keep iran in mind.

coming this january...

about that post i wrote last december... well, she was right. i was wrong.

above is the picture i slipped into my dad's surprise father's day card. i also had the word "grand" inserted between "happy" and "father's day".

and yes, mom did cry a little.

finally.

finally, finally, finally.

my latest picture book a.k.a the "book that could never be finished" is, well, finished. it won't be released until probably mid-2010, but i am quite pleased with the illustrations. it is by far, the most detailed picture book that i have done. i also painted this book while juggling multiple projects at the same time. mul-ti-ple.

harpercollins was more than gracious in accommodating my schedule. they had so much patience in me & my unbelievably slow painting hand.

one interesting thing about this 32 page book is that i drew inspiration from san miguel de allende, the mexican town that i live in. the town's colors, stones & the texture are quite visible in the book, in my opinion.

as usual, i had a ball hiding personal mementos in the pages. a few of them celtic related, of course. i cannot wait to see this book out in print.

*as always, i am showing only cropped images until the book begins it's ad campaign. i am also skipping the book title until then (it may be a tentative title at the moment).

i'm now in my 20's.

when i first started working on this series, i had no idea that i would still be at it 3 years later (or was it 4? it seems so long ago). it's amazing to think that i accepted this project when i was just about to leave for an extended european vacation. the first book, in fact, was sketched flying over the pacific & painted in a US air force base in rural England in dinky 13" laptop.

time surely flies. i am now working on book 24 & 25 and quickly nearing the end of the run. it is safe to say that i have learned much about my craft, the publishing biz ... and pre-teen fashion. it's still early, but i am humbled & grateful for this.

*update: it was 4 years ago! wow.

a wall into a bridge.

recently, i read an article on time about graffiti artists of the israeli/palestinian wall. for a fee, these artists will spray a message on the wall from anyone across the globe (via their website. an email & photo will be sent as proof). the only restriction would be that the words not be of hate or anti-semitic.

a few of the words sprayed on the wall range from political opinions to romantic declarations:

"artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity", "make love not wall", "m.l. loves her funky d".

they are currently working an essay by farid esack, a south african scholar on his thoughts about his experience of apartheid in his homeland and the comparison to the divide in israel/palestine. when done, the work will cover 2,625 meters long (1.6 miles). you can view the work on their website.

interestingly, this is my second blog post about this wall. a while back, i wrote about the british guerilla artist, banksy, painting a message on this very wall.

in an internet age that is allowing our world to shrink ever smaller (think iran), i find it enlightening that art is using technology to shine a spotlight on divisive issues around the world. they are also doing it in a way that is both positive & inspiring.

i am thinking about my wall post.

flat stanley books website

hoping not to flood the blog with flat stanley news, i've held off posting about the new flat stanley website set up by harpercollins. it's a fun little website.

no, really.

there are downloadable games & activities for kids. you can also print out your own flat stanley for vacations or mail him out around the globe, which he's kinda used to by now (he's been around since '64). there's also more. so, feel free to check it out.

of course, since it is flat stanley, there has to be a picture gallery so readers can post their stanley pics.

* i just found this while writing this post. how often does a book illustrator see their own characters made into a video game? yay.

scenes from my hometown

it's easy for a photography hobbyist to fall in love with san miguel de allende. aside from the colonial architecture & the plethora of color, the city always seems awash in sunlight & fiestas.

i'm no camera expert. far from it. my cameras are basic & i kinda like it that way.  it's a nice personal  challenge to go against tech tide. i do feel that what i have learned from my day job is a nice plus too. arbus, avedon, adams, lange & the other giants made more with less & simply trusted their eye. 

and no, i am not comparing myself to them -- just in case that ridiculous notion was clumsily implied here.

maybe someday i'll find an old film camera & learn to develop film myself. i took a summer class once, but that was long ago & i don't remember much of it except for being perennially late for class. i was not who i am now.

easter sunday 2009. blowing up of hanging judases. life sized paper mache replicas of hated figures (some replicas of real politicians or ex-presidents and even a witch etc. i think i saw g. bush last year).

lots of dogs in this town. i find them quite friendly. i see more than a few dogs perched on the rooftops of houses. always looking down, guarding the fort.