Promo card

I decided that I would send out 3-4 promotional cards to childrens book publishers this year. I got some really great jobs from previous cards that I've done in the past. It's also a great way to get art buyers to look at your website - to remind them who you are and what you do. Modern Postcard has produced all of my cards to date. I've had a great experience with them. The cost for a standard 4.25x6 postcard (500 cards) is rougly $130. More importantly, their customer service is fabulous.

I wanted to show publishers a new art style I've been working on. It involves block prints and mixed media. I came up with this "look" when I took a two-week course at Haystack, the crafts school in Maine. Below is the postcard I sent out last week to over 200 editors and art directors:


And here's the backside:

EllRay cover art

Sally Warner, author of the Emma chapter book series published by Viking, has written new stories about another one of the characters in the Emma books. His name is EllRay. The first book is scheduled to come out in Spring 2011. It's a new series, so there's always a lot work that goes into the jacket design. At this point, we've gone through a lot of versions...

First, we tried something similar to the look and feel of the Emma series...I made a few sketches:


So then Nancy, the book designer at Viking, put together the following comp:


But then, the Viking marketing department suggested trying something new—an image of EllRay in his environment...so I tried some new sketches:



Then, Viking said that EllRay looked too fearful and/or too angry and that the overall image needed to be "lighter". I've just sent them these sketches:

I'll keep you posted on what comes next...

Mini Masterpiece

What a house!


This is a replica of the Whitney homstead in Bolton, Mass—the house where the Whitney family lived in the mid-1800s. The two daughters, Anna and Emma were responsible for donating the money needed to build the first library in Bolton. As a result, they are being honored in the new Bolton library, with a replica of their actual home at a on-twelfth-scale version. Mary Delaney, my great friend and children's book writer, is the one who made it happen. But many other talented from Bolton got involved.

This past Saturday was the grand opening of the Bolton Public Library where the house was unveiled. Designed for the children's area, the house rests up against a glass window that allows viewers to see into the backside of the house. Here's the front of the house before the face was attached...



My favorite room is the dining room (though it's empty in the picture above). So much is in the details...the lighting, fireplaces, molding, handmade furniture and needlepoint rugs, the wallpapers (ordered from England and Spain), the handmade ceramic pots for the pantry—just to name a few. And there's a mouse inside the grandfather clock that is a hidden secret.

The project took several months and is a true work of art. And of course there's still more to do. But that's okay with Mary who said recently "I'm having the time of my life."

Check out this article about the project in the ITEM newspaper.

Best Eraser

When I found out that Pearl in Cambridge was closing, I panicked. It's the only art supply store where I can find my favorite erasers. I've only been able to buy them at Pearl, and they're not available on the their website. So I did a search on Google and found them at Askew-Taylor Paints and ordered some.

I never seem to be without one of these in my hand. They're the best kneaded erasers around. Soft, supple, and perfect for lifting lead, eraser "crumbs", and for softening colored pencil. I've tried a lot of the different brands, and find this one to be the best. Plus the erasers last a long, long time. Most of the other brands are too hard and difficult to knead. FC also makes them in primary colors but they aren't the same. For some reason that I don't understand, they are much too sticky.

Renaming my blog

It's been two months since my last blog entry. I still spend more time with Mabel than I do on work. It's become a problem. Here she is at 6 months. She has a lot to say.



I've decided I should think about renaming my blog...here are two ideas:

1. "My Studio and Mabel" - but she's rarely in my studio because she's still not house trained and if she is in my studio she is sleeping—or trying to eat something that she shouldn't. I don't think this would make for an interesting blog.


2. "Mabel" could be the new name of the blog. It could be all about her and how she inspires me and my work. But then I might get so busy with the blog that I never ever return to children's book making.

So for now, I'm going to keep it the way it is and really try to spend more time working and less time playing with the dog. And making regular posts to my Studio. Of course, I can't resist sharing multiple pictures of my pup along the way.