Good Eats in Charlotte

Here's a map for the July issue of Charlotte Magazine, for an article about restaurants on Central Avenue. (Not wise to work on this kind of map when I'm hungry.)

I Kid You Not

Saw three boys and their ducks sitting on the back steps of my local library last week. They said they were "taking them for a walk."

I love my library.

Ripple Effect

My illustrator friend Kelly Light is causing a ripple. She decided to start creating sketchcards-- tiny 2-1/2" by 3-1/2" pieces of original art-- to sell for $10 each to benefit the animal life being devastated by the deluge of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. (Sorry, I just can't call it a "spill" anymore.)















She put out a call to others to see if they would contribute, and the result has been an outpouring of art from professional illustrators, designers, fine artists, kids, and anyone who wanted to help.















Sometimes we can only do small things and hope they make a difference.















Please visit ripplesketches.blogspot.com to see artwork created with love by people from all over the world. The cards are $10 apiece, and 100% of each purchase is being donated to The Institute of Marine Mammal Studies and the International Bird Rescue Research Center.

Catching Up (And Cat Non Sequitur)

I'm playing catch-up this week. Reflecting on projects completed and those to come. Thankful for old and new friends; bowled over by kind words.

Life is good.

Twelfth Annual Shoreline SCBWI Conference

This past Saturday I had the pleasure of speaking at the Twelfth Annual Shoreline SCBWI Conference in Madison, Connecticut. (We were supposed to be outside, in the apparently gorgeous gardens of organizer Doe Boyle, but ended up gathering at the Guilford Free Library due to the threat of thunderstorms. I'd love to see those gardens another time!)

The day's theme was Cross-Pollination in the Garden: The Hybridization of Fact and Fiction in Writing for Young People. Each of the invited authors spoke about their projects and writing processes in both fiction and non-fiction; and how they combine facts and imagination to create compelling works for children. It was fascinating. I spoke from the point of view of an illustrator, talking mostly about my book maps, and my process behind doing the artwork for Maggie and Oliver. (And yes, I'll admit I used more than a few bad gardening metaphors-- avid-- some say lunatic-- gardener that I am. Luckily the audience was forgiving.)

It was an honor to be included with these folks... Dana Meachen Rau, Page McBrier, Stacy DeKeyser, and Tony Abbott. Another bonus was being able to meet a whole bunch of wonderful people who I either knew of or had "met" online. Really fun day.