Book Friends
Way back in 2009, I visited the Friends School of Portland to read my first children’s book, Seven Days of Daisy. Friends do make the world go ’round. Fast forward to a recent sunny Tuesday, when I headed off island to visit their Stories by the Forest program. When I arrived at the Peaks Island dock, it was oddly quiet. Where is everybody? Well, yours truly had missed the boat! The summer schedule change got me! So, I promptly called the trusty water taxi. Here she comes, zipping across a placid Casco Bay. I made it to Cumberland Foreside in a timely manner and set up my table...
Read MoreIreland adventures: Cork to Dublin
We headed to Cork on June 2, driving back up the Dingle peninsula about 40 miles to Tralee. While at the Dingle Library, I’d read an essay about the Two Paps, a pair of mountains which, upon seeing them, the writer felt nourished by. I kept looking for them as the landscape, quilted in greens, rolled by. Every so often we’d ride through a town, where the ancient hugs the modern. We took an hour’s detour down to Kenmare, so I could pick up a cashmere sweater for Grace, the only person to request I bring something very specific back. It was the quickest of stops; Marty...
Read MoreAdventures in Ireland
Ever since a brief visit to Ireland in 1980, I have yearned to go back. Somehow, the years piled up until recently, when Marty, Daisy and I enjoyed two weeks of travels there. On May 22, we flew to Shannon Airport, during which the dusk to dawn was sped up, like a time lapse into the next day. We landed at 6 AM, sleepless, and rented a diesel powered Renault in which Marty bravely took the wheel to find our first lodging. The Carrygerry House is a mere 15 minute drive from the airport but felt far away in another time, situated above rolling fields. The inn’s pastoral views relaxed us...
Read MoreWomen’s March
You know it’s serious when an introverted, crowd-averse, middle-aged peep decides to go to the NYC Women’s March. But how could I not? I joined my neighbors, Nicole d’Entremont and Eleanor Morse, both writers and veteran activists for civil rights, peace, and the environment. Nicole and I left serene sunshine on Peaks Island, crossed Casco Bay, and took the bus to NYC, where a soft drizzle greeted us. We walked to Chelsea where I met our host, Fran, and her friend, Shirley, who is a Raging Granny. Here’s my sketch of Shirley in her Pucci scarf. She invited us to join...
Read MoreIllustration, How Do I Love Thee!
Illustration is literally all around right now. I just realized I’ve been doing it, living it, and breathing it non-stop for the last month. My talented kin, Mati McDonough, an artist, illustrator, and teacher visited Maine in November. She gave me a long, hard hug the day after The Election, the results of which were still sinking in. We went straight to the Portland Museum of Art, sure that art could lift our spirits. She signed her latest children’s book, How Do I Love Thee? an illustrative telling of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem. We then browsed the Matisse show,...
Read MoreFresh Eyes in Luna Land
Nancy F. W. Passmore is the venerable editor of Luna Press, which has published it’s 41st annual edition of the Lunar Calendar: Dedicated to the Goddess in Her Many Guises. I sketched her after our recent visit in Boston, which I will always consider Luna Land. I’m honored when it’s my good fortune to do the cover! These are some of this year’s sketches, done in June. In this rough idea, I have referenced my goddess figure sculpted by Peg Astarita. I tried a collage approach. This mosaic of blues was inspired by the work of Paul Klee. How about simplicity? This is...
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