world of wonders

I'm pleased to be included in an exhibit at the Atrium Gallery at USM's Lewiston Auburn College, a collection of children's book illustration with a science/nature theme called Tell Me a Story: A World of Wonders. 

These are 3 of my originals from A Warmer World.

A very small hermit crab illustration became part of a digitally created pattern for the end papers in Nest, Nook, and Cranny which I illustrated.

Love these end paper illustrations for Velma Gratch and the Way Cool Butterfly by Kevin Hawkes, a former island neighbor, and how Velma not quite disappears in the pattern.

I felt like Velma at the beach the other day, watching this butterfly struggle to lift off the rocks.
Can you identify it?

Drawing this Edith's Checkerspot butterfly numerous times while working on A Warmer World has made it very identifiable for me. Thanks to a warmer world, they are now found at elevations that are 300 feet higher than they were 100 years ago.

I was delighted to meet up with Cathryn Falwell, who arranged this display of original art and objects that were digitally merged in the final book, Scoot!

I was very drawn to these vibrant paintings by Jim Sollers.

  Here's a great diagram of a beaver dam, also by Jim.

This image stuck in my head when I embarked on a nature walk, courtesy of Garry Fox of the Peaks Island Land Preserve during Peaks Fest weekend.

The beavers on Peaks are invisible yet leave plenty of evidence.

They like to eat aspen trees, and otherwise bring down any thing they please. Garry showed us the features of a beaver skull, flat topped with eyes and nostril aligned, to move just above water level.

The good folks at PILP do a lot of volunteer work keeping trails accessible.

Here's the biggest lodge. Anybody home?

When I illustrated a beaver for Nest, Nook & Cranny I sure didn't find reference in my back yard.
Beavers are too busy to pose.

No walk on PILP land is complete without a stop at Battery Steele, a WW2 era bunker that now functions as a cave of surreptitious ritual and creativity.

Garry pointed out some art highlights, such as this piece done by his son, Keenan, who heads to Cooper Union in the fall.

This is a painting done for last year's Sacred and Profane by Paul Brahms, lit by flashllight in the complete darkness.

Garry didn't know who did this:

It brings to mind this Native American proverb:

                                                               Treat the earth well,
It was not given to you by your parents, It was loaned to you by your children. 

From art to nature and back to art, let's "practice the art of noticing."

nook books are here!

Hooray! I got my box of Nest, Nook and Cranny books! O happy Pub Day!

I worked feverishly a year ago on the illustrations for this book of poems by Susan Blackaby. About animal habitats, it was a delicious challenge to immerse myself in the wordplay and my own environment, my radar always on the look out for immediate reference.

The book is punctuated by spreads that define a particular habitat: desert, grassland, shoreline, wetland, and woodland. Except for desert, I could mine my own territory, more or less.

Since there is a beaver colony on Peaks, I thought I could do some direct research. However, they are elusive critters, leaving only their signature chiseled marks on downed trees. Probably why I drew this beaver leaving the picture frame in my first piece for the Wetland spread.



The interior is black and white, but for the spreads, I wanted to play with some paper combinations for a greater range of tonal values. I needed to revise this, and show the beaver, plus draw a less awkward heron in flight. Thanks for astute art direction, Whitney!



There are some things you just have to invent. I had to draw a bear and a hive, but couldn't find very detailed reference. I drew this pattern.



I inverted and warped it, printed it out, and tore the edges, for that layered, papery quality of a hive. I combined the collage with the bear drawing.



It figures that reference often comes too late, but maybe it will be useful for another time, like this honeycomb I found in the snow yesterday.



Even though I live on an island, there's plenty of woodsy inspiration for this piece, for the Woodlands spread.



I loved the pattern of the inside of an envelope for the tree, but needed to revise that. This is the final version in the book.



Whenever I could, I played with cut paper and silhouettes.



Most of the illustrations are simple with plenty of white to give the poems their space.



Look who visited the lowtide about 3 months after I finished my illustrations...



And this morning I noticed this on a neighbor's roof:



The author writes at the end, " As a writer, I'm often asked where I get my ideas, and I usually say that I poke my nose out the front door. I suggest you do the same. If you stay on the lookout for quirky, curious, and remarkable things, you'll soon discover them everywhere."

Well said, Susan!

It was hard to miss this quirky curiosity, spotted down my street.



Only a clever quack would come up with such a remarkable obstacle for those drivers blasting to the next ferry.

Thanks to Suz, Charlesbridge, and folks like Tim, who make the world an ever fascinating place.