Last Minute Poetry Month Offering

This is the illustration that's in the May/June issue of New Moon Girls, a very cool magazine that's all about empowering girls.
Yea!

And, in honor of poetry month, which is almost over but we've enjoyed you and look forward to having you back next year, here's a post-Easter Egg poem.

Enjoy!

THE BAD EGG

Something’s rotten at my house,
I mean, it really stinks,
a tell-tale and unwelcome smell:
an egg’s gone bad, methinks!
We search throughout the kitchen,
desperate to locate it,
I find a mushy chocolate bar,
(my little brother ate it.)
Our quest continued through the house,
it lead us to the den
the smell got even smellier,
My father found it then.
And yet, my mother wondered,
how did it rot so fast?
That egg took time to fester,
but Easter had just passed.
We saw the egg so moldy,
twas then the truth came clear,
this was the one stayed hidden,
from our Easter egg hunt-last year!

Cat Drawings - Learning from the Pros

I haven't posted in awhile partly because I just reentered the (paid) workforce- at my local library in the children's section! I am shelving books which is similar to housework only someone's paying me to do it. And now I get to be around children's books alot!

But also because I've been illustrating more than writing. Which seems to use a different part of my brain.

But I'm back. (big sigh of relief, right?!)

I'm working on a PB about cats. And so I'm looking at some of my favorite cat artists.

Starting with Arthur Howard- (and I would post his website, but I can't find one) He illlustrated all those fabulous Mr. Putter and Tabby books by Cynthia Rylant (along with tons of other great books including some he also wrote.) And talk about excellent writing and amazing illustration perfectly wed! Don't you love Mr. Putter and Tabby- and not a kid in sight. And, no, Tabby is not the kid- she's an old cat who mostly snacks and sleeps. Just lovely, fun books about friendship. And napping.

Anyway, Arthur Howard's (my hero) cat illustrations. Here are two. I love tabby. And I love his style- loose and lively, but also right on the money cat-wise. I mean, this guy can draw! But he's having fun doing it. And we have fun just looking at it.

I guess that's what great picture books are all about (ok, they're easy readers, but you know what I mean....)

Hank's Tattoo

I try for a line a day- or two or three - some bit of sketching, doesn't matter what.

Actually, I don't even have to try, because I doodle. But I also do self-portraits, or draw Madeline while she's drawing or reading, draw in the cafe. And don't forget the cats.

Sometimes I go out and listen to Hank playing music- this time with fellow guitarist John Corbin at a fabulous wine bar in downtown Asheville- and I draw the musicians. They're hands are in constant motion and they make weird faces. My hand moves quickly, too, trying to capture their energy.

This one's got a little something never before seen in any Hank rendition- his tattoo. He insisted I include it, even though it's actually on the other arm. Poetic license, he said.

I'll call it a few extra lines. And, bam!, there's your tatoo.

Self-Portrait as a Wicked Witch

Well, maybe not a self-portrait in the strictest sense, but I think it captures my essence.

Because sometimes I feel like flying off on my broomstick beneath a crescent moon. Feeling the wind rushing through my hair. Turning people into toads.

So I guess I could call this a self-portrait of my alter ego. Because, when I'm not busy being a wicked witch, I'm an illustrator. Or a writer. A mom, of course. Sometimes I'm even a good witch.

In Honor of Dr. Seuss....

I thought I'd share my Ode to Spring. A little early, but I know you want it....
Plus March is my birthday month, which means I get to do anything I want.

What is this thing called Spring
that makes the sparrows sing,
the crickets crick,
the chickadees chick,
the hummingbirds hum,
the grasshoppers strum,
the pigeons coo,
the owls Who.
I hear them all conspire,
to form a backyard choir,
where peepers start to peep...
Don’t they know I’m trying to sleep?!

Happy Birthday, Dr. Seuss!

A Character in Search of a Plot

Recently, I decided to enter a regional illustration contest. So I did some sketches, based on a doodle, based on a glint of an idea...you know how that works.

And I came up with this girl. Wow! So much personality. She even has a fabulous cat sidekick. But she does not have a plot. She does not even have a name.

Because I wasn't working on a picture book. I was merely thinking, doodling and sketching for a contest.

But now she's in the world, and, I think, she's begging for her story to be told.

I usually start with a basic (written) idea when I'm working on a picture book. Or a plot. Or at least a title. I've never started with a drawing. But I'm willing to try something new!

How do you get started on a picture book? Have you ever had a Character in Search of a Plot? Tell me- how did it end?

Giving Up

Recently, I received a bit of disappointing news. Yes, I've gotten a steady stream of rejections for the past several years. But this was one of those situations where you seem to see a glimmer of light at the end of your alarmingly dark tunnel and say... oh, could it be....might it be....? And then just as the light grows a bit brighter there's a cave-in and the darkness descends even darker than before. And you wonder if anyone's going to dig you out. Or are they all having one of those great potlucks that ends in a rousing game of pictionary? Without me?! It's just too cruel!

So what did I do with my bit of depressing news? Why, I contacted my writers group, the Secret Gardeners. And they, of course, all hastened to remind me that I am, in fact, fabulous, and I have to keep writing and my day will come and those who've eschewed me will be sorry, etc.

So turns out I'm not giving up. Of course I'm not giving up! I'm not the type of person who gives up. I'm the type who has to keep writing, drawing and submitting. Plus I've come too far to give up. I can dig myself out of this eensy-weensy cave-in. I can keep going.

I have to. The Secret Gardeners are expecting me.