I've Been Working...

Well, the house and yard are beginning to resemble Grey Gardens, but that's pretty normal around deadline time. It's been a fun and busy spring!

There's much art in progress in my little studio. I'm a big fan of cozy clutter, can you tell?
(*Do you see the newest addition to our menagerie in the center of the photo?)









I'm painting, drawing, painting the next book, making notes to myself about where each piece is at. It's satisfying to see the check-marks accumulate, even though I'll go over each spread one more time at the end, for touch-ups.

 A snippet in progress, from a few weeks back...

*And below, our newest addition:

He's in training now, observing and napping...

... when not making mischief of one kind and another...

Guest Blog Post

Fun stuff-- I was invited to post some of my thoughts about promotional postcards over at the Sub It Club blog. Click on over! (Give the rest of the blog a read, too. Great tips!)

Cape Author Fest

Time to hit the road again to one of my favorite states, evah!– for the Cape Author Fest in Cape Elizabeth, Maine! Check out this amazing group of authors and illustrators, here...  and I hope to see you there! (Details, here...)

The Cape Author Fest

Saturday, May 11, 2013

2:00-5:00 p.m.

at Cape Elizabeth High School

Auction Art at BEA 2013

Words are powerful.

On May 29th the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression will hold their
19th Annual Children's Book Silent Auction at BookExpo America. Anyone can bid on artwork donated by children's book creators to help in the fight against censorship of
books for young readers. It's an excellent cause.

I've donated two pieces from upcoming books:

(Helen Keller's Best Friend Belle...)













(There are No Moose on this island!...)


Take a look at ABFFE's pinterest page to see all the wonderful donations...

And here's more information about the auction if you'd like to bid. (There will also be an online auction ahead of time with even more amazing art!)

Oblique Peek

The Great Wall O' Reference...

And a little peek at art in progress...

Black-and-White-Step-by-Step

Here's a step-by-step progression of the black & white sample I was working on last week:

 Thumbnail sketch:

Rough sketch, larger:

Cleaned up sketch:

















And voilá, the final piece:

Black & White Art-In-Progress

I

love

love

love

working in black & white.

Just gotta say it.

Okay, Go!

I've gotten the okay to start final art for a new book with Sleeping Bear Press, scheduled for 2014! Here's a snippet of a sketch. Bears are really fun to draw, by the way.

More New Maps

I love getting things in the mail. These arrived recently– maps for an ongoing series of books about the USA for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. More states to come!

(Hairy Little Assistant #1 likes to read.)

Tweak, Tweak

I'm in that strange space between finishing art for one book and waiting for sketch okays on another. Time to pull out a story I've been needing to tweak for the longest time. I've missed it! It's funny how hours spent illustrating other people's stories gives you ideas on how to deepen your own. I love how creativity works sideways like that.

This was in the drawer. Drawers are good for when you need a total break in order to come back to your story with a fresh mind.

Now it's back on the wall.

Hard to ignore the wall. After a while your story speaks, sometimes softly and sometimes loud, and hints at ways to make it real. You can't rush the wall.

This is fun.

Still Life With Cat & Sketchbook

Special Storytime at the Carle

Please join me and author Rebecca Rule this Friday, February 22nd at the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art in Amherst, Massachusetts, for a special Storytime and book signing!

Here are the details... hope to see you there!

Nice Review!

I'm very happy that Sled Ride has been included in this list of new winter books for children! Read about all of them here.

Thank you, International Reading Association, for the nice review!

Make Art While the Sun Shines*

Sketches filling up the wall:

Roughs piled on the table:

And final art accumulating in the drawer:

Not really sure how much I can share right now, but more details about these projects to come soon, I promise!

(*Okay, the sun is not literally shining today. I just like the proverb.)

Our Whirlwind Maine Book Tour

We had a blast this past weekend in Maine, with 3 venues visited, 587 miles driven, a whole bunch of books signed, and more laughs than I can count. I was especially glad to have my daughter along for the ride. She was a huge help, acting as Chief Navigator, Crackerjack Photographer, and My Spare Brain.

Here's author Rebecca Rule and me reading at Pineland Farms....

... and the Portland Children's Museum. (I wish we'd had more time to explore Portland... I was too busy trying not to crash into city buses while attempting to find our way there.)

And here we are at L.L. Bean, or what Becky has dubbed "The Mothership." I look like I'm about to bust a gut. (Becky must have said something funny again. She's good that way.)




















This is my favorite shot...

Fun times! (Plus, we made it home in time for Downton Abbey on Sunday night. Sweet.)

Dates & Links

Here are some upcoming Sled Ride events I'll be attending with my wonderful author, Rebecca Rule! We'll be reading, talking, showing art and signing books. Hope you'll stop in!

Saturday, January 19th ~ Pineland Farms
15 Farm View Drive, New Gloucester, Maine
12:00 - 2:00 pm - Reading & signing

Saturday, January 19th ~ The Children's Museum and Theatre of Maine
142 Free Street, Portland, Maine
3:00 pm - Reading & signing

Sunday, January 20th ~ L.L. Bean Flagship Store
95 Main Street, Freeport, Maine
11:00 am – 2:00 pm - Reading & signing

Friday, February 22nd ~ The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
125 West Bay Road, Amherst, MA
2:30 pm - Storytime & signing


And... here are some links I've been meaning to post:

• Sled Ride received a nice mention in a New York Times article about the Let It Snow exhibit at the Bruce Museum in Greenwich, CT.

• A fun interview with Rebecca on the Kirkus Reviews blog.

Fun stuff!

Happy 2013!

Take a deep breath and here we go... wishing everyone a happy, healthy year full of joy, and at least a few good runs on the sled.

(Art from The Iciest, Diciest, Scariest Sled Ride Ever!, written by Rebecca Rule, illustrated by Jennifer Thermes, Islandport Press, 2012)

Starry Night, Newtown

 

Hoping everyone can find peace. xoxo

Doodle Doodle Do

Afternoon at the Bruce

Yesterday's visit to the Bruce Museum was a blast! For me, the best part was talking to the children up close and one on one about how picture books are made. (See how low my chair was? Perfect kid-eye-level!) I brought along lots of show and tell-- my sketchbook, thumbnail sketches, cleaned-up sketches, and final art.













I think the kids were most surprised by the scribbles in my sketchbook, and how messy the beginnings of a book can be. But maybe that gives them permission to explore their own ideas without trying to make them "perfect" the first time around. I hope!

Once again, I wish I had taken more pictures. But here's a shot of the museum shop...

... and Sled Ride art on the wall!...

The exhibit runs through February 24th, 2013!