"You, the Magician"

"Observe your performance, your daily routine.
You make yourself up to teach yourself things."
—You, the Magician

This little excerpt is from the upcoming book that I've been illustrating, "You, the Magician." Written by husband and wife team, Jodi and Josh Carothers, this children's book has an incredible message that I think both kids and parents will enjoy and benefit from. I can't wait for people to read it.

Though I'm unsure of the release date (they are still looking at publishing options – suggestions welcome!), they now have a Facebook page that you can Like for more information and updates. Follow them here!

Last submission for MATS Bootcamp

Today was the deadline for my last submission in Lilla Rogers' MATS Bootcamp class. The initial mini-assignment and the overall focus was on our Favorite Beverage. The final piece should be something to give to a dear friend, or something that we'd put on our bedroom wall.

What was very different this month, was that we were asked not to post our works-in-progress on the MATS Facebook group. This prevented us from being influenced (and/or intimidated) by our classmates' work, and from seeking the opinions of others to make our own decisions. I needed to ask myself if I liked my final work and not be concerned with anyone else. Seeking approval can be a big challenge for me, and I loved this exercise.

I worked on my project up to the last minute, wavering between two very different directions. One was more editorial-ish; the other, very personal. I went with the personal one below. As I thought of my favorite drink, I thought more about memories of drinks and mealtimes. I thought of drinking juice in the morning at my Grandma Erma's farm, out of little, glass jelly jars. I thought of the lighting when I would sit down for breakfast, the window to my right, the expansive grass out the window, the big farm sink to my left. And I also thought of my Grandpa Iver, and how much I'd have liked to have him sit down with me for some juice and buttered toast. I used watercolor and graphite paper drawings to create this collage.

Part of me wanted to go with a more obvious Favorite Beverage theme, though, and I created many variations of the collage below. It was based on my coffee cup drawings, and I wanted it to seem soothing, like she was drinking a morning elixir.

As always, your feedback, comments and suggestions as welcome!

A quick watercolor sketch of Grandpa Iver

For an assignment I am currently working on, I have been thinking about who I'd like to have my morning cup of coffee with. Anyone. Who would I want to talk to, ask some questions, smile at, look around, pour another cup...?  My beloved grandfather Iver, whom I've never met and only have heard about, came to mind.

As I looked at old pictures of him today, I decided to sketch him. He was an eel farmer, a restauranteur, and a furniture maker (amongst many other things). He loved classical music, as I do. He was a tall and notoriously kind and patient man. He left such an impression on my mother that I named my son, Archer, after him (in Swedish, Iver = the bowman, the archer). Here's my quick watercolor of him. I love him so!

An artist date to see Neil Gaiman at Carnegie Hall

As I've mentioned in a couple of my very first blog posts, I try to take myself out on artist dates as often as possible. My most recent artist date was to see Neil Gaiman at Carnegie Hall. The performance opened with a few songs by FourPlay String Quartet (amazing!), then Neil came out and read his version of Hansel and Gretel. After a brief intermission, Neil read from his new book, The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains. FourPlay String Quartet performed as he read, and illustrations by artist Eddie Campbell were projected on the wall behind them. It was exactly as I had hoped -- moody, mysterious, exciting and extremely memorable. I loved it.

Here's a quick sketch I made during the performance. You can see the overall set up, as well as Neil's awesome, floppy hair...

Here's my ticket and my pre-show Cabernet:

To find out more about this event, check out this fantastic interview/preview with Neil at hearandnow.wbur.org.

Quick sketch of a dogwood tree

I drew this quick sketch a couple of weeks ago, scanned it, and then left it in a pile with a bunch of other drawings. I found it again last night, and, as I mentioned in this post, I liked it more than I had initially.

Eric Carle's "What's Your Favorite Animal?" Project

I absolutely love Eric Carle. I love his work and his joyful presence. "Brown Bear, Brown Bear. What Do You See?" was given to my son when he was born, and we've been hooked on Carle's work ever since. We frequently have Eric Carle-themed library visits, and our longtime favorite is "Draw Me a Star" (I still tear up whenever we read it).

A few months ago, I saw that there was a digital exhibition at the Eric Carle Museum, called the "What's Your Favorite Animal?" Project, and anyone could upload their art to the online gallery. I've been prodding my son almost daily to create something for it, but today I decided to let him off the hook and just create something for it myself. I submitted this piece, titled Cardinal.

If you or your child would like to participate, submissions are still being accepted until August 1st, 2014, and the online gallery is on display here through August 31st. I highly recommend that you take a look at all the amazing art!

Reviving and recycling my art

It's funny to me how often I love the art that I'd initially ditched and also adamantly dislike what was once a favorite.

A couple of days ago, I ran across some art that I'd created for a client a few months ago. It was ultimately never used, and I suppose I felt it wasn't any good because of it. But when I saw these characters again, I realized how much I did like them, and how much I could see myself in them. I even put a couple of them in my society6 shop, so that I could create prints. And perhaps I'll turn this Crane into a baby onesie.

Though much of my art that I've rejected probably will stay in a folder somewhere, as I get more comfortable in my art-making skin, I can see me and my process in the bad stuff too. And I find that I appreciate those castoffs more and more.