plunge into the new

2013 is off to a brave and busy beginning, full of stories, students, and creatures with white fur.

Charlesbridge donated a stack of books for the Natural Resources Council of Maine's Polar Dip and Dash on the last day of 2012. Sunny but cold, it was a glorious day to sign books about climate change for the top ten kid winners.

There was a great crowd, including a polar bear looking a bit out of his element, a fitting metaphor for the whole deal.

 

Wait, what's the bride doing here? Oh, it's Beth Dimond, Public Affairs Coordinator for the NRCM, who decided to take the plunge with her entire wedding party before taking the plunge at the altar.

Talk about prenups!

She was kind enough to take this photo of me awaiting the dipping action. Notice I am not in MY bathing suit.

Great spectator event, truly. Here the crowd gathers, those in clothing feeling smart, and those dipping bracing for the water.

 

The event itself is, of course, brief. Wedding dippers in the foreground below:

 

I sponsored my neighborhood polar bear family, Jeanne Gulnick and her husband Mark Green (both professors at St. Joseph's College) and their brave kids, Jonah and Lilah. I shiver just looking at them. Bravo for raising money to combat climate change.

A couple of days later, I encountered more brave kids at King Middle School. I was one of 9 guest artists visiting for their annual World Culture kick-off, an expedition involving making art inspired by a French or Spanish artist. Students begin by interviewing local artists about how culture influences their work, and other pertinent details about being an artist. I always bring pastels, since materials are a major aspect of my approach.

This student made a fast and furious drawing, unafraid to get green dust all over.

Wow, sweet rewards for artists.... Holy Donuts!

I also showed students my current Sketchbook Project, in which I'm drawing my favorite shops around Portland. My own superhero/donut dunker modeled for me. Look, up in the sky!

Over the weekend, I finally saw a performance of the Peaks Island Puppets. I felt like a kid again, totally transported.  My neighbor Stephanie Eliot shines with exuberance and David Handwerker is

sly and silly. Julie Goell made all the puppets and props, and wrote the comical telling of Solomon and Ashmedai. I brought home the materials to make my own. Cool.

I headed back into another school on Monday, Casco Bay High, to help kick-off their week-long intensive on self-publishing. Shared selections from my zine collection and lugged my vintage typewriter.

Meanwhile, I'm sketching away. Everything seems to be a source of inspiration. 

Stopped in at Longfellow Books to see the latest window installation, this one by Gaella Materne, awesome illustration senior at Maine College of Art. She recreated in 3 dimensions the book cover of my neighbor Eleanor Morse's new book, White Dog Fell from the Sky.

Eleanor also posed for me for my sketchbook.

Eleanor will be reading and signing this Friday at Longfellow Books at 6:30. I'll be one of the first in what will be a long line for this amazing book. Come join me!

life cycles

I was honored when ELL teacher Marcia Salem asked me to visit her class at King Middle School. As my daughter winds down her eighth grade experience at "the best middle school in Maine" I love that place more and more. Ms. Salem's students, who hail from Somalia, Kenya, Burundi and beyond, have studied life cycles of plants and animals. I worked with them to create books about their learning.

I made a little comp to show what we might do, using a small drawing of a frog my daughter did awhile back. A circular format seemed to fit the bill.

 

During our first session, design choices were made. What color paper? How many sheets? How much
information and drawing to fit the layout? Students used plates or cardboard templates to trace circles.

This is trickier than it looks, including cutting the circles. But voila! Circles abound, and now students decide what goes where.

They began drawing and writing, based on a rough draft done earlier.

Having a plan is important! I also showed students sketches and preliminary studies that I typically do for any illustration project. There is a process for everything. Paper, glue sticks, and pens were flying.

At last, the circles were filled with learning, some rubber stamping, and plenty of personality. Some of these are not quite complete, but the brad fasteners have been installed, and the final touches will happen.

 

Life cycles of ladybugs, corn, butterflies, hummingbirds, frogs, and horses are contained in full circle, vehicles of knowledge and enthusiasm. It was a blast to work with such a spirited group of learners.

I was treated to hearty smiles and a lovely drawing from Farhi, who noticed I like polka dots.

Nothing beats being with kids who love school, animals, drawing, and creating. Thank you:
Abdirashid, Farhi O. G., Muse, Kaled, Nasteho, Omar, Hawa, Fariyod, Vanessa, Abdifatah, Ahmed, Anas, Billy, Nestorina, and Ms. Salem! You make me smile.

in with the new

I found some mitten wrapping paper by Graham & Snow that became a collage card to ring in the new.

The first week of the year was busy with newness. I went to an opening for an exhibit of photographs by Peaks Islander Zev Eisenberg in the lobby gallery of the Chestnut Street Lofts in Portland. Zev, a junior in the new media department at U Maine in Orono, possesses an eye for the surprise moment. As the son of Avner the Eccentric and Julie Goell, he's wise to the slight of hand and lyricism that are everyday in his household. Here he is straightening his work with the level in his phone.

He was clearly excited for this first showing of his photographs, and fellow photographer and islander Arthur Fink was there to cheer him on. 

As one who almost switched majors from illustration to photography in college, I appreciate the thrill of a good eye, and a group that hangs well. Congratulations to Zev!

From there, I headed to the Friends School, for a book launch for "Fufu and Fresh Strawberries" written by two Telling Room students, Caitlin Lowell and Charlotte McDonald. The story about a young Sudanese boy who makes friends in his new neighborhood is illustrated by Anna Boll, a friend and cohort in the Maine Illustrators Collective. It was fun to share in another first for everyone.

Here are Charlotte, Caitlin, and Anna, all smiles.

Both young writers spent many formative hours at the Telling Room, followed by a grant and a trip to Haystack in the fall of 2007, where the story was born. It went through many twists that stories often do before publication. 

Anna, the illustrator, began the event with a paired drawing game, in which one person thinks of an object without naming it, but instead gives directions to a partner on what to draw. Good example of the humorous perils of visual communication, which sometimes resembles mind-reading.

Hooray for first books!

The next day, I was a visiting artist at King Middle School for their World Languages Expedition Kick-Off. Students are researching a famous French or Spanish-speaking artist; as part of their research they met local artists to ask questions, like: how does culture inform my art? I brought in books, a portfolio, a couple of sketchbooks, reference photos, and working sketch and final pastel illustration, along with paper samples, pencils, and pastels. 

  

On the cue of Ms. Emily Zack-Farrell, groups of students filled 9 tables for 20 minutes to hear what we had to share, take notes, ask questions, handle the art. After 3 rounds of students, I began to forget if I was repeating myself to the same table. I was in terrific company, with designers, musicians, painters, a printmaker, a dancer, and a few King teachers with amazing talents, such as Peter Hill, who teaches 8th grade science by day, and handcrafts custom guitars by night.

I put out blank paper and pencils, but few were brave enough to try drawing. I can usually spot the artists, they have doodles all over their notebooks. It was probably no coincidence that Charlotte Eisenberg, cousin of the above Zev, not only tried the materials but did a drawing of me. Go, Charlotte!

It's a kick to be part of anything at King, where the energy and pride run high. They know how to get students into their work, as witnessed by a display for another expedition, 1000 Years Without a Bath, in York 8. They placed themselves in roles, while exploring costume designs of the medieval period.

Getting reference for a visual project, and making it personal, is a regular part of my process, too.

In a pinch, I got my resident model to pose as the 11 year-old boy in Ice Harbor Mittens.

I work from many sources, real and imagined. Author Robin Hansen has a great phrase on her blog, "not everything true is real."

Calling all knitters: Robin will be at Kennebooks on January 29. Ring in the new with learning to knit compass mittens!