Celebrating Literacy at PIES
It’s a treat to visit schools where literacy is celebrated. But it’s downright spectacular when it’s the island school down the street, where your own child learned to read. The Peaks Island Elementary School invited Scott Nash, Anne Sibley O’Brien, and me to meet teachers and students who read our books and created book reviews, skits, and reports. Teacher Leader Renee Bourgoine-Serio opened the evening with questions from kids. Mainly they wanted to know: WHEN is Scott coming out with a sequel to The High Skies Adventures of Blue Jay the Pirate? And then the Draw...
Read MoreEast End Fairy Tale
Once upon a time, on a cold winter’s day, Red Riding Hood set off through the woods to her Nana’s house. Her basket was full of pencils and paper because she loved to draw. Just for a moment, Red thought she saw a wolf. She decided it was just the shadows in the snow tricking her eyes. She kept going, all the way across Casco Bay to Portland where Nana lived. She climbed a steep hill and heard children’s voices. Red Riding Hood couldn’t resist going inside the big building with so many windows. She gasped when she saw all the welcoming words in so many languages! A...
Read Moreart roaming
The holiday season brought sweet joys: family time, baking, and wonderful things in the mail. I was thrilled to land work from John Muir Wrestles a Waterfall in 3 x 3 Annual 12! My annual arrived just before the Certificate of Merit. YES. Meanwhile, I was in the middle of a surprise commission. A secret Santa asked me to draw my former student/amazing illustrator Liz Long. Such an honor! I drew this quick gratitude for my neighbor Eleanor Morse, who gave us a lovely paperwhite plant. Right after Christmas, we began some art roaming, starting with the 17th Annual Animation Show of Shows at...
Read MoreMICA move
The dust is still settling here after our daughter’s departure for college. I am gladly between projects so I have the time and space to acknowledge what a transition it is. The drive from Maine to Baltimore is a haul, but Maryland Institute College of Art is a mighty welcome destination. This is the Brown Building, but we call it the Iceberg. Daisy’s new residence: Leake Hall. I had visions of struggling up stairs all day with loads of stuff. Wrong! A cheerful orientation team loaded a bin on wheels into an elevator. Meeting the roommates was a sweet moment! She was installed...
Read MoreLong Island celebration
What fun to island hop for another celebration of summer reading, this time at the Long Island Library. As a long-time member of the Island Institute, I enjoy learning about other islands, but visiting them is too rare. The logistics of going “down the bay” requires first a trip to Portland on Casco Bay Lines and then another ferry to another 4 stops. What would have been about an hour-plus of ferry time became a 15 minute trip on a water taxi instead, thanks to my host. But man, was it a soupy morning. No horizon line visible, and nothing to see in our wake, either. Captain John...
Read MoreOceans away!
Today is World Oceans Day! Now’s a good time to share my recent visit to Portland’s Reiche Elementary School at the invitation of Side x Side, an arts integration program. I felt right at home upon seeing this lively mural: I came to draw ocean creatures with three second grade classes, and talked about using the long horizontal for this illustration in Here Come the Humpbacks! by Caroline Arnold. I brought along my handy humpback toy for reference. This artist made great use of his page area, lower left. Everyone was provided with a line drawing of their chosen creature to look...
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