bequeathing books

There's been a harmonic convergence of vintage books coming into my possession lately. Perhaps it's the advent of e-books, or the passing of an era, or the legacies that books can bestow that explain this phenomenon. Nobody wants to just throw away a good book.

Here are some old books that have lovingly exchanged hands recently.

Kirsten Cappy threw a little mid-week frolic at Curious City around a musty box she received from a beloved professor in need of letting go her collection of children's books. Fruit, nuts, and a zesty zin rounded out the occasion.

Mary Anne Lloyd found many treasured favorites from her own childhood.

 

The time tick tocked away as we browsed old and new, such as this surprising take on  Virginia Wolf.

 I went home with this sturdy stack of vintage titles, each one striking a chord in my heart. 

Thank you, Kirsten!

A couple of days later, I traveled to Ossipee Lake in NH to visit my 90-year old Uncle Rolie. He lives down a dirt road, but you can't miss his driveway.

 

I've always enjoyed this owl he painted in the entryway. That's a real squirrel tail sticking out.

He was in a mood to pass on some stuff. He worked as a Commercial Artist in Boston and for many years in the Drafting Department at Western Electric. Maybe no coincidence I have a thing for vintage instruction books, lettering, stock photography.

Awhile ago he gave me his set of books from a correspondence course called "Famous Artists Course" through the Institute of Commercial Art in Westport, CT. Their motto from 1952 still holds true today.

There are 4 volumes of very specific lessons and explicit instructions. I once thought it would be fun to try a few on my students, but have not yet. Copying has kinda gone out of style, but it still has value for practicing technique. 

Here's a sample, with Rolie's drawing on the right. 

Meanwhile, I received from a distant friend, Dan, a batch of goods that belonged to an elderly neighbor. Peg Keenan had no relatives and he couldn't bear to simply toss a certain leather hat box of travel slides and souvenirs. My love of vintage photo albums is well-known to my circle. Yep, this came to the right place.

On the same day, I received my blank sketchbook from the Sketchbook Project. Yay! My chosen theme is Pictures and Descriptions, so it seemed like a natural fit to draw from some of these old photos, which I find captivating.

This is Peg on her Communion Day, I am guessing. 1934.

I'm calling this series Not My Memories. It will be a good exercise in inventing a back story from a few vestiges from another time and place.

Lord knows I have lots of material to work with!

The next day I signed books at the Charlesbridge booth at the New England Products Trade Show in Portland. What fun! I met so many nice folks. The topper was meeting the amazing illustrator/author David McPhail!

What a bounty of bookish wealth that has come my way this week. Now it's back to the classroom, where my students are drawing up a storm.

More to come on that soon!

learning moments

I've never met a library I didn't like. When I arrived at the Patten Free Library in Bath, Maine, I knew I was in for a marvelous time.

It was too good to be true: a model of a boat from Time of Wonder, by Robert McCloskey, begged to become the backdrop for a slide show of my illustrations for Ice Harbor Mittens, shown while author Robin Hansen read the book, to a small but appreciative audience.

Robin led an orienteering activity, in which pretend sailors could find little lobster trap clues throughout the room.

Her brother, Scott, shared some knot-tying techniques.

 The library is situated within a lovely park that includes a pond with a sculpture by William Zorach.

William and his wife Marguerite were pioneering modern artists who spent many years in Maine.
Their daughter, Dahlov Ipcar, is a renowned artist as well, still making art in her 90's.

A lively mural by Ipcar lines the children's room.

This is clearly a library that treasures the worlds of story books, and I found much to my delight. Look at these favorite characters waiting to be held while a leopard whispers a story.

There are child-sized cubbies for curling up, with a view of the magnificent Winter Street Center beyond.

This very still owl watches over everything.

I had just returned two mounts, one a great horned owl, to the Maine Audubon on my way to Bath. Did you know they have quite a collection of taxidermy that can be on loan, two items at a time, for a week? I brought the owl and a red fox into my class at Maine College of Art, for a session of nature studies.

Caitlin Alger (foreground drawing above) always brings personality to her illustration.

Ali McCahon (below) added some of the marine specimens from the science room to keep her fox company.

Bridget Dunigan added subtle watercolor to her ink drawing.

I lugged these critters back home, for a family drawing session.

Marty used the opportunity to draw in his Sketchbook Project.

Daisy drew a very cool owl. Hoot!

Here's my pastel rough of the very engaging fox.

I was sad to bring them back. Even though these animals are long gone, their spirits are very present.

How fitting that the advance copies of A Warmer World arrived! I enjoyed drawing animals for this book about how climate change affects wildlife.

 Let's hope this book engages young readers to honor the planet, and the habitats we share with all creatures.

whale spotting

This impromptu gesture made by my daughter while we were browsing at Artists & Craftsman Supply made me think about keeping our eyes open. Since starting on Here Come the Humpbacks for Charlesbridge in June, I've been spotting whales everywhere.

First I found them in our own toy bin.

And this little life-like model pairs well with cocktail napkins found at Take a Peak.

I couldn't resist this platter from Velocity Art and Design. Perfect for a Sunday morning of warm scones, yes?

And while traveling through Wiscasset, I had to stop and buy this porcelain white whale found at Rock Paper Scissors. Exquisite.

Yes, there have been books read, such as A Whale for the Killing by Farley Mowat, and films watched.

When I take on a subject, full immersion is necessary. I've intended to go on a whale watch, but instead find them in unexpected places. Like at the Gem Gallery, during Carol Cartier's "Wilderness" show, where I found these whales ready to play ping pong.

 

Just saw this in the window of the new Pine Cone & Chicadee shop on Free Street. Want.

This bears a strong resemblance to Rockwell Kent's illustration for Moby Dick. I've requested the classic from the MECA library, since illo grad and white whale expert Seaums Doherty says I must read it.

In July I lived vicariously through my family, who explored without me the inflatable whale that visited Peaks Island, thanks to the Children's Musuem of Maine.

I thought I might see a whale on the ferry to Nova Scotia in August, but instead, a stone whale awaited me at Nicole d'Entremont's cabin in Pubnico.

And what's hanging in the Hogan camp on the Bay of Fundy, built by my grandfather in 1934? A wooden whale made by my Uncle Roland Hogan. Perfect.

We did see an amazing skeleton at the New Brunswick Museum, of a right whale named Delilah.
I sat under a life size model of her, dwarfed and amazed, unable to capture her immensity in this sketch.

Since sending off my sketches to Charlesbridge 3 weeks ago,  I found time to visit an excellent show of children's book illustration at UNE, with esteemed companions, Kirsten Cappy and Cathryn Falwell.

Besides finding the wonderful work of my neighbor, Scott Nash, I delighted seeing my heroes Barbara Cooney, Dr. Suess, and this lovely leviathan by Peter Sis.

From the show, we girls made a short but breezy getaway to Taylor Pond, thanks to Cathryn's hospitality. We relaxed in the fresh air. Ahhhh. So needed a break in the action!

While I am fixed on whales, Cathryn has a magnet for frogs. Spotted this fellow in a culvert next to her cabin.

During the return voyage to my island, a local tug escorts another tanker down the river.

This familiar sight came in handy for one sketch for a spread in the book, in which author April Pulley Sayre writes about the dangers of shipping lanes to the migrations of whales.

Back on my island, I ride my bike to the backshore, and notice the shadows starting to look like fall.

Oh, and how the sign on this seafront cottage, now empty, catches the sun.

I'm even finding whales in the clouds that float over the rocks. I did this loose sketch from a memory.

Word has it that the sketches are now in the final stage of approval, with experts and fact-checkers.
Time now to clean the studio and line up my pastels in anticipation!