Moto: Scotia!
We did it! Our 1000- plus mile motorcycle trip to Canada is complete. Marty and I haven’t done this much riding since before our daughter was born. Could we do it? Our ambitious route kept us moving every day, and we kept our focus on the road ahead. Much has been written locally about the Nova Star, a too big ship for too few passengers. As it docked in Portland, we were very eager to board. How glittery Portland looked in our porthole! We cruised around the ship, finding various places to settle for awhile before succumbing to a rocking slumber in our neat cabin. Upon arrival in...
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 Morecountry road take me home
Our motorcycles sit tucked in the barn most of the time, since motorcycling isn’t really a family hobby. But once it awhile, Marty and I head out off the island onto back roads. Daisy did this drawing for Marty for Father’s Day of my GB500, which is an ’89 Honda bought new in 1991 in San Francisco. We did an impromptu ride to my native state, New Hampshire, a few weeks ago. This water tower is on Route 113 near Brownville, Maine. Our destination was the Indian Head Resort, up the highway from where I grew up at the Red Doors Motel in Lincoln. I’d always been curious...
Read MoreDraw Off & Draw On
When Scott Nash challenged me to a Draw Off, I didn’t know what I was in for. But I wasn’t gonna say no to my fearless leader in the Illustration Department at Maine College of Art. It was a foggy morning at the Fifth Maine Museum but the crowd was eager for action. Scott has done these several times, and takes requests from the crowd, kids first. Our first challenge: draw your opponent! Another: draw yourself as your dog: We got a few requests involving chickens; this one about drawing yourself as a cat: The entertainment was enhanced by accordion music by Peaks Island’s...
Read MoreB is for Brooklyn
Hi Ho, it’s on to another college tour we go! Brooklyn was the final destination last week of the accepted college visits: Pratt Institute. We only glimpsed Manhattan from afar. Hotel le Bleu is not kidding. We found warmer lights at Rachel’s Taqueria on Fifth Avenue, plastered with vintage ephemera. We made it to the information session next morning at Pratt, barely, but enjoyed touring campus among the tulips. Pratt’s 17 acre campus is it’s greatest asset. Who doesn’t love paper fashion, on display in the library? A dispenser of pens caught my fancy. I dawdle...
Read MoreTiger Boy launch
I waited years to illustrate Mitali Perkins‘ book, Tiger Boy. How proud I am to celebrate it’s recent publication! We gathered at Newtonville Books yesterday, home of many of Mitali’s book events during her years living in Newton, Massachusetts before moving to California. The retail counter is cool. Mitali talked about the evolution of her story, thanking Charlesbridge editor Yolanda Scott for her steadfast nurturing of the book. The plot, people, and place Mitali created were inspired by her father’s youth, travels and research to the Sunderbans, and her own abiding...
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