swing tour
Trees are good for many things but most of all the magic of swings In this scene from Seven Days of Daisy the girl is going full-tilt. There’s a thrill from a tree swing that doesn’t happen on the average playground. Looping in circles! Wheeeee! The daring dangers of crashing into bark! Arrrrghhhhh! I had plenty of fun moments to choose from when structuring my story around the highs and lulls of an island week. But I certainly could not leave out swinging, one of the biggest bangs for any buck spent on toys EVER. The little round pink and purple number shown above was handmade,...
Read Moresayonara summer
Much of the look of Seven Days of Daisy is based on realism, but simplified with cut paper, pastels, and indelible memories. In the illustration above, the girl is awed by fireflies while a ship sails silently past. That ship is the Scotia Prince, a ferry that made daily trips to Yarmouth, Nova Scotia for many years. It left it’s dock in Portland every evening, from May through October, at 8 PM, and it’s deep horn marked the twilight hour better than any clock. It was such a magical sight, glittering on the water. I did this pastel a few years ago, a view from the bay side of the...
Read Morewaves all around
The main thing that blows me away about life in general is how connected we are, whether we realize it or not. During June and July I was working on a large assignment for Oxford University Press. I cannot share details until the publication date in January 2010. How does an illustrator three miles out to sea get a job in the UK? Why, thanks to the I spot, THE illustration internet site. Coincidentally, Jami G, VP at the ispot, asked to buy a copy of my soon-to-be-published book, Seven Days of Daisy. Little did she know it was idling near my desk due to some work that came via the ispot! In...
Read Moretales from the book trail
I’ve spent so much time producing my wee little book that the idea of actually reading it to children and selling it was a not on the tip of my tongue. Before I’d even finished redoing some of the art (originally done back in 2002) I had an invitation to Stories in the Garden at the Friends School of Portland. I picked the very last date available so I could get my book printed in time. As an illustrator for almost 30 years, I’m used to meeting deadlines, at the last moment possible. Unfortunately, the printer’s binding machine busted and I discovered the night before...
Read Moreseven days is real
Hooray! At last, my picture book Seven Days of Daisy is REAL! Thanks to lots of work and island inspiration, back burner, blather, more back burner, and a recent blast of determination, my story written and (mostly) illustrated seven years ago is now for SALE. I immediately brought a copy to the Peaks Island Library, where I was instantly invited to read and do an activity of book-making. Next Tuesday! I brought some copies to the Gem Gallery, which is a hot spot for new shows all summer. And tomorrow I will be at the Art on the Porch, an event/fundraiser for the Fifth Maine Regiment Museum...
Read Morenews splash
You’ve heard that, right, that no man is an island? It’s pretty cool that being three miles out to sea (give or take several strokes, if you are swimming the Peaks to Portland Race) doesn’t necessarily put me off the map. I’ve hit the online trifecta with recent blogposts that feature my work. Three cheers and a splash for my mermaid cohort, Judith Hunt, in the Maine Illustrators Collective for posting bios of all those featured in the current show at the Kennebunk Free Library. Hooray to Liz Yanoff of the New York Reading Association Youth Book Blog. I was...
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