An illustration I did for a local Nursery Rhyme Contest.
Just A Little Fun
Might work well for wall art or a board book! What do you think?
Happy Valentine's Day!
Hope you all have a wonderful day full of love and joy!
SCBWI Adventure
I just got back late last night from the SCBWI Conference in New York City! It was my first time ever at the conference, and I had a blast. I met so many new friends like Tricia, Ashlyn, Michelle, Susan, Luke and many many more wonderful illustrators who all have the same hopes and dreams I do! And of course, there was some incredible artwork. I'm always amazed at the variety and creativity that God gives us human beings! There were some pretty good speakers too! Herve Tullet of Mix It Up fame was there, and Laura Vaccaro Seeger gave two insightful talks about the process of making picture books. I'm still mentally sorting everything I heard and saw, but I hope to share some of the wisdom I gained soon here on the blog!
And now for some highlights!
At the Conference
On Thursday, I went to the Morgan Library and Museum. This is an original Gutenberg Bible people!!!
Imagine this is your library! Well, it's not, it's Mr. Morgan's Library! Behind the three stories of books are hidden staircases to access the second and third floors.
A Pocket size Magna Carta! So cute!
I walked past this big boy every day on the way to the conference.
The Conference was right next to Grand Central Station.
The Kids section at ABC Carpet and Home; a magical wonderland of beautiful things!
German wooden toy at ABC
The most expensive orange you'll never eat!
Beautiful Marzipan fruits at Dean & DeLuca!
Book Dummy Retreat
Last weekend I had a chance to be part of an amazing experience with 5 other illustrators. We all headed to the shores of Lake Michigan and worked for three days on concepts for Children's books. It was a wonderful chance to get to know a great group of people who love doing the exact same things I love. We talked, ate, worked, critiqued, drew and drew some more. There was alot of laughter, walks to the frozen shores of the lake, and long art talks fireside! One of the things I loved the most about the weekend was the ability to focus on just one thing (my book dummy) the whole time. I felt so productive and the creativity was flowing for me in a way it hasn't for a long time. If you're ever having a hard time working on a creative project, I recommend getting away somehow to just think, dream and draw. Maybe it's just to the local corner coffee shop, or a field in a nature preserve, or walking down your street, but something to get you out of your normal grind.
The quote written above my bead. Very inspirational first thing in the morning.
Here are some photos from the weekend! Chrissy, the lovely lady who hosted us has an equally lovely and welcoming home. We were so grateful to her for a great spot to allow us to work.
Discussing a sketch.
Morning coffee.
My work area.
Chrissy collects McCoy pottery, just like my mom!
Lake Michigan in winter is just surreal.
It was beautiful!
We made it there just in time for sunset.
There was a coating of ice over the sand.