What a fine, fine, topical theme for this week’s Illo Friday (once again, brought to you on the weekend- are any of you really able to create art on Friday??)

Here we have one of my family’s favorite rituals- the decanning of the cranberry sauce. As everyone knows, cranberry sauce (the fully gelatinous type, NOT that awful “whole berry” stuff) must be decanned VERY carefully, or else you totally lose the highly desirable can shape.

There will be ten points awarded to the person who can most accurately describe the sound cranberry sauce makes as it exits the can- good luck!

Good luck also with all of your joyous family rituals this week- have a great one!

Today I volunteered at my kids’ school for RIF Day…that’s right, Reading is STILL Fundamental!

It is always a fun and semi-exhausting day- it somehow never works out that 1st graders come first, followed by 2nd, etc. Instead, the 4th graders come, followed by the 1st graders, etc. That means putting out a couple hundered books, then putting them all away and pulling out a different batch (always trying to make sure age-appropriate books are available).

I love the way some kids come in and choose immediately, while others linger as long as possible, finessing their choice. My own kids fall into the latter category. It’s also intersting to see which books go, and which ones stay. Junie B. is alive and well, as is Charlie Bone and Magic Tree House. Not so hot this year? Sports books, we had a lot left. It’s hard to figure out the wants from year to year, we try to ask the teachers and librarian what kids seem to want, and go from there.

The RIF experience always reminds me of my own experience of getting to choose my own book, when I was around 9 (same age as my twins now). I remember there being what looked like serious leftover/remaindered books, and other kids not knowing what to pick. Then I saw it. The Holy Grail! A novel version of Meredith Willson’s The Music Man, complete with lyrics! Oh, happy, blessed day! Granted, this wasn’t a typical kid choice, but it was great for me. I still have it! If you get the chance, volunteer for your school’s next RIF day!

Yes it’s Illustration Friday- uh, Saturday, again!

Agnes has been a little lazy about cleaning her aquarium. Now she has to work extra hard at removing all the delicate layers of scum and making the glass clear again. If you have an aquarium, you know what this is like. In fact, I did this Illo Friday piece INSTEAD of cleaning my actual aquarium! Don’t worry, the fish are fine…I try not to let the algae get to this level of maturity.

Can you tell what I used as algae in the artwork? Sea if you can guess!

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.

Well, I would have liked to do a new piece this week, but I have a deadline to deal with. So, here is a very recent picture of a cat who is changing out of his pajamas into his “day clothes.”

There are lots of clothes on the floor because, well…sometimes you have to look at ALL of the clothes to know which thing you’re gonna wear. At least that’s how it goes at my house!

This piece is a pencil sketch with black and white digital tone added- it’s part of a new dummy I’m working on, when I can.