Rickshaw Girl rides in India

Wow! I received my Marathi (India) copy of Rickshaw Girl by Mitali Perkins. I love it!
The reproductions of my illustrations are good, and they pair nicely with the text I can't read.

I have a cool book with typefaces that I turned to when working on the book 5 years ago.

 

This was one sketch for the cover that didn't fly.

Anyway, I'm proud to see the cover in all it's variations, especially the Korean, Japanese, and Indian versions:

Bravo, Mitali, for bringing this story to life!

labors of love & seaweed soup

What a fast summer, full of sunshine and seaweed soup. Thanks to the brilliant bookings of Curious City, I had the honor of visiting another round of libraries, including my very own, the small but mighty Peaks Island Branch. A pretend delicacy from Seven Days of Daisy made it's debut: jellyfish sandwiches!

 

You can make yours with graham crackers, vanilla icing, red licorice string, and peach gummies.

Yummy!

It was the final evening of the Summer Reading Program, and the esteemed Pat Crowley Rockwell

was a major addition, providing piano music and a song (days of the week, what else?).

                                photo courtesy of Kathie Schneider

The kids enjoyed making up their own stories, and just diving into coloring.

Here they're awaiting their reward for reading all summer. (new books, thanks to Friends of the Peaks Island Library.)

                                                                   photo courtesy of Kathie Schneider

And cleverly fishing out the candy from the seaweed soup!

In between trips to Nova Scotia and Circus Smirkus, I manned a table with my daughter, my muse and cohort, at the Fifth Maine's annual Art on the Porch.  Her cheerful work inspires me, and delights many.

She created this alpana design, which I added to "Illustrating One World", a presentation I made at the Thomas Memorial Library recently.

A great gang of young artists set about making their marks, some with radial designs inspired by alpanas found in Rickshaw Girl, some drew seascapes, surfing, and faces. One boy drew galactic cartoons.

Kids love having free reign.

I had the pleasure the next day of boating past Pumpkin Knob, just like the kids do on Sunday in Seven Days of Daisy. That's it, a little spit of rock on the north tip of Peaks Island.

My destination was the lovely library on Long Island.  

I was warmly welcomed like a neighbor, especially when a girl named Phoebe handed me a gift of fresh warm gingerbread cookies! The kids enjoyed seeing the Aucocisco II  on the last page of Seven Days of Daisy, the boat they know well.

One artist collaged her own bits of calendar into her book.

Her sister was more interested in the sensual qualities of pastel dust.

 

Either way, I love when kids respond to materials in their own intuitive manner. I'm not telling them how to do it, but simply providing the time and place to explore, follow choices of color, paper size, subject matter, and curiosity.

And they made awesome treats, too!

 

En route to my next library, I stopped at the Atrium Gallery where Tell Me a Story had concluded.

It was a fantastic display of Maine children's book illustrations involving folktales and world cultures. So glad to have been part of it!

My pieces were from The Star Fruit Tree, Rickshaw Girl, and Cricket Magazine.

Quite an honor to be alongside the legendary Ashley Bryan. Loved his display of puppets made from found objects.

 

From Lewiston, I headed to South China. Lo and behold, a famous landmark pointed the way! The mystery is why are there two Swedens with different mileage?

The venerable South China Public Library is the oldest continuously operating library in the state of Maine, since 1830.

The youth book group had not only read Rickshaw Girl, but were eager to discuss their favorite characters. And get into alpanas! Sedona had fun wearing the projections.

Once again, the young artists made some cool drawings, too.

I am ever grateful to libraries, for providing sources of reference, infinite worlds between book covers, and platforms for dreaming and drawing. My first ever summer tour is now over, and I've headed back to the classroom (hello, MECA) and my own studio.

Another deadline: a pastel, recently commissioned as a wedding gift: Falmouth Town Landing on a sunny afternoon. This patron says, who needs another pan? Original art is way more memorable to receive. Hear, hear!

Adieu, long days!

connections on the book trail

I recently visited Judy Labrasca's narrative book class at Maine College of Art, scene of the crime 9 years ago when I hatched my own Seven Days of Daisy. It's a marvelous class, and I enjoy revisiting the space where stories begin. Judy always brings in lots of supplies, all organized in irresistible fashion.

She also brings in loads of books for browsing when the mind draws a blank. Quite satisfying that mine are in the mix.

Judy shares a ton of information, which might seem overwhelming, but becomes a backdrop to all the inspiration.

She made small books for students to start visualizing. I was immediately drawn to the colorful energy splashing around this book.

 

It never ceases to amaze me the variety of ideas that come out of this class. Students generally have been carrying around either a specific story, or just the yearning for one, for a long time. The class provides the diving board. You bring a deep well of visions, and finally are given the proper space to tap them, with Judy's thoughtful guidance.

It changed my life. Thank you, Judy!

I showed the dummy made in class. It's only 3.5 inches tall but I remain quite proud of my story seed.

From MECA, I went to the Scarborough Library, where I made an Illustrating One World, Many Stories presentation to a group of young artists. I showed the process of making the illustrations for Rickshaw Girl and other projects that involved immersing myself in another culture through books, film, music, and live models getting into costume. Afterwards, kids shared my supplies and just started drawing.

Jillian so sweetly gave me this drawing, inspired by the alpana designs that the character, Naima, creates around her family's dwelling in Bangladesh. Thanks, Jillian!

Another artist, Lucy, drew this pink pig. You'll notice from the dummy page above, that Daisy has a pig collection. What's not to love about this? Thanks, Lucy!

This artist has a good eye. Heads are not easy to draw without a good sense of proportion.

 

This boy drew a killer whale which I immediately recognized, now that I am working on a current project about whales.

Once paper and pastels start flying around, it's a creative free-for-all and a sight to behold. Making art seems to be too often cut from the curriculum, or defined by a narrow product. Letting kids choose what to draw unleashes their imaginations on paper, and I encourage all of it. It's about paying attention, to their ideas and observations. Their creative identities make them who they are.

Thank you, Scarborough Public Library, for letting me connect with a fine band of young creators!

Once I got home, my daughter showed off books she made in a youth camp at the TEIA.

The making of books, and the filling of books, are wonderful acts of connecting to the world. Yes, I am biased about the tangible joys found in the book as an object and vessel. Why else would I head out again on the book trail?

On Saturday, I stopped at the Island Institute, where my books are on display at Archipelago, a swell shop featuring products made by Maine islanders.

I took a quick look in the Farnsworth Art Museum, where, among the Wyeths, Robert Indiana's work makes variations on an indelible theme.

My destination for the afternoon was the Maine Lighthouse Museum where I joined 8 other authors for a book signing.

 

It was fun to chat with fellow illustrator, Nicole Fazio, whose latest book is a charmer. I sketched her sitting across the room.

 I also drew some of the cool buoys, a colorful collection hanging from the ceiling.

 I was thrilled to find myself next to C. S. Lambert, whose Sea Glass Chronicles is a treasured book of mine. Here she shares a shadow box filled with favorite finds.

As a veteran thingfinder, I couldn't resist her latest, Sea Glass Hunter's Handbook. She introduced me to the term, flotsametrics. Who knew there was a cosmic flow? She also identified the shard I collaged into this illustration in Seven Days of Daisy,

Daisy, after all, has her own flotsam and jetsam collection, mostly rope. Peaks Island abounds with good spots for finding glass and shards. After meeting Carole, I looked the next day and found these without much effort. How many? Seven, of course!

It could be coincidental, but we have a rubber ducky collection that shares the wall with a compass rose mosaic mirror I made years ago from shards found entirely on Peaks.

No matter where I go, connections surface. It takes paying attention, and being open to what life brings to my shore. How fortunate that books are my vessel. 

Now, I'm back in the studio to go deep with humpback whales. Hooray!