Projects, Puppies, and Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, everyone!

I'm finally working on the cover art for Maggie & Oliver! Can't wait until it comes out this Fall. Ironic, isn't it, how things happen so slowly in publishing, but time seems to pass faster the older you get. That must make it all even out in the end.


















Here's another peek at some interior art... these will be chapter heads. Can you tell the story takes place in an old-fashioned setting?
















And some most exciting news... here's the newest addition to our family! (Whose brilliant idea was it to get a puppy in the middle of a winter of epic snow? I won't answer that...)























May 2011 bring you projects, and puppies, and whatever else you hope for!

Nice Art!

The Winter 2011 edition of
Picture Book Artists Association is up!
(Here's my page.)

Rushing Around

'Tis the season.

On My Desk

Working on rough cover color ideas for this project.

(Notice, the cats have been displaced. For now.)

Shout Out!

This is a huge thank you to my dear friend Sue, who brought me two discarded books from her local library. And look! They're map books! The top one is called Decorative Maps, by Heather Child, published in 1956; and the one below is Picture Map Geography of South America, by Vernon Quinn, from way back in 1941. How very useful these will be!

And now for a visual treat, check out Sue's latest creative endeavor, her photography:

www.lampewilson.zenfolio.com

(I know she's my friend and all, but I think her work is spectacular.)

As if this isn't enough coolness for one day, take a look at what she and her husband do in Vermont:

Mystery on Main Street

Yes, they run a book store... an independent book store! (I'm so proud of them.) So if you're in the Brattleboro area, please check it out. Here's to brave folks who follow their creative hearts!

Gratuitous Garden Post

Hard to believe tomorrow is December 1, and the garden is still going. I probably should have been decorating and shopping this past Sunday, but couldn't quite bring myself to get into holiday-insanity mode. Not with the sun shining and weeds to be pulled!

Here are our homemade hoop houses. (Gotta love duct tape.)


















Below, from left to right, are kohlrabi, beets, pac choi (?) cabbage, and carrots.


















And here's spinach, broccoli rabe, swiss chard and some sort of green whose name I forget. It's supposed to grow when it's 30 below. Or something like that.


















And finally, the take from what's still hanging in under row covers: more chard, kale, and baby carrots. Sure am enjoying this year's grand garden experiment.














To me, gardening is a sort of moving meditation. It also gets the ideas flowing. I don't know why this is– I'm happy just to keep digging.

(How Do You Say "Turkey" in Cat?)

My hairy little assistants keeping an eye on the birds outside. No turkeys, so far. Happy Thanksgiving, all!

Who-Owl Promo Card

Here's another promo card, from this sketch, way back when.

It always feels like a leap of faith to send these out into the world. (How do I know the post office guy isn't just snickering and shredding them in the back room? Mwahahahaha!) But I really have had people say they've kept a card for years until the right assignment came along. You just never know where things will lead.