Grand Manan Sampler

Here's the final Grand Manan Sampler, rocks included!

 

 

Books & Boxes Workshop

In October I will be teaching a two weekend workshop for the Continuing Education department at MassArt. This intensive, suitable for students of all levels, will begin the first weekend by creating a variety of book structures. The second week will follow up with building a box for one of the books.

I taught a similar workshop in the spring and am excited to add an additional weekend for box making!

You can find more information or register online with the MassArt Continuing Education Online Catalogue.

Grand Manan Sampler - Assorted Rocks

I've gone on about how amazing the rocks from Grand Manan are before. We spend a good chunk of our trip on the rock beaches, staring at the ground.

A few years ago, my friend who usually goes with us wasn't able to come. So I sent her a small box of rocks and decorated it with a chocolate box-like label.

This weekend, I came back to that idea. It's always interesting to retry an old idea again...

This was the first one I made, maybe three or four years ago (sadly I don't have a picture of the final product, just the sketch).

I liked the text from 'Sampler' so I kept that, as well as the shape of the label. But I evolved the lettering and imagery. I did  quick color study on some blue paper to see if the colors I was toying with would work.

And a quick snapshot of the final painting (watercolor, gouache, and Golden gold paint). Now I just have to build a small box.

 

Such desk mess for such a small piece.

Grand Manan Sketches

My family recently returned from our annual pilgrimage up to Grand Manan Island in the Bay of Fundy. Nine hours in a car and another hour and a half on a ferry really pay off for a week of true relaxation in an incredibly beautiful place.

Flock of Sheep hike on the southeast side of the island.

Since we've gone so many years (something crazy, like the last 15 years) there's nothing really new to see. It takes something really extraordinary for us pull out our cameras anymore. But this year I decided to try and do a better job sketching some of it. I don't pride myself on my landscape skills, but it was nice to have time to just noodle around in my sketchbook.

White Head Island

Graduation Book

Last weekend my little sister Margaret graduated from Mt. Holyoke. Congratulations!

As I graduation gift I asked our family and life long friends to contribute any words of wisdom, advice, or meaningful quotes. I took all the input (40 pages worth), designed it up real pretty in InDesign, threw in a few illustrations, printed and bound it into a pocket-sized encyclopedia.

Here are the results, and if I do so humbly say so myself, it's one of my best books to date.

And a great big shout out to Margaret for taking these pictures herself, what a pro!

Month of Love - Seasons

For Month of Love we decided to a surprise challenge for Leap Day: Seasons.

 I made a quick (overnight) little color wheel book of all the things I love from each season.

This has been one of my favorite years, both for my own work and that of others. The variety and quality is truly breathtaking. Don't forget to check out the Month of Love website for our final week.

Month of Love - Lost in Translation

This week's challenge for Month of Love was Lost in Translation.

Looking for love in the all the wrong inanimate objects...

I like the sketchbook page I did for this a lot:

Month of Love - Heroes

Another Month of Love is here! This week's challenge was Heroes.

When I was a kid my dad used to sing us the song “Come Take a Trip in My Airship;” a song about a pilot who takes away a young lady away from all this in his airship. But whenever my dad sang it me as a kid he replaced all the ‘hes’ with ‘shes.’ Suddenly there was a woman flying through the universe having adventures and when she decided to settle down she asked the man to marry her. I loved this strong, empowered sky captain and wanted to capture the chorus of the song in a book. This was my first star book (the name comes from the star shape it creates when viewed from above while open).

Don't forget to check it out on Month of Love and see all the other incredible art that's being made!

Some sketches for the airship:

Beyond the Book - Artists' Talk

Tonight I will be at the Faneuil Branch of the Boston Public Library to participate in a group Artists' Talk about my books that are in the Beyond the Book IX show. The talk will be from 6:30 - 7:30.

The show will up until the 23rd, with another Artists' Talk on the 21st at the Brighton Branch. If you're local, stop by and take a look!

Beyond the Book IX

Several of my books were accepted into the annual Beyond the Book show hosted at the Fanueil Branch of the Boston Public Library in Brighton. The opening will be this Saturday from 11:00 - 1:00 and the show will remain up through the end of January.

My pieces Love Thy Neighbor, The Narrow House, and Mirror, Mirror will all be on display.

Month of Fear - Danse Macabre

It's my final piece, and the final day of Month of Fear!

When I was younger I spent a lot of time at my younger sister’s ballet recitals. Though most of it was a snooze-fest for me, the best performance was the little kids who had absolutely no coordination but were trying their damndest. This inspired my Danse Macabre piece, which I didn’t research much, but I’m sure obviously translates to “Dances Adorably”. I started with a mummy but as these characters devolved it didn’t really fit anymore, I would like to try and add it in for the classic horror film superfecta.