Mega Bunny!

Here’s another picture from a series that I like to call:
“Random Pictures That I Pulled Of the Internet Because I Thought They Were Funny and Now I Have to Clean My Desktop So I Will Put Them On My Blog and That Will Be Swell”

big_bunny.jpg

HOLY COW. That’s a BIG BUNNY.
Don’t confuse it with this Big Bunny. That would be wrong.

Hello Vader

Does this really need a caption?

hellovader1.jpg

It makes me laugh.
I don’t know who you are, sir- but may the pink force be with you!

Spooky…

I am not superstitious by nature, nor do I place any credence in horoscopes and the like.
That doesn’t stop me from reading them EVERY DAY WITHOUT FAIL.
Imagine my shock at reading this particular horoscope recently:

horoscope.jpg

HOLY COW!
This is dead-on accurate, except for the “be paid incredibly well” part.

High Five Sightings

I have a little piece in the December ’08 issue of High Five:

hf-bun-turtle.jpg
Hurray! I got to do a bunny!

And here’s something that one of my eagle-eyed kids found in the doctor’s office while we were waiting.
Highlights used my first High Five piece from Feb ’07 in a subscription ad:

hf-doc-office.jpg
Cool!

Robert’s Snow- Meet Salley Mavor!

Welcome to Blogging for a Cure!
Oh, boy! The Blog-A-Thon is nearly done. That means the time is soon coming when you will be able to bid on the snowflakes! Each piece of art is available to buy through Robert’s Snow, with proceeds going to cancer research. If you know anyone who has fought this disease, then you know how important research funds are in finding new treatments and an eventual cure. It’s great art for a great cause, so bid like crazy!

Today’s featured flakemaker: fabric artist and illustrator Salley Mavor!

I was very excited to feature Salley- I have seen her gloriously stitched and pieced artwork in person, and it is positively unique. Working with fabrics, needlework, beads, acorn caps, and whatever else she finds that works, Salley makes dimensional art that almost defies description.
Quilting? Embroidery? Dollmaking? Yes, all of that- and more.

Her snowflake, Circle Dance, is here:

flake.jpg

Salley learned to sew as a child and has been playing with a needle and thread since. Drawing with crayons was never enough- she remembers feeling that her artwork was not finished until something real was glued, stapled, or sewn to it. Salley has illustrated seven children’s books using her unique blend of materials and techniques.

books.jpg

As a lifelong stitcher myself, I had a few questions for Salley about the way she works!

Liz: I’ll bet your workspace is different from most illustrator’s space. Where do you like to work best? What’s in your workspace? What kinds of things inspire you and influence your art?

Salley: I work in a large room, surrounded by shelves and chest of drawers full of different materials like felt, beads, thread, acorn caps, stones, creeping ivy, milkweed pods and twisted tree branches. Most of the things around me may never make it in to my artwork, but I find it inspiring to have things from nature and beautiful colors around me. The room feels like being inside a cantaloupe, with pale orange walls and green window trim. In the middle is the same large oak table that I used as a child to work on art projects.

studio.jpg

Liz: Are you always on the lookout for new fabrics to integrate into your art? Where do you find them?

Salley: I have a life time’s worth of fabric to use already and rarely go out looking for something specific, because I can never find what I like that way. Sometimes I look through upholstery samples and order some for a background fabric. I buy wool, plant-dyed felt from a family business. I’m not interested in making or dying felt myself, but prefer to use my time making things with it.

fishing.jpg

Liz: Each book illustration takes a month to create. Where do you get the patience?

Salley: It does take quite a while to do the illustrations and depending on the size and techniques used, I can cut down on the time devoted to each piece. But, there is no way to rush it, so I just relax into the rhythm of stitching. This way I have time to work out solutions and figure out how to make parts of the picture a new way. It doesn’t take patience as much as focus. I am happiest when at work in my studio.

viloin.jpg

Liz: What are you working on now? What would you like to work on in the future?

Salley: I am in the middle of making a 64 page book of nursery rhymes for Houghton Mifflin. It has taken 2 years so far and will come out in 2009 or 2010, depending on when my work is complete. I really like having a different rhyme on each page with a new set of characters to play with. After this book is finished, I want to make some non-illustration artwork, something with more personal expression. I took time this fall to work on a self-portrait, which has been very satisfying. It’s a time line of my life, with 52 dolls, one for every year.

berryfamily.jpg

Thanks Salley- it will be great to see these projects as they develop, stitch by stitch!

Don’t forget to bid on Salley’s snowflake at the Robert’s Snow website. The auctions start on November 19th, and Salley’s will be available starting December 3rd.

Follow the links below for more great flake features!

Friday, November 16

Saturday, November 17

Sunday, November 18

Everyone needs a Foot in the Door…

One of my recently designed products has been added to the new 2008 collection at RISDWorks! There’s a press release here.

foot_in_door.jpg

This lovely piece o’work is called Foot in the Door, because, well-
it’s a doorstop. And it’s shaped like a shoe.
It’s FOOT IN THE DOOR!
Visit the FRED site for more stuff like this, or for a fun retail experiece, shop RISDWorks in person or online. They carry a bunch of my products: MonKeys, Chopstick Kids, Pony Tales, etc.

risdworks.jpg
Me and some of my stuff at RISDWorks a few weeks ago.

For the record, I have never owned a high-heeled shoe in my life.
No, wait. I take it back.
I have a doorstop shoe now.
That counts, right?
At least I don’t have to walk on it!

Robert’s Snow-Meet John Abbott Nez!

Welcome to Blogging for a Cure!
Here’s where we, the Bloggers of the Kidlitosphere, are chatting about the fabulous artwork that’s showing up on snowflakes these days. Each piece of art is available to buy through Robert’s Snow, with proceeds going to cancer research. If you know anyone who has fought this disease, then you know how important research funds are in finding new treatments and an eventual cure. It’s great art for a great cause, so bid like crazy!

Today’s featured flakemaker: Author-illustrator John Abbott Nez!
Here’s an illustration that will get you in a snowflake-y mood:

winterscene.jpg
From My Cherry Tree, by John Nez

John is an artistic dynamo- his whimsical art can be found in literally tons of books and magazines for children, and also paints his favorite natural subjects on canvas in his “spare” time. He’s also one of the few people I know who’s been a “ghost illustrator” for a few popular book series. For his children’s work, he works traditionally to a point, then digitally enhances it for his trademark look.

His handpainted snowflake is a gorgeous homage to winter birds:
006_snowflake.jpg

Here’s the guy himself and a small selection of his books:
books2.jpg
(more…)

Robert’s Snow-Meet Joe Kulka!

Welcome to Blogging for a Cure!
Here’s where we, the Bloggers of the Kidlitosphere, are chatting about the fabulous artwork that’s showing up on snowflakes these days. Each piece of art is available to buy through Robert’s Snow, with proceeds going to cancer research. If you know anyone who has fought this disease, then you know how important research funds are in finding new treatments and an eventual cure. It’s great art for a great cause, so bid like crazy!

Today’s featured flakemaker: Author-illustrator Joe Kulka!

Joe’s been having some major e-mail trouble lately, so I wasn’t able to connect with him for an interview just now (I’ll update the post when I can).
But that’s OK, he’s been in my critique group for about 7 years, so I know a few things about him!

For one thing, he’s an amazingly talented illustrator, and has been successfully working for years in the fickle world of illustration. To his credit, he can do all kinds of art, from goofy cartoons to technical and medical illustration wih equal grace. While he works digitally most of the time, he is also an accomplished oil painter, and has returned to this favorite medium for his new book called The Rope, coming next year.

books1.jpg

This year marked Joe’s debut as both author and illustrator- Wolf’s Coming, published by CarolRhoda books has garnered great reviews and recently won a Bronze Bronze Medal in the “Picture Book – 4-8 Year Old” category of the Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards.

Joe’s flake this year is wolf-based:

wolf.jpg

Joe lives and works in Pennsylvania with his lovely wife and three children. As his family has grown, so has his arsenal of books, and it has been wonderful seeing both blossom forth. I am sure there will be many more Joe books to come- now’s your chance to pick up a piece of his original art while you can, and raise important funds for cancer research, too!

Go bloghopping! Check out all the other Robert’s Snow flakemaker features this week!
Visit Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast for the complete lo-down.