Oceans 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 at.

This artist is working hard on his complex jellyfish!

I learned quite a bit about more than humpbacks while working on the non-fiction picture book by April Pulley Sayre. This scene shows a jellyfish as well as some sea trash, a sad but true fact in our world oceans.

You can learn more about that HERE.

Living near the sea, I always carry a bag with me, for picking up plastic. Every day, I find things washed ashore.

This artist is drawing from a shell I brought in, with a barnacle attached.

Kids got a kick out of my magnifying glass and starfish.

Thanks to Reiche for a great session of drawing! As I rode the ferry home, over Casco Bay, I wondered about the deep story below.

There’s more than we can know. Bravo to all of you celebrating World Oceans Day!