Elephants!

Here is my 3-year-old with her all-time favorite animals. My Mom loved elephants, too, so I guess it must be genetic....

Ode to Summer

Water

cool clear

pouring splashing filling

missing something needing flavor

mixing stirring blending

sweet delicious

Kool-Aid

I just visited the journal of MN poet Laura Purdie Salas. She is incredibly talented and her blog had the "recipe" for writing a diamante poem, so I gave it a try. Pretty fun. Must be summer, I am so darn thirsty..... Have a great weekend, everyone!

Respect Your Elders

This came from a conversation Christina and I had not so long ago. Apparently, box elder bugs like to gather outside her home and then perish in unison. Not so cute. So, here is a cute version of these pesky bugs, especially for my friend and mentor, Christina. For those of you who know me (and my affinity for lame puns, or so-called "Nina Jokes"), I am sorry. I just can't help it. I just crack myself up.

Sluggish

I am tired, but so happy! I finished the art for the MNSCBWI Fall Conference tonight! Here is another teensy bit of it. (I have developed a fondness for snails as of late.) I will send this on to our fearless leaders and hope that they like it.... Take it easy, everyone, it is almost Friday again.

Flowers for Algernon

Do any of you remember that book??? I remember reading it in school, but that is about all I remember. I know there was a mouse in the story... This is the mouse from the illustration I am doing for the fall conference. I finished inking it today, and hope to start painting tomorrow. It would be great to go back and read some of my favorite books from when I was a kid in school: Where The Red Fern Grows, The Trumpet Of The Swan, Island Of The Blue Dolphins, War and Peace......

Sisters

Here are my girls. Somehow they were still momentarily during lunchtime so I could sketch them. Let's see.... my first postcards have reached family and friends, here's hoping they land on art directors desks, too! I got the go-ahead on the sketch I have for the MNSCBWI fall conference, so I'll finish that one soon. Then, on to my next idea for a series of illustrations featuring the dragon from my previous post.....