Author Illustrator Designer
The ravioli-lovin’ staff at Everyday with Rachael Ray have featured my Spongioli super-absorbent kitchen sponge design in their October 2010 issue!
I don’t know about you, but there is something about ravioli that captures the imagination. OK, that might apply to just me.
Anyhow, thanks for another nod, Rachael. You’re cool.
Did you have an awesome summer? Didja?
I have been having a good amount of fun coupled with a lot of work, both in and out of the studio. So, I let my blog languish a bit for summer. Now is the time to bring it up to speed as we go into FALL!
Going back a couple of months, I don’t think I ever showed you this fabulous new book called lllustrating Children’s Picture Books:
It’s by my friends Steve Withrow and Lesley Breen Withrow, and I was most happy to contribute a couple of articles to it. This one is about writing and illustrating board books, which is truly one of my favorite subjects:
This page is about the “other” markets you can pursue with your children’s art. If there’s one thing I do know a lot about, it’s “other” markets! This encompasses toys, fabrics, magazines, and stuff like that.
Let’s see… what else? Ah, I have been illustrating almost monthly for Highlights High Five, mainly little snippets of recipe ingredients.
I am continuing to create the Newport Creamery children’s menus. The current one is summer-themed and has Newport’s Cliff Walk on the cover. Next time you’re there, go ahead and ask for the kid’s menu!
I haven’t managed to update my website in a while (it’s on the list), so for now I will show you a few of my recently designed Fred items, now available at a store near YOU! Keep your eyes open for:
Salt ‘n’ Pants! Oh, how happy it makes me to see this one on the market! The little guy is salt, and his pants are pepper. I know it’s weird, but I’ve been trying to get it made for a couple of years now. Huzzah! Hooray for pants!
Another item I am glad to see out there is the Candy Stash. It’s a zip-up wallet shaped like those candy buttons stuck on paper. Mmmm, paper…and candy!
Fresh into the world is the Desk Daisy– a little potted plant that has 3 stems full of paper clip “petals”, held in place by magnets. Perky, huh?
Also new to the market are Chewdrivers…little interchangeable tool handles that can be fitted with a knife, fork, and spoon. This one was challenging to figure out, but it came out well and works like a charm.
Last but not least, I spent a good part of summer ferrying kids to and from the Swamp Meadow Summer Children’s Theatre. They did a very fun musical called “Olivia”, which was something like a female “Oliver” but with all new songs, and a totally different plot. Anyhoo, I did the art that was used for the playbills, t-shirts, and media stuff.
That’s all for now… we now return you to your regularly scheduled blog posts!
They’re the luckiest people in the world! Speaking of which, there’s a whole magazine just for People, you know? And, in June 2010’s issue, sandwiched between Joran van der Sloot and Tori Spelling you’ll find a handy dandy gift guide for Dads featuring my Pizza Boss 3000, which is a pizza wheel that handles like a circular saw.
And do you know why you rock, Ms. Rachael Ray? Because you choose cool items to feature in your magazine, and you chose one of mine again!
Here’s Twiggy, which is a silicone basting brush shaped like a twig. Hence, the name.
It’s in the June 2010 issue…get your barbecue on, people!
Rachael Ray, you’re the tops. Once again, one of my designs has turned up in her monthly magazine, specifically April 2010!
The item is called Budget Cuts, and it’s a piggy bank with various budget-related “cuts” outlined on it. Get it?? Haha! So you, too, can save your pennies for lottery tickets and donuts. Mmmmm, donuts.
Here’s how it looks all by itself, from the FRED site:
St. Patrick’s Day is coming soon enough. If you are like me, you like to get a jump on Irishing up your house for the occasion.
Each year, I bring out certain things. Things like this guy:
Yes. I know. He is actually Scottish.
This is Angus McDermott, also known as the first item I can remember designing as a professional. He came with the name “McDermott” sewed to his leg. I added Angus as an homage to his obvious Scottish heritage.
Back in 1989, a few months after graduating from RISD, I started working at Russ Berrie and Co., in Oakland, NJ, a large giftware manufacturer. I was put into the “Plush Department” (What a dream! Making stuffed animals for a living!), and this is one of the first designs I ever made that actually got manufactured. Like other kinds of design, a huge proportion of what gets developed doesn’t actually end up manufactured. In the two years that I worked there, I was lucky to have quite a few go through to production.
Anyhow, when he comes out for St. Patrick’s Day, he reminds me of those early days and of my NJ friends. Begorrah!
I just got back from a few days in New York, both setting up the FRED booth at The NY International Gift Fair and visiting my agent and publisher. Those meetings went well… more on that stuff *soon* !
Upon arriving in The Big City, we checked into the W Hotel, waaaayyy way up on the 30th floor.
The first thing I saw when I looked out the window was this:
What!?! Billy Elliot is playing right there in the back yard?? This is the one play I really wanted to see. We tried to get tickets the last time we were in town. This time, GOT ‘EM! It’s one of my favorite movies, so I was really curious about how they would make it a musical, of all things. So after walking around in the -20 weather to my meetings, Eric and I went to a Belgian restaurant (carbonnade flamande!) and then to the show:
It was fabulous! They did a great job of integrating ballet/dance/singing and miners striking and swearing. One would think that couldn’t be done, but they did it. Now that I am involved in community theater here at home, I couldn’t help but look at all the technical stuff involved. How did they keep the smoke machine smoke so even along the ground? How did they fling that kid on a wire from one end of the stage to the other without him dying? And just how deep do those hydraulic stage mechanisms go into the earth? And wow, dancing pants. I didn’t expect that! See it if you get the chance!
Never been to a big trade show before? You don’t know what you’re missing! Here’s me at the Fred booth (set up the day before, you can’t imagine how hellish the show looks the day before the show!):
All nice and clean, see? All the products looking their spiffy best!
We have a big TV now that scrolls through images. Cool. Here’s me with a WineStein:
My pal Barb was set up in a different section of the show devoted to licensing artists. This is a booth that’s hard to ignore! Check out the new fabrics and lamps!
Look who was overseeing The Javits Center!
Wait a minute. What did that taxi say? Let’s try that again.
Ah, irony. You’ve got to love irony!
It really was frigidly cold while we were there, so we didn’t stay outside too much. Here’s Eric freezing in Times Square!
Here’s George M. Cohan freezing in Times Square, too. He’s always cool. Yeah.
You know what we DIDN’T see in New York?
No KISS-guys with baseball bats. No mercenary mimes. No Riffs, no subway-stalking rollerskating guys. No Warriors at all!
And only one Lizzie. Hehehe.
Hello, Mr. Blog…it’s been a long time!
There is all kinds of fun, crazy, mostly-good-stuff going on here, leaving me little time to post. Be that as it may, let me show you some pictures that my lovely sister-in -law sent alllllll the way from Brussels, Belgium. She found a few good shops with a bunch of my product designs in them!
Key Shirts and EarRing!
PastaSaurus!
MonKeys! FreaKeys! Do Europeans have a lot of keys?
Ah, how I wish I could stroll through some of these shops right now. Because after that, I would go park myself in one of those cafés in the Grande Place and have a real hot chocolate. Then I would continue on and get a fresh-off-the-iron street waffle. Yeah. Thanks Valerie for scoping out the items!
My little glass creamer called “Half Pint” has made an appearance in the November 2009 issue of Everyday With Rachael Ray magazine! They do a great job over there of finding cool current items. I appreciate their enthusiasm for my designs!
They listed the link for The Museum of Modern Art store in NYC as a fine place to find it, and I agree. They still have it listed as one of their “best sellers.” Yay!
I love seeing where my designs turn up. Here are some neat new places to find a couple of my items!
Crazy Books, the Food edition is coming out in October in Germany from Edition Braus. The publisher is debuting it at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year. My Calf and Half creamer is in it- keep your eyes open when in Germany (drat, I was just there a few weeks ago)!
Here is the current Fall ’09 MOMA (Metropolitan Museum of Art) catalog, with another of my glass items, the Half-Pint Creamer. Every purchase made thru the catalog supports the museum. Sweet!
