Brushes with Life!

Wander through messy art studios in PT

2010-07-09T21:35:00.000-07:00

Here's a chance to see art studios in Port Townsend. We were told to leave them as messy as when we're working in them, because visitors said they were too clean last year. So I'm working on making this one PT grunge. Come visit Saturday and Sunday August 21 and 22, 2010 from 10-4pm Kids can come make a collage illustration too. Come and mess around!

Come see us!

2010-03-30T20:47:00.000-07:00

The third weekend in August is the annual PT Artist Studio Tour. It's a chance to see a huge variety of kinds of artwork created. Some studios include art activities for visitors. Come see us!

SCBWI Winter Conference

2010-02-02T21:17:00.000-08:00

The SCBWI winter conference was fabulous. The Illustrator's Intensive day gave everyone a chance to see how over 100 illustrators would each illustrate the same topic. It was fascinating to see how each person created an image completely different from everyone else.
There's no point repeating what has already been said. Check out their blogsite:
http://scbwiconference.blogspot.com/

Throwing the portfolio out with the recycling

2010-01-21T22:21:00.000-08:00

This was not the plan! My portfolio apparently wanted to be reassigned to recycled paper. After depositing a pile of papers into a recycle bin in the dark, my portfolio was no where to be found. A friend and I returned to the bin with a rake and tried to locate the escaped portfolio to no avail. Who could imagine that a week before needing to present the portfolio at an international conference, it would commit suicide and jump into a paper recycle bin. Either it was shy or had very low self-esteem.

Either way, the whole thing needs to be created anew within 5 days. My daughter said it was probably the Universe giving me another chance to create a Stellar portfolio!

My ideal life

2010-01-07T21:48:00.000-08:00

My ideal life might not include one specific place called home. Most recently my home is near the Puget Sound. It's a beautiful place with a nice community, but it's small. Many friends and family are across the Sound from 'home' and my studio. I spend a lot of time commuting back and forth across the water to meet with artist friends, critique groups, painting groups, family events, and just general arty stuff.
This home seems much closer and easier to maintain those connections. For what seemed like too many years, we lived in Germany. There were many great things about living there. One of my favorite things was that Europe has all kinds of nooks and crannies to explore. During those years I also did volunteer work in places to get to know the culture better, like in Ecuador, Jamaica, and Ukraine. Turkey is a fabulous place too. People around the world are generally friendly and interesting.
Living overseas was the best way to learn about other cultures. It seems that where we choose to live always has things we love and things that are less than ideal. We are very lucky when we can find a balance so we can focus on the things we love to do and still be close to those we love. It's easier now that I'm mostly a stay-at-home illustrator.

Happy New Decade and a Blue Moon to you!

2010-01-01T15:44:00.000-08:00

Wishes for a happy new decade, with a child's ability to find joy in simple pleasures!

Rendered Speechless

2009-12-20T21:40:00.000-08:00

Just started a web forum for illustrators called Rendered Speechless Illustration. It's a place for illustrators to gather for fun and inspiration. If you are an illustrator, we'd love to have you join. Find a comfy chair and join us!
Rendered-Speechless.ning.com

May peace, happiness, and health be yours!

2009-12-12T21:11:00.000-08:00

Wishing you peace, happiness, and health. May you have enough time with those you love to feel connected and comforted, and enough time in quiet solitude to reflect on life.

nanowrimo

2009-11-15T14:22:00.000-08:00

Writing 50K words in a month is an experience similar to swimming in the arctic ocean or doing a technical drawing on the floor of a preschool classroom. Yes, it can maybe be accomplished, but why? I'm at the halfway mark for both words and days, but the ideas run thin. After all, it's really short stories that I love and have the attention span to either read or write! :-o
The image is of my published works... shortish, non-fiction, occasionally wordless, and fun!

Missing Deutschland

2009-10-17T20:11:00.000-07:00

Have you ever lived in a place that was fascinating and interesting, but language and cultural differences made life more difficult? Going to the store to buy something as simple as flour took a dictionary and understanding of the many kinds of flour available in another country? They used a numbering system, like 405 and 550. It was a mystery, and at the time, there weren't expat blogs to help figure it out. Eventually we figured out enough to cook Lecker (tasty) food! Here are a few photos of our German home:

Collaboration can set us free!

2009-10-15T22:31:00.000-07:00

These two sisters are just starting their journey together, but they have already learned something about collaboration that we all should know! And besides, they are just plain cute!

Incredible Edible Studio Tour

2009-10-10T21:36:00.000-07:00

This was the first day of the an incredible (and partly edible) studio tour. I had 53 tour-ists visit the studio. It was a day of laughter and joy. There was time catching up with old friends and meeting new ones. They came from a range of places around our planet: Connecticut, Australia, Switzerland, Gig Harbor, Seattle, and right here Ma and Pa Kettle Land. (If you have read The Egg & I by Betty McDonald, you will know the place) I learned as much about the visitor's art and lives as I shared about my own. Everyone had such interesting comments that I started writing them down. One I chuckled about all afternoon was, "It's a good thing you have a woodpile outside to hide the ugly building". Now I call it Tin Can Studio because it is in a metal building. Here we concentrate on inner beauty, rather than outward appearances. See for yourself! And come visit!

स्टूडियो StudioTour

2009-09-25T09:47:00.000-07:00

First, I'm confused why there is another language before my title. It's a mystery. I typed "studio", and the mystery font appeared. So those of you in who can read it have a special invitation to the the studio tour! And maybe the translator link will help everyone else! My studio will be on the Port Townsend Studio Tour, October 10th and 11th, from 10am-4pm. There will be 47 art studios on the tour this year, with all kinds of art represented. Port Townsend is a little seaport with a very cool Victorian center. It's a great place for restoring your soul! The website describing the tour can be found at: http://artporttownsend.org/2009/
Come visit!

Selfish giant rethinks world view

2009-07-24T12:18:00.000-07:00

The Selfish Giant has banished children from his garden and built a wall to keep them out. When Spring arrives in the countyside, his garden remains snowy and cold. He is rethinking how he has affected the world around him.

The story is by Oscar Wilde.

Life is fragile! Egg family journey

2009-05-11T11:25:00.000-07:00

The egg family has gone on a journey. Happily, the word has spread that child car seats save lives, because life is fragile, and eggs know this only too well!!

Evolution of an illustration

2009-04-25T11:56:00.000-07:00

Here's how I work when creating an illustration. First, I generate lots of ideas in thumbnail sketches. I try to not get stuck on the first idea that comes to mind, as better ones may come up after some thought. The thumbnails are small versions in the same proportions as the final illustration. Time is well spent creating thumbnails. Usually there will be more than one idea that makes a good composition, and that can be developed too.

Next, I paint a value study in the same media I plan to use for the illustration.

Then I paint two or three color studies using the value study for a guide.

And finally, I make a pencil sketch, sometimes ink it with waterproof ink, and paint the illustration. A few changes can be made to composition at this point, but not too many for it to work.

A few new illustrations

2009-04-19T20:19:00.000-07:00

Here are illustrations from this week. They are done in watercolor and ink, and one uses gouache also.

Shoeless in Seattle

2009-04-04T17:45:00.000-07:00

Might be shoeless in Seattle, but these just wait patiently for a walk!

Recent illustrations

2009-04-04T17:42:00.000-07:00

We'd better warn Jack of what's to come. I don't think he's read the story.

Ogre : Oh Grrr

2009-03-12T21:17:00.000-07:00

Here's an Ogre, or is it Oh Grrr, who has spent too much time shoveling snow this winter, and now apparently is deceased! Oh Dear.

A few assignments

2009-02-05T20:37:00.001-08:00

If you want to grow as an artist, classes help. I'm taking a couple of graduate courses in the school of illustration at AAU-SF. Here are a couple of them.

Green Bunny & Friends

2009-01-08T21:16:00.000-08:00

Green Bunny and his friends, Kitty, and Robot are not too busy for cookies. The story is a twist on a folk tale. Green Bunny is real however. First, he was a dream. Then he became a green fleece stuffed animal for a child. Now he has a life of his own.
The illustration is done in gouache and ink.

May your Muse be with you in 2009

2009-01-01T20:19:00.000-08:00

Wishing everyone a healthful, joyful, peaceful, creative 2009. May your Muse be with you in all that you do!

Who's snoring now?

2008-10-30T22:18:00.000-07:00

Who's snoring now? Just the blog, not us! In the past year, my daughter has added two children to our family. The first was adopted and is 11 months old. Her birth-parents are from Eastern Africa. The second related by birth is 2 months old. Someday she will have to ponder that her sister can have 2 sets of parents: adoptive and perfect birth parents, while she is stuck with the reality of only one set, who probably won't be perfect. :-/
Being adopted myself has given me some insight into the imagination of adopted children. When my daughter was born, she was the first biological relative I had ever seen. And she was even more perfect than my imagined birth-parents. Life is magical.
Goodnight!

Forgotten IF

2008-06-08T21:13:00.000-07:00

Cleaning the cabin with Snow White

2008-06-06T21:54:00.000-07:00

When cleaning their little cottage, one of the hard-working dwarfs points out his lazy companion, Sleepy, to Snow White.

Who's the fairest in the land?

2008-04-22T14:01:00.000-07:00

Not the Queen in Snow White, as she looks like she could use a spa vacation and some Buddhist philosophy.

Bologna Children's Bookfair 2008...Wow!

2008-04-06T12:48:00.000-07:00

This was an incredible (and sometimes edible) treat to meet people passionate about children's books from all corners of the world. It will take me some time to digest all that I learned there. (burp. excuse me!)
Illustrator's Cafe in the fair offered lectures by illustrators, publishers, award judges, and had a huge display of original artwork that was also published in the Bologna Annual, 2008 Illustrator's Catalog. The fair was housed in the Bologna Fiera in 4 huge buildings. It took days just to visit the exhibits. To summarize, I can only say, "WOW!" Where do I leave the gratuity for this feast with kindred spirits.

Praha stars

2008-02-25T13:37:00.001-08:00

"I think I'm Adopted" illustration

2008-02-15T22:39:00.001-08:00

Celebrating the diversity of adoptive families. Link to children's shirts: http://www.cafepress.com/artsy4kidz

Illustrations Black & White

2007-12-20T22:52:00.001-08:00

Momentum: illustration friday

2007-09-11T13:30:00.001-07:00

For the love of books!

2007-08-10T13:31:00.000-07:00

What is it about children's book writers and illustrators that makes us still want to read them as adults? Is it still knowing the magic of childhood, or still growing up? Some of my friends say that a good story with illustrations makes them want to inhabit the book, walk around the images and make friends with the characters. Whatever the reason, they captivate our imagination.

The photos are of my daughter who loved school so much she became a primary school teacher. I know she was one of my best teachers, in so many ways.

pencil, ink, gouache, and oil

2007-07-27T14:46:00.000-07:00

You'll notice, positioning images is beyond me!

Rabbits illuminated

2007-07-15T19:14:00.000-07:00

The Pacific Northwest Children's Book Conference in Portland, Oregon was last week. Many stories and illustrations were transformed with the help of exceptional faculty. We had incredible teachers who work in children's book publishing as editors, writers, and illustrators including Linda Zuckerman, Editor, Ann Whitford Paul, Kirby Larson (Newberry Honor winner), Suz Blackaby, Susan Goldman Rubin, Margaret Bechard, Susan Fletcher, among others, and the incredible illustrators Marla Frazee and Elsa Warnick. We were also honored to have Marcia Leonard, editor from Clarion Books as a speaker on more than one day. Every reading seemed to demonstrate the evolving of a writer. Marla and Elsa inspired us to surge ahead in our own visual voices. We were kept busy for 5 days without wasting a minute! It felt as nurturing and exciting as camp does to a kid. While we didn't have marshmallows roasted over a campfire, there were way too many desserts. Consider attending next year's conference. I'm hoping to attend. I should be done with at least a four-step dessert abstinence program by then.

Art work spaces, an oxymoron

2007-07-05T11:29:00.000-07:00

You can find all the usual suspects in my art workspace: chair, desk, easel, pencils, brushes, and paint. Art-work-space seems a bit of an oxymoron. Art does not seem like work and when there's space, it can be a sign of a problem.
The final photo is one of my favorite places to work. It looks inviting and warm doesn't it? It is just an illusion however, because being a short distance from deep, cold water, you really need snow pants and mittens to sit outside here. After having lived in Europe and loved cobblestones, a patio seemed a way to quell the longing to be lounging outside at a French or Italian sidewalk cafe. I had forgotten the temperature difference between Italian summers and Pacific coast summers. Actually, July and August do afford some opportunities to sit outside here. Come over to my house for tea, and bring your ski wear!

Dog's Picnic illustrations

2007-07-02T16:14:00.000-07:00

These illustrations are from a story, Dog's Picnic, and are in watercolor, gouache, and ink. Experimenting with media is a lot of fun.

Recently finished an art & illustration program. Learning is such a joy! It took some years on the path of life before completely following this passion. Enjoy the pictures, and live your passion too. e*