Junkin' treasures

I love watching American Pickers on the History Channel and even though I am not a "junker"...that's what we call them in our family...my sister and brother-in-law are the best junkers I know! I am lucky cuz all I have to do is give them my wish list and they go on the hunt!

Here are just a few of the recent treasures they have gotten for me. Thanks Jan and Pat!!! :)

 A wonderful Corona typewriter that still works! The case is the to the left with my hubby's old slinky from the fifties. A 1959 Highlight's Magazine and a great book, Art for Children...I found those two gems. :)

 A very cool small portable Corona typewriter and a couple old fans.

This is what I woke up to on March 14th!

And it's started snowing like crazy again since this picture! It's a white out at the moment outside my studio window.
What is even crazier than this? It's supposed to be up to 70 by Thursday! That's the best part of Spring snows...they don't stick around very long.

painting...painting...painting

Working away...here's what's on my desk.

Illustration Friday - Layers

Here's a small cropping of a piece I did for the Tomie dePaola Illustration contest that SCBWI had recently. The illustration was for the opening of Johanna Spyri’s wonderful book Heidi.

I thought it was appropriate for Illustration Friday's "layers".

Note- I just realized I had two versions of this illo that I worked on so I added another version where Heidi's clothes are bigger and the shoes a bit clunkier as well as a few other changes.

Not sure which one I like better?

What's on my desk?

I'm working on a sweet board book project at the moment. I can't give many more details until it comes out but I'll give you a peek. You will see a little color study above the painting that I did digitally. I find it really helps me to do that before just jumping into a painting. That way, I can work out all the color issues ahead of time.

working...

It's been way too long since my last post because I have been working feverishly on a board book project along with other assignments as well. I am having lots of fun but I haven't had time to post so here is a little peek. Lot's of toddlers in this book.

Too much trust?

Here is Brad hard at work in his office chair.
Here's Cassie...too trusting? Good thing we always look down to see where she is before moving an inch.

Magazine art

I recently did an illustration for Jack and Jill magazine, the Jan/Feb 2011 issue. They do a fun contest called Pen in Hand where they choose one of their young subscribers whose story was chosen to be illustrated and featured in their magazine. Here is Tiny Tom's Courageous Adventure.

Happy New Year!

I don't usually do resolutions for the new year but I am going to try to sketch more this year in my sketch books. My sweet daughter got me not one but two sketchbooks for Christmas to try and motivate me.

Happy New Year to all my blogging friends!

Don't Write the Obit For Picture Books Yet

Don't Write the Obit For Picture Books Yet

Merry Christmas!

Cassie's ready for the hoildays!

sketching

Piggy doodle

A piggy doodle for you...he's greeting someone, just don't know who as of yet.

Tomatoes in October and bookshelves

It's been a gorgeous October in Missouri this year! The trees are really just beginning to change. We just had our first deep frost this a.m., Oct 29th so we recently picked all the remaining tomatoes. They have continued to ripen and it looks like we'll still have tomatoes through November! Here are a few in my studio window.




I have a little break before starting another project so I have been cleaning and organizing my studio. I finally recycled two old Macs, two old printers, an old scanner, etc. Best Buy has a great program. You can take three items per customer, per day. I also got my new bookshelves and I actually have room to spare!!!! I'm in heaven!!

My studio mate, Cassie has finally found her bed in the studio. Up until it got cooler she has always been at my feet but I think she likes the warm sun that shines in on her bed.

Something about Fall makes me want to organize, clean and start fresh. The interior of the house has all been repainted and updated, the studio is organized and somewhat clean so now it's time to start working on a couple personal projects that have been sitting in the flat files forever. Let's see how much longer I procrastinate...

Babies, babies and more babies

I've been working on adding some babies, toddlers and young children to my portfolio. They are so much fun to draw!  Here are a few character sketches.

Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum

Along with so many people, I grew up loving the Little House books written by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Recently, we finally went to the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home and Museum in Mansfield, Missouri where the Little House Books were all written. We've driven by the exit so many times before but never took the time to stop in.

What a treasure to behold!! There were actually two of Laura's homes there. One was the farm house and another was a gorgeous stone cottage that Laura's daughter, Rose had built for them in the early 1930's where the first five Little House books were written. The last 4 books were written after Almonzo and Laura moved back to the farm house. All of the manuscripts were written with pencil on 10 cent tablets. They have all the original manuscripts at this museum along with Pa's actual fiddle! Truly amazing!!

These photos are screen shots on my Mac which are not of great quality but at least you get the idea. I forgot my camera that trip and all I had was our flip movie camera. There were no photos allowed inside the two homes so if you want to see the amazing items like Pa's fiddle, etc. you have to go visit this wonderful museum.

Look what arrived inthe mail?!

I received my copies of My Two Holidays yesterday from Scholastic/Cartwheel so it's now available online for purchase and as soon as the bookstores start carrying the holiday stuff you should see it bookstores as well.

It feels like Fall!

It feels like Fall today! In the seventies with low humidity and it was actually chilly this morning! It feels like heaven!!! Here's another practice piece to celebrate Fall.

Back from the woods...

I just returned from visiting my brother and his wonderful family at their fabulous cabin in the woods. While there my hubby was fishing and I was happily relaxing, reading and painting. Here's what I came up with for my Fall mailer. I have been wanting to do more books with animals so I figure I'd better start sending more mailers out with critters on them.