Author Illustrator Designer
BOO!
Hope everyone has a great day today…here in New England we have the World’s Most Perfect Autumn Day, which really bodes well for the trick-or-treating kids tonight.
You know what that means? Plenty of candy for Mom, er, uh…the kids.
Yeah, the kids!
The picture here was a promotional piece re-worked into a greeting card- it’s always good to get extra mileage out of your art when possible!
Get out there and have some fun!
Hide the lettuce, lock your carrots in the closet. Something sinister lurks in the shadows, preying on your furry soul…
Nah, it’s just a rabbit ghost. But who says ghosts are scary? Maybe it just wants to be friends, or to tell you the all-important Meaning of Life, which all dead things know. Never make snap judgements.
I love Halloween, by the way. Love it! This mildly diabolical piece incorporates a pattern that I found on a 1950’s apron. They just don’t make patterns like they used to!
WOW! We had the great good luck of going to the RI Festival of Children’s Book Authors this weekend. I am SO GLAD the Lincoln School has decided to bring this festival back- I remember going to it years ago and having a blast (with and without kids), but then it stopped occuring for SEVEN years (why??). Well, it’s BACK and better than ever! Chris Van Allsburg (my old teacher from RISD!) and Andrew Clements, writer extraordinaire, were there. We were able to catch talks by the wacky John Scieszka, who made a huge impression on the girls. If you ever get the chance, catch one of his presentations- darn funny, and inspirational too, in an offbeat way. We also heard and met the amazing illustrator Etienne Delessert. If you are not familiar with his art, follow that link- it’s stunning, cerebral and psychological- and somehow FUN, too. Utterly original. The always delightful Jarrett was there, too- we were bummed out to miss his presentation, but the girls were set on going to “Harry Potter Day” at a local farm. I guess you could say we were booked that day (hehehe!).
I realized that I had forgotten to post a picture of the snazzy, brand-new studio that we spent many months (and moons!) working on. The work sucked up a lot of summer, but it was worth it! It is a joy to work in a place with lots o’ natural LIGHT, space, and TOYS. Yep, toys! And a few lunchboxes, and other highly inspirational things. Eric’s computer setup adjoins mine. You can still the see the giant oak tree outside- maintaining a view of it was a big part of our decision to practically take down the whole wall and open things up!
“Shopping With My ABCs” is now available! I did the art for this book over the summer, very happy to have a project that was full of babies and food. The book is a tie-in with a cute batch of plush letters for babies to play with, so the letters appear throughout the book along with all the stuff you’d see in a supermarket. Together, they are called “My Traveling ABCs”. My talented friend Mary Beth is the one who designed the letters for the client. It’s awesome to have a joint product with her! When you have the chance, why not “travel” over and check out the book, the letters and the rest of the Babe Ease line!
Today’s not-quite-Friday submission for Illustration Friday shows a boy and his dog partaking in one of the world’s quietest pastimes- bubble blowing. Just the gentle whoosh of air, the soundless popping of the ethereal orbs. Of course, bubble blowing, if you happen to have more than one kid involved, can be a pretty loud hobby full of happy squeals, clapping, and the inevitable “AWWWWW!” when the bottle spills. But that’s not what’s happening here. Nope. Just the quiet part.