-Jewish refugees, only to be turned back. The elder writer, Bemadette, calls the young man Student. They don’t meet yet weave a romance built on memories and imagination via phone calls and messages. Like all the plays this season, the theme is about...
Read MoreWayne’s quiet world
Last week I traveled to Wayne, Maine to visit a beloved friend, Katherine. She is laying claim to her father’s retirement home, the kind of legacy that some of us have faced, and for one reason or another, have sold. In her case, she is making way for a new relationship to her father’s land and all that he left behind. Jack Mahoney was an avid fisherman and salty outdoorsman. Kathy shares his Yankee humor, so we spent most of our time laughing our guts out. We walked around the property, which borders Androscoggin Lake. We later identified this peculiar fungi with a guide found...
Read MorePacers and pencils
Maine College of Art’s Pace House is a legendary destination for alums and students. With great anticipation, I drove the MECA van with 7 of this year’s senior illustration majors and their fearless leader Mary Anne Lloyd under crisp October skies to Stonington, Maine. The house is full of art by Stephen Pace and his wife Palmina, whose hats hang in the front hall. Annelise and Gunnar wasted no time in embodying their kindred spirits. We made lunch and then scattered to scout out the local village and environs. I made a pie to bake later. Mary Anne put her lasagna in the oven,...
Read MoreA bristling book birthday
A Porcupine’s Promenade by Lyn Smith has been getting about! My neighbor sent a photo of the book spotted at the Common Ground Fair, at the Maine Authors Publishing booth last weekend. I had the honor of joining Lyn at the Louis T. Graves Memorial Library on Sunday as guests of their Pasco Lecture Series. I have a fond spot for the Graves Library, where I gave my first library presentation with Mitali Perkins years ago. Library Director Mary-Lou Boucouvalas gave us such warm introductions! She’s a passionate advocate for book creators, and I’m proud to know her. Lyn Smith...
Read MoreThe Irish..And How They Got That Way
I have Irish blood, of course. My great great great grandfather, Patrick Hogan, left Belfast in 1817 at the age of 19 when he settled in Young’s Cove, Nova Scotia. But otherwise my childhood didn’t involve much in the way of Irish heritage. No Celtic music around the house, no Irish step-dancing lessons, no nuns. I found my way to Ireland in 1980 during my Wintersession at Rhode Island School of Design, traveling on a photography independent study. My photograph of Joe Malone’s captures only the composition of a typical pub exterior in Limerick in 1980. Portland...
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