I've never held a contest before. Maybe I'll get 5 participants. Or 50. Or 500! After hearing about "Inktober," a creatively-inspired group effort of artists posting daily inked drawings on social media for the entire month of October, I chose... Read the rest of this post

It’s been a while since I’ve devised an artistic challenge, and so beginning tomorrow and for the full month of May, I’ll be creating one illustration a day. Even though I have a big job/deadline on my drawing table, it... Read the rest of this post

Feeling wonderfully inspired after the SCBWI New York conference. So I’m mailing out promo postcards. Pulling some stories off the back burner. Crafting new ones. Maybe it was general consensus among publishers that the picture book market is rebounding. Maybe... Read the rest of this post

When you go to an illustrator’s event at a school, a festival or a conference…there is more to it than meets the eye. Just as in the making of a picture book, the readers don’t get to see all the... Read the rest of this post

The best thing about doing school visits featuring my latest illustrated picture book, “One Day I Went Rambling” (Bright Sky Press, Kelly Bennett-author) is that inspired kid ramblers will rev up their imaginations weeks before I get there. Children will... Read the rest of this post

The best thing about doing school visits featuring my latest illustrated picture book, “One Day I Went Rambling” (Bright Sky Press, Kelly Bennett-author) is that inspired kid ramblers will rev up their imaginations weeks before I get there. Children will... Read the rest of this post

It’s my third attempt to be accepted into the International Book Fair in Bologna, Italy. To be considered, one must produce 5 original children's illustrations, related in theme or narrative. This year, I decided to go with an edgier look... Read the rest of this post

I’ve had the pleasure of presenting the picture book illustrator’s craft at school visits and have more booked on the horizon--but Springfield Elementary in Midlothian, Illinois, knows how to do it right! I realized this as soon as I walked... Read the rest of this post

The IRC (Illinois Reading Council) published an interview with me in their quarterly Journal, Spring 2013 Edition.  In it, I speak of my childhood, the road that led me to children’s illustration, and my inspiration.

Thanks to the IRC for featuring my work!  

You can read it here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/131498943/Interview-with-Terri-Murphy-a-children-s-picture-book-illustrator

I’m very excited to be traveling to Peoria tomorrow for the Illinois Library Association conference. The association will be unveiling their iREAD summer reading program for 2013 and the 3 posters I created for it.  A sneak peek here!  

THE CHILDREN'S POSTER...

THE TEEN POSTER...

THE ADULT POSTER...

Come summer, you’ll be seeing them at your local Illinois library as posters, bookmarks, imprinted on tee-shirts, backpacks, flying discs,  pencil cases,  etc.,…. maybe even as your grandma’s tattoo!

 If you’re attending the conference Tuesday or Wednesday, stop by the iRead booth for a chat and a poster.  I’ll also have copies of my picture book, One Day I Went Rambling and I hear a little color-changing chameleon may visit!  Rambling and traveling through imagination….it fits in nicely with the “Have Book, Will Travel” theme, don’t you think?

http://www.terrimurphyart.com

It’s been a whirlwind summer, a blur of juggling the successful launch of my illustrated picture book, “One Day I Went Rambling,” and putting finishing touches on 3 posters and a myriad of themed illustrations for the Illinois Library Association's summer iREAD program for 2013.  Here is one of the posters.  You’ll be seeing more of me, traveling, at your local library this summer.  The theme is “Have Book, Will Travel.”

In addition to that, I’ve been developing materials to promote the picture book, school and library visits, my Young Artists Workshops, and targeting picture book publishers for more projects.  Whew!

But mostly I enjoy connecting with kids. “One Day I Went Rambling” was released at the end of May, and I was able to squeeze in one school visit at Franklin School in Chicago, and another for Northbrook District 27 summer school...

It’s my great hope to visit more schools and libraries to speak about story through art or present my Young Artists Workshops.  And since I have the inside skinny on the Illinois Library Association’s iREAD theme, I’m currently developing art workshops for this coming summer.  Here’s a little taste of some origami-to-go as we travel to Japan!  

Welcome to the following fellow bloggers to the Let's Go Rambling Blog Tour, June 8th - June 22.  Visit their blogs for insights, opinions and reviews of ONE DAY I WENT RAMBLING, or interviews with author Kelly Bennett or myself.

Comment about the book in their blogs and be entered in our prize giveaway (original book illustration and more!) described in my May 23rd blog... here.

June 8   http://authorbystate.blogspot.com

June 8   http://tinyurl.com/7qx3ej9 - Kim Norman

June 8   http://www.blog.andibutler.com

June 8   http://www.picturebookdepot.com

June 8   http://www.lindseylane.net/blog

June 8   http://www.susankayequinn.com

June 9   http://www.debbiegonzales.com

June 10 http://www.vonnacarter.com

June 12 http://www.thelittledeb.blogspot.com

June 13 http://tinyurl.com/6lp78du - Cindy Faughnan

June 14 http://www.thewritersplot.com

June 14 http://smithwright.blogspot.com

June 14 http://www.readerkidz.com

June 14 http://www.debbiegonzales.com

June 15 http://www.pamzollman.com

June 16 http://www.AlisonHertz.blogspot.com

June 17 http://www.writingonthesidewalk.wordpress.com

June 19 http://www.cheriecolyer.blogspot.com

June 22 http://www.moreart4all.wordpress.com

My heartfelt thanks to you all!  Let's go rambling!!!!

At long last, ONE DAY I WENT RAMBLING, the picture book I illustrated, Kelly Bennett authored, and Bright Sky Press just released is going blog-hopping.  Maybe I should say blog-Rambling!

 From June 8th until June 22, ONE DAY I WENT RAMBLING will make guest appearances on several blogs in the form of book reviews, interviews with the author or illustrator, or  spotlight mentions.  Anyone who participates in the blog tour, or comments on a guest blog post, comments/friends the author or I on facebook,  tweets about  our book with the hashtag #letsgorambling, or attends and participates in our Facebook event--One Day I Went Rambling Virtual Book Launch on June 8th will be eligible to win cool prizes. 

 What cool prizes you ask?  Well,  ONE DAY I WENT RAMBLING is a story about an adventurous scavenger boy, Zane, whose wild imagination allows him to see magic in the ordinary. He has a sidekick....a chameleon, who changes color to the kid that’s having the most imaginative thought... 

 With that in mind, prizes are as follows:

 1st PRIZE- This signed original illustration of the chameleon from the book’s dedication page.

2nd PRIZE- An autographed copy of the book, and this zany color-changing Chameleon!!

3rd & 4th PRIZES..ONE DAY I WENT RAMBLING,  signed by the author and me!

If you’ve come across this blog and wish to participate in the tour,  please fill out the registration form in the clickable link at the top left of this page.  I will send you a pdf of the book, and will post a running list of blog participants here when the tour begins.  Once again, anyone who posts a blog *3, comments on a blog *1 or posts a facebook mention *1 (link the author's or my page to your mention) or tweets *1 (hashtag #letsgorambling), or buys the book *3(send proof of purchase to [email protected]) are eligible entrants.  The numbers reflect how many times your name is in the hat. The prize drawing will take place on June 23rd. Winners will be posted and notified.

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In honor of Maurice Sendak, and all the wild things he gave a voice to.  

Author Kelly Bennett joined me for some cyber coffee-klatching about her influences, writing career and our upcoming picture book, ONE DAY I WENT RAMBLING...

(Kelly and I in Texas with our first picture book together, "Dance, Y'all Dance.")

Congratulations on having your 11th picture book published, Kelly.  Did you always know you were going to be a picture book author?

I loved reading, loved writing, but never imagined I’d be a writer. As a kid, I ran through the usual list of what-I-want-to-be-when-I-grow ups: doctor, stewardess, explorer, volleyball player, mom. It wasn’t until I became a mom, and began reading so many marvelous, fun picture books to my children, Max and Alexis, that I began imagining: “Maybe, just maybe I could be a writer, too!”

What book most influenced you as a child?

Hands down, The Tall Book of Make Believe compiled by Jane Werner, it’s a mix of poems and short stories. Number 2 is the Guinness Book of World Records.  Truth is I didn’t own many books and my school didn’t have a library. Instead, the Book-Mobile came to the school every Wednesday. 

How does your typical working day unfold?

I find I am more creative and happier, and my writing is fresher, if  I vary my schedule. So my “typical working day” depends on what I’m writing and where I am in the process. If  I’m revising, I sit myself down every day, no matter what, and work. But for no more than an hour at a time. (I even set a timer). At the end of an hour, I’ll get up, putter, do something else. Often I’ll return to revisions for another hour stretch and maybe another after that. I find, if  I don’t get up and move around, I’ll drift into copy editing rather than revising.

If  I have a new picture book idea, my writing day begins at bedtime. I pursue new ideas by spending a week of bedtimes—only 10 minutes a night--listing and free thinking about that idea. After a week, I plop myself down and write through a complete draft, no breaks, no interruptions, no expectations that what I’m writing will be good.

How did you get the idea for writing ONE DAY I WENT RAMBLING? 

It was all because of that wonderful, haunting poem! A poem by Valine Hobbs called One Day When We Went Walking. I found it when I was little—maybe 5 or 7, in—surprise, surprise!-my all-time favorite book: The Tall Book of Make Believe compiled by Jane Werner.

One way I get to travel is when I follow my artwork.  So far it’s lead me to New York and Texas.  Now I’ve just shipped off 5 themed illustrations for consideration to Bolognafiere 2012, held in Bologna, Italy.  It’s the “Sundance” for children’s illustrators.  Last year, no one from the United States was chosen.  But if these make the cut, I’ll go.  I’ll go!

Those with generous overflowing imaginations and heart, can you picture them there?

Thanks!

Terri

http://www.terrimurphyart.com

It’s been a sweltering summer of mishaps...with no end in sight.  In July alone we’ve had record breaking heat and rain, a tornado touch down, a nearby tree explode by lightning, a neighbor who discovered 80 beehives in the walls of her house, power outages, a flood...and I’m waiting on the locusts and frogs...

Above is a full page illustration I created for this month’s Ladybug issue.  The art director  wanted animals to convey “hot” in this poem so I chose these arctic looneys vacationing in the tropics.  Here’s a close-up detail on the fox...

Still wringing out from the flood, but the air conditioning is working and so am I, on character sketches and a layout design for a new picture book due out in March 2012. It’s by the same author and publisher of my last  book, Dance Y’all Dance...Kelly Bennett and Bright  Sky Press.  

I love the beginning stages of a picture book. It’s like making a movie!  I’ve got the screenplay and am in the middle of a casting call, sketching forth all sorts of characters to bring the author’s words to life.  Some don’t make the cut. Others do, but have to be tweaked...and still others are fully formed the moment they hit the page.  These character kids, fourteen of them,  will live with me, shaking me in twilight dreams, directing me as much as I direct them when I consider expressions and body language, pacing, camera angles, mood and lighting, and visual story arc.

I mentioned designing a mural in the last blog.  If you have a facebook page and want to see the results, here is a link to the album.   Friend me, if we aren’t  friends already...  :o) 

mural album

“Be the change you wish to see in the world”...that is the theme for a mural I am honored to be designing for Park Manor School in Chicago.  It will be painted in one day, by volunteers who may or may not have artistic skills, on June 11th.  Though I will the there to direct and assist...and paint...it will also a good exercise in letting go, and trusting, and knowing.  A big thanks to my artistic friends in SCBWI for their excellent comments and critique as this drawing progressed.

Every day there is magic, there for the taking.

~Terri

What else I’m working on:  a magazine illustration, my book dummy, an Illustrator Intensive assignment and a summer college art camp for kids workshop.

Time to dance!! Again!   Spider Magazine’s March 2011 issue features my illustration with Eileen Spinelli’s poem “Pajama Polka.” A delightful weave of imagination that shows the effect “of March wind’s sudden music.” Nightclothes fly with dayclothes  for an eleven city block parade!

I played with perspective on this one, wanting to show a close-up pajama couple as well as suggest a parade and an audience.  I played with texture too.  Before I started painting, I laid a brushy undercoat with light molding paste.  You can see better evidence of it here:

Currently working on another magazine piece for LadyBug Magazine, their July 2011 issue.  Can’t divulge anything yet, except that it’ll be hot hot hot.  Nice project for the cabin fever blues...

 Also working on a website update... Coming soon.

 ;o)

Terri Murphy

http://terrimurphyart.com

Artists...it’s a solitary journey.  More so than actors, singers, or musicians...art is created in a singular space (except for the company of muses) and shared with others when the artist is absent.  The same can be said for writers. 

\

My friend Chris and I have discussed collaboration at length.  And this weekend, we did it!

No pre-planning of art...he spontaneously drew from his subconcious, I drew from a dream.  Two days, seven total hours, several paintings and lots of music passed as we talked about technique, color theory, heartache breakups,  and touching the archetype in dreams.  A beautiful thing, painting alone...and a different beauty, painting together.

Creating toward a child’s initial exposure to universal language...priceless.

I’ve got Halloween fever.  It started back in April when I was assigned a double page spread in Spider Magazine...an “Old Ogre” deck of cut-apart  playing cards.

And as always, I try to stick a little humor in.

Illustrating monsters, ghouls and halloween characters is great fun.  It’s the little girl in me, playing dress up....except now I’m fashion coordinator for Frankenstein, a witch, or a skeleton.  “Old Ogre” is a matching pair game, so I wanted each “pose” to be distinct from the other, yet have them engaging in an action to show personality.  A pirate touts his found treasure, a flower unravels the mummy, a ghost falls in love with a distant moon.

Just finished another illustration for Spider Magazine, which will be in their March 2011 issue...art for a poem called “Pajama Polka,” with flying dancing nightclothes.

 Some other exciting things in the works, but too early to talk about them now.  Stay tuned...

 Terri

http://www.terrimurphyart.com

    It was the mood.  An ornery one.  And so... I wrote a picture book story. Now the healthy thing might have been to confront the source of my angst but nope...  I had fuel, I wanted fire...I lit a match. 

    It’s a story of Stella, a blackwidow spider...dangerous, diabolical, and darned cute!  Writing her misadventures into a picture book is a fine balance.  If the black humor carries too much darkness the reader builds no empathy for the main character; doesn’t invest in the outcome.  Not enough darkness, and there’s no tension to pull the reader in.

    So it is in the creation of Stella.  Drawing a cute spider was not the challenge.  Drawing “Stella” was.  She needed to have just the right blend of  threat, vulnerability, whackiness and charm in order to be invited into a reader’s acceptance.  She is to be feared and loved simultaneously.  The first attempts at Stella in clay and sketches were “too cute.”