Happy New Year! Looks like Hubba Bubba was the winner in the Favorite Gum poll. Very exciting news! To start the New Year, I would like to invite you to view my desk, cow lamp and all. Surprisingly enough, I get quite a lot done here and it is fun to have my own space at home to work. I have surrounded myself with favorite books from my childhood: Days With Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel, The Marvelous Mud Washing Machine and Pickle Pickle Pickle Juice by Patty Wolcott to name a few. I also have an autographed copy of The Very Hungry Caterpillar that is a dear treasure (it sits by the cow lamp and makes me smile whenever I look at it).
The King Who Rained by Fred Gwynne (Herman Munster from the old tv show) is one of my very favorites, along with The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes by DuBose Heyward.
These photos were taken when I was working on a house drawing, and you can see here a photo of my kiddies, my favorite pink eraser and ruler, an owl mug that was my Grandparents, a pile of artwork for the book, and silhouettes I did of my daughters two winters ago. I am working now on a painting for the book that will represent the color palette I will be using. It is just a random drawing, too, and I think it is kind of funny. Stay tuned for more exciting updates from my desk, and be sure to cast your vote in our next featured poll: Favorite Beatle.
This post is to celebrate the simple joy of a clean desk! Such possibility! The space! WOW!
These are silhouettes of my daughters that I did back in 2007 when they were 2ish and 4ish. (Visit Mr. Yen's shop to see some of his stunning papercuts, his work is absolutely brilliant!)
This is something I have been sketching lately. It is from the cover of my all-time favorite children's book from when I was a kid (The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes, written by DuBose Heyward and illustrated by Marjorie Flack). My Mom used to sit me down with art books when I was a kid to have me learn from the greats and stretch my skills and imagination. I had forgotten how fun and challenging it was! And who doesn't love drawing bunnies??? The kiddies are excited for school to start next week and I am mentally preparing myself to dive into Mural 2 and the Sketchbook Project and working on my book dummies and handling registration for the MNSCBWI Fall Conference and sending out a new postcard and having a fun giveaway on the ol' blog. Also, I now have 3 illustrations up on Project OpenBook that you could vote on if you haven't already: Lost and Found, Book Club, and On Cloud Nine (written by my wonderful friend, Jen, who I have been friends with since meeting in 7th grade english class with Mr. Stokes!!!). 
