Woke up in Minnesota to a rainy day.  I haven't had one night where I've slept completely through the night.... Maybe tonight....

I took the shuttle over to the Mall of America.  Much different on a Tuesday morning.  Very quiet.  I'm really glad I checked it out on Sunday to get my bearings.  When I approached the stage, there was a giant marquee over head with my book, Andrew Drew and Drew being advertised!  Very cool to see.

I could see the kids were gong to be little.  It is Toddler Tuesday.  I opted to sit on the edge of the stage so I would be closer to the kids.  I was surprised to see how many children and parents were there.  It was an incredibly attentive group.  The participated in singing along and really listened intently when I read my books.  I was really happy with the way it went.

I signed a handful of books.  (I don't think this is really a buying audience.  They are looking for a morning activity to keep their toddler busy)  When I was finished signing books the woman from Barnes and Noble, (who supplied the books) said I had one more show.  Who knew?  It turned out to be a whole different crowd, only a half an hour later.  Again, a great audience and a small batch of signed books.  I did have a mom say her daughter thought I should go on American Idol.  I told her I was flattered but that I was a bit too old for that show!

Flew to Charlotte and then on to Miami.  Had a wonderful conversation with a really interesting guy who is at Loyola Law school and interested in Environmental law, in New Orleans.  It was such a treat to meet someone who is clearly looking to do good things on this planet.  As tired as I am, it is one of the perks of traveling so much.  It's the people I meet along the way.

I better go to sleep since I'm getting picked up in eight hours!!!!

Adios.

More random shots from today.

My last night in Minnesota.  It's getting a bit blurry as to who, what, where, so by at least stopping at the end of the day, I am trying to sort everything out.

I visited three schools today.  Kids everywhere are great.  Today was no exception.  I 'thought' I had asked for LCD projectors at each stop but it's hard to know for sure.  Bottom line, make each visit work.  I was able to use two dry erase boards.  Worked perfectly.  When I couldn't show my video, we sang and talked a bit more.  In some ways, it's good to have to improvise!   Keeps you from getting stale!

My wife says I have liked all of my drivers.  Today was no exception in that department either.  Tim was however, the first guy and a Democrat!  Felt very at home, right away.  I met the owner of the Red Balloon bookstore.  VERY, very sweet.  I didn't get to go to the store, but they brought books to two of the schools.  I did get to go visit the Wild Rumpus bookstore.   Knocked out!!!!!  Two chickens live in the store along with a bunch of other pets!  I felt so at home the moment I got there.  They even have a smaller front door for kids to walk through, built right into the front door.  It's so inspiring to see such passion for picture books!!!!!!!

I took some photos.  Will post below. Got to have dinner in the room and watch the third and final debate!!!!  It's hard to believe we all vote in two weeks.  Mall of America tomorrow morning and off to Florida.  Can't wait to write about performing at the Rotunda.

Adios for now.

Here are some funky shots of 'some' of the pets who live at the Wild Rumpus.... Also, they are having illustrators sign tiles which will be installed in their new bathroom.  You'll see my contribution.

Woke up at the Airport Hilton to find the Minnesota Wildlife Reserve next to the hotel!  I walked in silence for a couple of hours.  A nice change of pace.  Enjoy the photos.  I only wish I could pass the incredible smell along as well.

Back to schools and bookstores tomorrow.
Goodnight.

Too tired to say much on my last night in St. Petersburg.  I did stop at a wonderful bookstore and naturally headed for the children's section.

Here are a few of the books I saw!

More soon.

Saturday I fly to Moscow.  Now, that's a sentence I haven't written before.  I am visiting Moscow and two other cities to speak on behalf of the US State Department about creativity.  I will have an interpreter wherever I go.  ALWAYS fun to sing a song and have each line translated.  I'm not sure what to expect.  I'm looking forward to the adventure!

I will try to post from my trip.  I wasn't able to access my account when I spoke in China.  We shall see how open Russia is.  I still can't believe I'm going!

More soon.

I have been so busy, I haven't stopped to write anything for my blog in a long time.  Realizing that the Olympics start today and August is around the corner, I thought I would take a moment to put down a few thoughts.

I have been wading through the book, IMAGINE by Jonah Lehrer.  (I am a very slow reader)  The book talks about the way the brain works and creativity.  I find myself re-reading over sentences and paragraphs to try and absorb all the information.  I am looking forward to my wife reading the book so we can discuss it.  (Maybe she'll be able to explain some of it!!!)  At the rate I'm going..... I'm not sure when I'll move the book over to her nightstand.

What's been interesting for me is that I have been having out of the body moments when I'm working.  I'm now noticing how my thought processes happen.  Maybe it's because I'm not carpooling and running all over town since my children grew up and are on their own, but I seem to be able to let ideas percolate differently.

Lehrer talks about the state of mind when you are still in bed.  You're not dreaming but you aren't quite awake.  I find that while I'm working on things, I go to sleep thinking about whatever it is I'm trying to figure out.  I always fall asleep before I come to any great break throughs.  When I feel myself waking up, I go back to the issue at hand.  I have found solutions at that moment.  They don't always work, but I have had some visions of clarity that have helped whatever it is I'm working on.  I think it's partially that the brain isn't in full gear and all the distractions of day to day life haven't filled my mind.

There's a great part in the book I just read where Keith Richards, way back in the early sixties, fell asleep with a tape recorder running.  He woke up to find the tape just spinning on it's spindle in the morning. He re-ran the tape and heard himself singing a song and then there was forty minutes of snoring.  The song he was singing in his sleep was Satisfaction.  Funny, I remember trying to write a science fiction story in college where they would plug your brain into a video recorder so you could watch your dreams when you woke up.

To finish my thoughts here.....Interestingly enough, I needed a way to finish a book with a fun spread where the message is, 'open your mind'.  Not only did the visual of what goes on inside the brain happen, but when I went to work, I googled, 'cardboard gears'.  Ordered a couple of packages and painted them.  These puppies actually spin!

If you are looking for an interesting read, check out IMAGINE by Jonah Lehrer.

Adios.
Barney

When I first wrote, Would You Rather Be A Princess Or A Dragon?  I had a different ending than the one that's in the final version.  Ultimately, the message is the same but there was an edit by my editor that I wish I had fought to keep.

In the 9th grade, I had a ceramics teacher, Mr. Bassler.  We were working on coil pots which you make by rolling the clay into long, snake like pieces and coil the pieces together until it stacks up into a bowl.  I added a snake head on mine.  Mr. Bassler suggested I take the head of the snake off.  "You'll thank me later,"  he told me.  I listened to him, and in a way, I have thanked him many times, in the sense that he taught me a great lesson.  LISTEN TO YOUR GUT!  I LOVED the snake head.  It made the coil pot MY ART.  I edited the piece for him and it became an ordinary pot!

So, flash forward to a gazillion years later.... I am not suggesting we don't listen to our editors.  But, there are times when we have to decide which battles to choose.  There are always compromises.

In the case of my princess and dragon story, the ending says something along the lines of;  "Inside every princess is a little dragon.  And inside every dragon is a little princess."  The illustration shows the feet of the little princess sticking out of the dragon's mouth.  It's a bit shocking, but it makes you turn the page to see what happens.  (Part of the rhythm of a picture book)  We see the princess is alive and well and the moral of the story is then read.  My editor asked me to remove the picture of the feet sticking out of the dragon's mouth.  I understand it was a bit much, but it was funny!

My publisher closed the day I turned in the artwork.  I ended up publishing the book as an iBook.  I wish I had thought to rework the ending to look more like I had originally intended.

So, the lesson of the day, follow your gut!

Adios.

Early storyboard.  This version is far from being finished!

Sometimes the hand needs a break.  You never know where and when you will be inspired to click.
These guitars were next to my bed!

So, you work and you work and you work.  Idea.  Concept.  Left turn.  Right turn.  Dead end.  Baby steps.  Rejections.  Encouragement.   More directions.  Two steps forward, twelve steps back.  Hang on tight to this bucking horse and don't fall off.  If you do, dust off your pants and jump back on.  Maybe, sometimes, a book gets sold!  Then begins the WORK.

I don't think it's much different than tending to an apple orchard and nurturing the fruit until it's ripe and beautiful.  Then the farmer takes it to market.



This just 'happens' to be my wonderful niece Rebecca's lovely daughter, Ella in Santa Fe, New Mexico!

How do you like 'them apples?'

Amazing what it took for me to sit down and write another entry.  I was moving a couch this morning and had that lovely electrical jolt in my lower back that dropped me to the floor.  I iced and now, I'm sitting with a heating pad strapped to my back.  I still want to take the Randy Newman song, I Love LA and re-write the lyrics; I Love Old Age!

I have been so busy working on books that I haven't stopped to write any blog posts.  I'm realizing I created a video for my book, Arlo Needs Glasses.  I will include that as well.

I did want to say that everyone has a different process for writing and creating.  My father recently told me that I used to make the book covers for elementary school reports, before I had done any of the research or written one word!  It must be my wiring.  Now that I am working on 'interactive' books a lot, I have noticed that after making some preliminary pencil sketches in my notebook, I need to create art, cut and tape and fold and 'make' the book.  It's a lot of work to do at such an early stage, but I am clearly a visual learner and need the hands on experience of seeing how the individual pages work so I can map out the book.

Right now, my studio has an entire book spread out on a table.  Every page has some type of interactive doodad.  I know internally, what the concept is.  What the message is.  Now that I can hold it in my hands and turn the pages, the actual text is forming.  An odd way to work... Not necessarily one I recommend... Then again... it is working for me.  What it proves for me is, there is no right or wrong way to create a book.  You have to just follow your instinct.

I'll follow mine, back to my studio, as soon as I unplug from the heating pad!

Adios for now.


Barney

I tried bring the url in from youtube for the Arlo video but the blog isn't accepting it.
If you copy and paste this into your browser, you can see the video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEpNPMCWltc

Sometimes it helps to make a model.  Zeroing in on the 'look' of this mad sheep!

Trying to create a character for a book is like having a casting session for an actor.  I know it's a sheep.
WHO the right sheep is, is another story!  Trying traditional drawing and computer!  Thoughts?

I had to take a break after completing my thirtieth poem.  I went to New York to speak at a conference of Art teachers.  My theme was about using Beautiful Oops in the classroom.

I had low expectations given the attendance of some California teacher events.  I was knocked out to find a standing room only crowd.  I was surprised and very pleased to hear that a large percentage already had Beautiful Oops in their classrooms and they were using it with their students.  It seemed fitting to ask 'how' they were using the book.

There were lots of projects using either torn paper, spills or crunched paper to make art.   Every teacher seemed to focus on the message that you can turn an oops into something beautiful.  I can't tell you how wonderful that makes me feel.  Okay, yes I can.  IT FEELS WONDERFUL!  (How was that?)  Seriously, it confirms my hunch that when you remove the sting of making a mistake, it's incredibly freeing.  When you show anyone, at any age how something 'should' look, it can be daunting.  Knowing that, before they ever start creating, there isn't a preconceived notion of what the end result is, is liberating.

I would encourage you to try this with yourself and any child you know!  Send me a picture.  I would love to post it if you feel like sharing.