Saturday, June 27, 2009

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

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.

Friday, June 19, 2009

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).

Thursday, June 18, 2009

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 atlantic & painted in a US air force base in rural England using a 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.



Wednesday, June 10, 2009

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.