- I have never, in all my livelong days, been so proud of an illustrator. And Mary Engelbreit at that. For someone as well-established as she is the decision to create and sell a print with all proceeds going to the Michael Brown Jr. Memorial Fund, which supports the family of Michael Brown, the Missouri teenager who was gunned down by police two weeks ago. Here’s what it looks like:
Next thing you know Ms. Engelbreit is being blasted by haters and trolls for this work. You can read about the controversy and her measured, intelligent response here.
- While we are on the subject of Ferguson, Phil Nel created a list of links and resources for teachers who are teaching their students about the events. I was happy to see he included the impressive Storify #KidLitForJustice, that was assembled by Ebony Elizabeth Thomas.
- iNK (Interesting Nonfiction for Kids) that group of thirty authors of nonfiction books for children recently came up with an interesting notion. Thinking about how to best reach out to teachers and homeschooling parents they’ve come up with The Nonfiction Minute—a daily posting of intriguing tidbits of nonfiction designed to stimulate curiosity, with a new one published online every weekday. Say they, “Each Nonfiction Minute website entry will include an audio file of the author reading his or her text, so students can actually hear the author’s voice, making the content accessible to less fluent readers. The audio frees us from the constraints of children’s reading vocabulary, which is what makes textbooks and many children’s books designed for the classroom so bland. We can concentrate on creating a sense of excitement about our subject matter for our young listeners, readers, and future readers.” Right now they’re in the the early stages of crowdfunding via IndieGoGo so head on over and give them your support if you can. It’s a neat notion.
- Did you see this, by the way?
- I’m not a Dr. Who fan myself but that’s more because I simply haven’t watched the show rather than any particular dislike or anything. So I was very amused by the theory posed recently that Willie Wonka is the final regeneration of The Doctor. And they make a mighty strong case.
- And speaking of cool, I almost missed it but it looks as though 3-D printers are creating three dimensional books for blind children these days. The classics are getting an all new look. Fascinating, yes? Thanks to Stephanie Whelan for the link.
- This is a bit of a downer. I was always very impressed that Britain had taken the time to establish a funny prize for kids. Now we learn that the Roald Dahl Funny Prize has been put on hold. It’ll be back in 2016 but still. Bummer.
You know, I love The Minnesotan State Fair. I think it’s one of the best State Fairs in the nation. But even I have to admit that when it comes to butter sculptures, Iowa has Minnesota beat. The evidence?
Hard to compete with that. Thanks to Lisa S. Funkenspruherin for the link.
I just got back from a wonderful vacation to my home town of St. Louis, Mo. It's my favorite vacation spot and the only one where I can completely relax. My kids love it and my husband gets to play golf on the cheap. Reconnecting with my cousins, aunts, uncles is the best part and why I keep coming back.
This year was even more special because I got to meet Mary Engelbreit!
Did you hear that?
THE MARY ENGELBREIT!!!!
I can't begin to tell you how excited I was. She's been an inspiration to me for so, so long, as well as being really kind and supportive to me on
Instagram (how is this even possible?).
I've really wanted to meet her, so I used my
20 seconds of insane courage and asked if I could come by the studio and meet her while I was in town. Not only did she say yes, but she invited me to lunch.
LUNCH? With Mary Engelbreit? Um…YES!
Anyway, it was wonderful. I love her studio and the neighborhood it's in. Her staff is the best! Lunch was loads of fun. We talked and talked like two old friends. I felt like I'd known her forever. I got some career advice and I think I've gained a new friend. Thank you Mary!
Make sure to like her page on
Facebook and follow her on
Instagram. She shows lots of work in progress and sneak peaks of upcoming products that I'm sure you'll enjoy! She has something fun coming up that I'm not sure I can talk about yet, but I'll keep you posted.
"Daddy's Home!" © Paula PertileI'm starting a new series of art for some books, and am trying to work out the style I want to do. Part of me wants to do simple watercolor. Part of me wants to do detailed watercolor/gouache paintings. Part of me wants to do my usual colored pencil thing. Who will win?
This was done with colored pencils. The background alone took forefreakingever. If you do colored pencil, you know what I'm talking about. And in this case, I'm not sure the final effect is all that much better than if I'd done something else. I kept going though, because I wanted to see it through. Oh, its beautiful, yes, but I think the subtle gradations and layers upon layers of color build-up get lost a bit.
Try as I might to do a quicker or simpler style though, I just don't think I have it in me. I like tight, detailed work. I love to render. I do not love to just whip things out. The art I'm attracted to is tight and detailed. Every time I try to do something 'fast' just to be practical, I'm unhappy with it. So I will soldier on in my quest for the perfect style/medium/technique.
And I will post results.
In other news, there is new addition to our little family. Willow - a sweet orange kitty who's been sneaking in through the cat door to eat and play with the catnip toys since just before Isabella died. I finally caved in and told her she could stay - and now she sleeps on the bed and is quickly training me to her preferences. She 'covers up' food she doesn't like (like its something in the litter box) and meows her approval if I get it right.
Sigh.
My local art store is having a BIG SALE on Thursday, so I plan to go stock up on a thing or two.
There are also gardening chores and general 'sprucing up' things to be done outside, now that the weather has turned to sun, finally.
Tomorrow I'm listening in on a phone call with Mary Engelbreit - one of Tara Reed's wonderful
monthly "Ask" phone calls she does. I can't wait!!
Happy St. Patrick's Day, a day early! Don't forget to wear your green or you'll get pinched (do people still do that?) Me, I'll be having my corned beef and cabbage and boiled potatoes and carrots- mmm.
Slainte!
I've just read the most awful news—Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion Magazine is no more!!!! Read the story here. They are looking for a new publishing partner, so get the word out. I read about it on Dudadaze. This magazine feeds my creative soul. I read everything in this magazine, even the ads. Where else do we get to see into the studios of other artists? To see creatively decorated homes? I love all the different kinds of decor in this magazine. Who else features so many artists? You can't get that anywhere else!! If you feel the same, copy the logo and blog about it. Make your own logo if you feel so inclined. Get the word out! Let's save this magazine!
Isabella just came home from the groomers. All her long beautiful HOT hair is gone! This is her "lion cut". Isn't it cute?
Badly Photoshopped crop, you'll forgive me
She's like a shorn sheep. If I didn't do this, she'd be wearing a fur coat all summer long. And in this heat... not a good thing. In San Francisco she
needed her fur all summer to insulate her from the fog. But here, off it comes.
~~~~~
All the art I'm working on right now is stuff I can't show yet.
I'd like to do some pieces for myself, but I'm kinda booked on 'real jobs' for a while (a kids book, and maybe another one, and maybe another one). We'll see how it goes.
Besides, I want to do some knitting to start getting ready for Fall.
(I know, I can't believe I just said that either.) Hey, I just received my Party and Paper Retailers magazine and its full of
Christmas stuff. Now
that's early.
~~~~~
Do you like Mary Engelbreit? There's
an interview here you can listen to. (I hope its OK to share it...I don't see why it wouldn't be.)
I recently broke down and bought a Blackberry and now wonder what I ever did without it. One of my favorite things to do on the busride home is to go through my Google Reader and read my subscriptions to all the literary and poetry feeds, I never had much time to do more than scan.
This was in today's feed from Poetry Daily and I was completely taken aback by the sumptious, evocative language. It's from the Portuguese and luckily I can read in Portuguese as well as Spanish and I have to say that the translation captures the cadence of the original beautifully. They do include the link to the original poem if you want to take a stab at it.
Someone opens an orange in silence by Herberto Helder translated from the Portuguese by Alexis Levitin
Someone opens an orange in silence, at the entrance
to fabled nights.
He plunges his thumbs down to where the orange
is rapidly thinking, where it grows, annihilates itself, and then
is born again. Someone is peeling a pear, eating
a bunch of grapes, devoting himself
to fruit. And I fashion a sharp-witted song
so as to understand.
I lean over busy hands, mouths,
tongues that devour their way through attention.
I would like to know how the fable of the nights
grows like this. How silence
swells, or is transformed with things. I write
a song in order to be intelligent about fruit
on the tongue, through subtle channels, unto
a dark emotion.
Read the rest of this poem here.
The round-up is at The Book Mine Set. Thanks for hosting John!
Decider was right the the animated Charlotte’s Web is preferable to the live action version, but what about Harry Potter and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe? They missed the boat.
Yeah, I pretty well swallowed my teeth when I saw that ME image on Friday. I imagine she’s lost quite a few fans now. And gained hundreds of others who’d never even heard of her.
Totally had no idea she lived in St. Louis.