An Artist’s Blog

I've been in a constant battle lately with this woodchuck over who's got the rights to till the soil out at my country gardening spot. These kind of epic battle scenes and other such Military art are one of the oldest types of art in developed civilizations, not that this battle has been very civil. The first hole I found I dumped a bunch of stones in and packed some dirt firmly over so I wouldn't trip when I was mowing around the garden. I brushed the sweat from my brow with my cap and … [Read more...] about Woodchuck Wars

After covering my tender, newly planted veggies for the past couple evenings I surveyed the damage and hoped for a bountiful harvest throughout the summer and fall. Only a few leaves were nipped by the frost and so I look forward to recording some of the treasures I pull from the land that is so generously afforded me for reaping. This tiny oil painting was worked up from a photo I took on the last day of gathering the final goods from my country garden a few years ago. Bulging tomatoes and a … [Read more...] about Still Lifes

At every step in our lives there are bridges that we cross. I've already crossed many of them myself, even one not unlike this one pictured here. The log was a bit shaky and unnerving to cross, but having experienced the crossing it took me to more than just another destination. It took me to another level of my maturity. My husband is intrigued with bridges, well, actually with any engineering feat. When he saw the PBS presentation of Super Bridge, a NOVA special about the construction of the … [Read more...] about Bridges

One of the generous awards and opportunities offered through the Society of Children's Book Writiers and Illustrators is the Tomie dePaola Award. This years prompt was to depict the main character from the popular tale of Little Red Riding Hood. The excerpt that Tomie gave us was from a version by Philip Pullman of the well known Grimm fairy tale. Mr. dePaola challenged submitters not to fall to generic depictions that were too ordinary or "designed", like what's already been seen in media … [Read more...] about Little Red Riding Hood

At a recent SCBWI conference the illustrators were given a chance to show off their skills in a contest. The prompt was to create three different poses of the character Rumplestiltskin that shows our vision of him. I had a vague memory of the character from stories in my youth but couldn't quite put my finger on how the whole story went. So I did a little research. There were several versions of the story including some from other countries and cultures. In one his name meant simply rattle … [Read more...] about Rumplestiltskin