Portland Public Library Bookmarks!
Here’s the tale of how my Portland Public Library 150 Commemorative Bookmark came about. When Marty and I were contacted last May about participating in a series of artists’ bookmarks the library would use for fundraising, we said YEAH!!!! Of course! Well, right after asking when did they need the art, because that’s always my first consideration. Project manager extraordinaire Heather Wasklewicz didn’t need the artwork until the end of August. That meant I could stall until a couple of weeks before. I have a saying (it comes from teaching) the more time you give an...
Read MoreSweet finish for Illustration MECA juniors
I last wrote about my class at Maine College of Art after the first month of the semester HERE. So so SO much has happened since! I’ve gotten to know the Junior Major illustration students better, their abilities and voices have grown, and it has been one blur of productivity. Project 2 finals were brought in, and the crit was quite articulate and thoughtful, regarding the success of illustrating a figure in an environment with convincing space and depth. These two used the phone as a prop. Project 3 involved illustrating one of three editorial essays for a magazine. One was from...
Read MoreGiving thanks
Don’t ask me how a flock of wild turkeys has been roaming our end of the island for many weeks. Leading up to Thanksgiving Day, there were plenty of jokes about them. Peaks Island is part of the City of Portland, where no hunting is permitted, so these birds were just free range. When our daughter returned for college break, our first stop was at the delightful Dahlov Ipcar exhibit at the Portland Public Library. You can’t miss the fantastic reading nook with a mural of lively fowl! This First Friday is the closing reception, so hurry up. Besides Ipcar’s original picture...
Read MoreMore more ii
The seeds of the recent residencies at the Illustration Institute’s Marilyn Faison Artist Residency were possibly planted in the spring of 2016, when Maine College of Art Illustration faculty Scott Nash invited Emily Flake and Bob Mankoff to a screening of Very Semi Serious, a fantastic documentary in which they both appear, about New Yorker cartoonists. They were like sit-down comedians on the Portland Museum of Art stage afterwards. Fast forward to this August, when Emily Flake filled the Fifth Maine to capacity, as the setting sun made the audience beautiful. Emily shared a...
Read MorePostcards from the Rock
I have always been a snail mailer. Even when I was growing up at the Red Doors Motel, I cultivated pen pals. Creating post card promotions as an illustrator is one occupational hazard that I enjoy. These are just a handful from many years of mailing out samples. Here’s the scoop behind my most recent postcard, Summer in the Slow Lane. I’ve always hankered for little campers and the time to take road trips. I made a sketch on the ferry one day based on a photo I took a few years ago on the way to Stonington, Maine. Kirsten Cappy happily modeled inside this camper we spied for sale...
Read MoreSummer Days of Daisy
Summers in Maine are heavenly. If we could bottle them, we would. Here’s my capture of the fleeting flavors we tasted. Now that our daughter is back in Baltimore, it helps to reflect on what a Daisy-full time we had. Beginning with our trip to Ireland, we are thankful for family. There’s been togetherness and also departures. Here Daisy heads off to visit her beau, which involved a ferry, an Uber, a train, and another ride. There was fog. And more fog. Ferries vanishing. Fog veiled the shore of Long Island during our Father’s Day picnic. Daisy saw plenty of sun hanging out...
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