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I am marching to the rhyme and participating in an auction by offering a Picture Book Dummy Session and a Portfolio Critique to support the Rhyming Picture Book Revolution. Your support
will raise funds for the Best in Rhyme Award and Rhyming Picture Book Revolution Conference
(RPBR) weekend.  Plus a portion of the proceeds will go to the Association for Rural & Small Libraries (ARSL) and scholarships for future RPBR events.

The Rhyming Picture Book Revolution Conference  will be held in NYC at the KidLitTV on December 4 -6, 2015. The weekend will be dedicated entirely to writing rhyming picture books with an all-star faculty including authors, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Lori Degman, Karma Wilson, Sudipta Bardhan-Quallen and Corey Rosen-Schwartz, editor's Rebecca Davis and Justin Chanda and agent Kendra Marcus along with the Kidlit TV-ers!

The auction has a great list of donors: Karma Wilson, Rebecca Davis, Corey Rosen Schwartz, Kendra Marcus, Rebecca Kai Dotlich, Jodell Sadler, Lori Degman, Tanja Bauerle, Angie Karcher, and Randi Sonenshine. You will be able to bid on great books, scholarships, a Skype visit, manuscript critiques and more.

The goal of Rhyming Picture Book Revolution is to guide and support those aspiring to write rhyme and poetry. For more information about this wonderful conference please see their website. http://rpbrevolution.com/

I hope you will help me get the word out to support this wonderful event.

Thank you!

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I'm so excited to be the featured illustrator on the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators website for the month of June. What a honor! I had a few weeks notice to update my website and (long overdue) head-shot.  Thanks to my son, Ryan I now have a new picture to post. I hope to be more diligent with my website and blog updates. 

I'm busy working on a series of board books, a PB dummy and getting my portfolio ready for
attending the Summer Conference in LA.  Thanks for visiting my blog!

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2014 Great Goose Egg Auction -Oct. 26, 2014

It's time again for The Great Goose Egg Auction!  The auction helps raise money for the
Open Fields School, a small non-graded private school in Thetford Hill, Vermont. The Great Goose Egg Auction was started in 1996, when a parent donated more than 100 blown goose eggs for use in the school. The late Trina Schart Hyman (April 8, 1939–November 19, 2004), a friend of the school and illustrator of children's books, suggested that decorated eggs, sold as unique works of fine art, would benefit all Open Fields students. Her idea hatched into an annual on-line auction that supports the school with the sale of artist-decorated eggs. The goose, quail, hen and emu eggs are sent to artists all over the world and returned to Open Fields School as works of art!

This year I had 2 extra goose eggs in my studio, backup eggs from past years… in case one rolled off the drafting table.  I will be moving this November and thought it best to paint both eggs and send them off to auction before I pack up the studio. My egg designs were inspired by children all over the world world who are hoping for peace, love, and a healthy earth and sky.
First sketches:

The medium is black colored pencil and acrylic paint.


I hope you can take a few minutes to look at the beautiful eggs and perhaps buy a one-of-a-kind work of art. http://www.openfields.org/egg_auction.html

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I have donated the art below for a silent auction that will benefit the Hamilton County Humane Society http://www.hamiltonhumane.com. The art is titled, Adopt a Pet it is 3 x 4.5 original acrylic and pencil, matted and signed.  The auction is at the Art IN Hand Gallery in  Zionsville, IN.  Many of the artists in the gallery will also have art available for bidding! All the proceeds will go to help many animals in need. : )

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I am so honored (and VERY excited!!!) my art, Up, up, up into a New Year,  was selected to be apart of the BIG, Bologna Illustration Gallery at the 2014 Bologna Book Fair.

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In mid November I attended a brunch and the Original Art show at the Society of Illustrators.
Our brunch was in the elegant Hall of Fame Dining Room where we were surrounded by great company and historic works of art.  After brunch a group of friends and some Highlights staff attended the Original Art exhibit.  It is an annual juried show of illustrations from the year’s best children’s books published in the U.S.  The show was founded by painter, art director, and artists’ representative, Dilys Evans, in 1979. It was an enjoyable day at the Society of Illustrators!

Afterwards, I also visited the New York Public Library exhibit,  The ABC of It: Why Children's Books Matter. It is an excellent maze-like show with interactive displays that celebrate children's literature. Literally the show lets you step into books… I'm pictured below in the Goodnight Moon green room. Zzzz

The show was curated by Leonard Marcus, who brings the culture of children's books to life.
I bought the book, Show Me A Story!  Why Picture Books Matter, at the NYPL bookstore.  The book features conversations with 21 of the world's most celebrated Illustrators. It is a great addition to the exhibit!  http://www.amazon.com/Show-Story-Conversations-Celebrated-Illustrators/dp/0763664642

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It was a super busy summer between traveling and illustration work. Back in August I attended the 42nd Annual Summer SCBWI Conference in Los Angeles. This was my first time attending the LA Conference. I had an amazing week in CA, meeting other SCBWI volunteers from all over the world, as well as agents, editors and art directors.  I also received a new project to illustrate three game-boards during the portfolio showcase portion of the conference!

Last week I attended the Rutgers One on One Plus Conference in New Jersey. I submitted a new picture book dummy and had a wonderful day with the mentoring editors, art directors and agents. My mentor wants to take another look at my picture book dummy, after I make some revisions ...  which was very exciting news!! The conference is sponsored by the Rutgers University Council on Children's Literature. It was a inspiring day!

After a week of summer-like weather in NJ, I returned home to rain, cold, and a little snow!  Reminding me, the holidays are just around the corner and it's time to create ornaments for my  co-op- Art IN Hand - Gallery in Zionsville, IN.

The gallery's holiday tree will be up November 14, displaying ornaments from many of our artists. My 2013 ornaments are made of porcelain clay. Pictured below are two designs, Catching Snowflake Kids and Santa by the Moon. I'm working on more designs today.

Happy (fast-forward) Fall!

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Today I visited the 1st and 3rd grade art classes at the Padua Academy Charter School in the Haughville neighborhood of Indianapolis. http://www.paduaacademyindy.org

After we talked about my job as an illustrator  … I gave the students an assignment to create a character.  We worked on rough sketches and some students had time to color in their finished drawing.  The Padua Academy has awesome artists!!!

Thanks you Hanna C., a 3rd grader, who gave me her super-snail drawing.

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Happy Spring!  My spring promo illustrates the poem “Map to Spring” written by my talented friend Rebecca Kai Dotlich.  "Map to Spring" was first published in in Sharing the Seasons : a book of poems selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins. Rebecca is a poet and picture book author. Her work is featured widely in poetry anthologies and textbooks. She can be reached at rebeccakaidotlich.com.

The illustration for “Map to Spring” was drawn on Strathmore 400 Series Drawing paper and subsequently painted in Photoshop.  The promo postcards will be in the mail soon. 
Thanks for stopping by to see my new spring art. 

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Sweet-tweets! I hope you have a Happy Valentine's Day xxx

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Happy Holidays!  My holiday art this year illustrates the poem “Little Village” written by my talented friend Terry Webb Harshman. It was first published in The Poetry Friday Anthology compiled by Sylvia Vardell and Janet Wong. Terry is a published poet, children’s book author, and the editor of Turtle Magazine for Preschool Kids and Humpty Dumpty Magazine.

The illustration for “Little Village” was drawn on Strathmore 400 Series Drawing Paper
and subsequently painted in Photoshop.
 It's great fun for me to feature real pets in my illustrations. Bailey Jean Devansky is a local beagle who visits my studio while on a perpetual quest for a treat. I thought of her while sketching a dog peeking in the window.

The tiny cat in the village (standing in the alley next to the bakery) was inspired by the real life Mac Vargo. Mac and his sister, Tosh Vargo, are regularly featured in my art.

Currently the elves in my studio are busy putting the final touches on my annual holiday postcard and hope to get them delivered before Valentine's Day. Thanks for stopping by to see my new holiday art!

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One of the many hidden picture master artists for Highlights Magazine, Tim Davis, recently celebrated the birth of his grandson. To join in the celebration, a group of Highlights for Children Magazine illustrators each depicted a letter of the baby's name with a hidden picture drawing. My letter was N, so I decided to feature a young artist (like his Grandpa) sporting three sticks of chalk to form the letter N and a chalk board background.

Like my other work, I started with a simple thumbnail sketch...

and then did line drawings of the images to scale. In the sketching process, my ideas always evolve and the original idea grows into something new. The pencil sometimes leads me in an entirely different direction than my starting point. For example, my original idea was to hide the words (that begin with N) on the baby’s shirt, but after finishing a thumbnail sketch, I decided a chalkboard would be best for the hidden words.
 

After sketching, my next step is to scan the drawings individually and place them in a Photoshop document. This becomes my final sketch which is then painted in Photoshop using the Cintiq. The fun part of this project was to paint and play with new brushes in Photoshop, trying to create the 'look' of chalk dust on the blackboard.

Congratulations to Tim and the Davis family on your new grandchild!
I hope you like the letter N.

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My travel sketches are becoming a new series of paintings titled "Sketch Boxes". The art featured in this blog post is one of the painting I created after visiting the Italian Market in Philadelphia.

My 'Sketch Boxes' are wooden boxes with images rendered in acrylic paint.
I'm looking forward to posting more of my newest artwork and information about the gallery, where all the pieces will be displayed. Stay tuned! 

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Recently I illustrated a new book titled "What We'll Do, Just Me and You!" by Diane Ohanesian. It embraces meaningful moments between parent and child that happen through simple, everyday experiences. "What We'll Do, Just Me and You!" brings these endearing and universal images and feelings into focus, and wraps them up as a sweet love letter from parent to child. You can share special moments with your young boy or girl in this personalized storybook available now at
Frecklebox.com. You are able to have the book feature either a boy or girl throughout the book along with their name on each page.

I started with character sketches. Then illustrations for the book were drawn to scale on Strathmore 400 Series Drawing paper. The art was painted in Photoshop.  Below are a few sketches for
What We'll Do, Just Me & You in the process. The typography for the book What We'll Do, Just Me and You!  was done by A. Vargo Design. Thank you Abby for your inspiring graphic design!

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What a thrill to have my logo chosen as the winning design for the 2013 SCBWI Multi-State Conference!  Look for it on items promoting the conference to be held in Fort Wayne Indiana May 3-5, 2013.

Old western vignette designs inspired my Wild, Wild Midwest logo. The design started with a simple line drawing then color was added in Photoshop and the project was complete when text was added. Thank you to Abby at A.Vargo Design for branding the logo with cowboy text.

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"YAY to YA!" I am VERY excited about a new assignment that will take me into the world of  illustrating a Young Adult (YA) cover. 
I'm reading the wonderful book while sketching and sketching and sketching...
Look for more information about the project that will be posted when the sketches come to life.

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Life is always taking me on new adventures, and a few weeks ago the path lead me to the Canyon Inn in McCormick's Creek State Park for the SCBWI Indiana Conference, aptly named Trails to Sweet Success. We had an amazing array of faculty for the conference that included Andrew Harwell, Associate Editor, HarperCollins; Eve Adler, Editor, Grosset & Dunlap; Jessica Garrison, Editor, Dial Books for Young Readers and Joann Hill, Art Director, Disney•Hyperion Books. Prior to spending a jam-packed weekend dedicated to children's books in the Inn, we managed to hike along the path to a waterfall with our NY editors. An interesting aspect of the weekend included a one-on-one portfolio review and a workshop titled The Illustrator/Art Director Relationship, with Joann Hill.  Here's a new image from the workshop with Joann.  It was an eventful weekend with outstanding faculty as well as artist and author friends! 

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I am excited to be a part of The Great Goose Egg Auction 2012 for Open Fields School. Open Fields is a small non-graded private school in Thetford Hill, Vermont.

Back in 1996, a parent donated more than 100 blown goose eggs for use in the school. A friend of the school and illustrator of children's books, the late Trina Schart Hyman (April 8, 1939–November 19, 2004), suggested that the eggs, if decorated and sold as unique works of fine art, could benefit all of the Open Fields students. Her idea hatched into an annual online auction that supports the school with the sale of artist-decorated eggs. Each year, goose, quail, hen and emu eggs are sent to artists all over the world and returned to Open Fields School as works of art!

Trina's "eggstraordinary" art event, The Great Goose Egg Auction, has become the school’s biggest fundraiser.   This year they will start with a brief viewing and auction on Friday, May 11, 2012 and at AVA Gallery in Lebanon, NH.

If you’re on Facebook, you can join the Open Fields School group:
here
The auction itself:

here

The exhibit opens at 5:30, and eggs can be viewed from 5:30 to 7. The auction starts promptly at 7PM.


In January I started sketches for the upcoming children's book, What We'll Do, Just Me and You! by Diane Ohanesian, debuting this summer. When my goose egg arrived carefully wrapped in a brown box just a few months ago, I thought the beach spread from the book would be a great image for the egg. I LOVE the beach, and am happy the egg captures a fun day at the beach!

Here is a step-by-step diary of how I painted the egg, titled: Me and You!
 


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Happy Spring everyone! This illustration is from a new book, (I am working on)
What We’ll Do, Just Me and You! by Diane C. Ohanesian. 

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The December Highlights for Children is out!
The original art, titled Season's Greetings, is posted here for you to enjoy.
It's great fun for me to feature real pets in my Illustrations. Bailey Thomas, a happy, tail-wagging West Highland White Terrier is one of two real pet friends drawn in this piece.
The cat in the window, (who gets covered up with the banner) was inspired by the real life Mac Vargo.
Thanks for stopping by to see my new December Highlights cover!

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