Away from the Studio

Too many distractions have kept me from getting a lot of work done. At the end of the year, my girls have a lot going on: exams, special projects, concerts, plays, softball playoffs (I even got to play in one). I've spent more time in the kitchen baking for school events than I have at my drawing table. I've easily made over 100 chocolate chip cookies.

Plus, my beloved bulldog, Mabel, who was diagnosed with Epilepsy in early Spring doesn't suffer from seizures it turns out, but from an abnormal, "inverted" corkscrew tail. Now she needs to have surgery on the 21st. We felt very sorry for Mabel, so we thought she deserved a special treat.




But no more excuses. And I have done some work. Here are preliminary sketch for the second EllRay chapter book, No Way EllRay. I like the one with the robber mask better, but I'm Viking's not convinced.







I just got comments back from Amy, the book designer from Candlewick, on my thumbnail sketches and text layout for Miss Mingo 3. Amy has worked on all of my books to date. She is amazingly talented and comes up with such great ideas. I've got to start sketching and I need to work on the text some more. But at least now I've got a starting point.

I've also created some images for a workshop I am taking later this month with a fabulous British folk artist named Julie Arkell. The workshop is on "Mixed textiles: Knitting, Crocheting, and Collecting". It's being held at Les Soeurs Anglaises in France. I'd like to stitch into my paper illustrations and add different media.