Art Exhibit at Holderness Library

My artwork is currently being featured at the Holderness Library on Route 3 in Holderness, NH. Stop by and visit if you can. Included is at least one piece from each of my books, a few pieces for children magazines and other less seen pieces like the piece below. This is a quaint library and worth the visit even when my art isn't being displayed. Check their website for hours and directions.

Illustration Friday — Flying

This was created for Keene State College's Festival Gallery Collection Owl Project. It can be seen at Rhodes Hall on campus. It's called "Flying Lessons."

A Recent School Visit

Last week I visited the children at Tuftonboro Central School. As the crow flies, Tuftonboro is maybe 10 miles away, but when you have to drive all around Lake Winnipesaukee to get there, it takes about an hour. It was a nice fall day and well worth the time.

Here's why: after driving for an hour, drinking my super-large-soda-with-ice-and-a-straw that accompanies me on every long drive (89¢ @ Irving stations!), my first stop is always the restroom. No surprise there. But what surprised me when I exited the bathroom was what I saw— Those clever little second graders had created beautiful artwork based on my book, Good Morning Garden. I loved them all! They were wonderfully expressive, energetic and full of life. Thank you for that wonderful tribute. Here is just a sampling. I'm sorry I couldn't include them all.

I would have love to have taken them all home! Of course, I saw lots of other great art there as well—self-portraits, collages, cartoons, etc. Thank you Tuftonboro Central School for inviting me and for keeping art alive in your school. Your children were bright, inquisitive, charming and engaging.

"Meet the Illustrators" Show at Hampstead Public Library

My artwork will be shown among nine other children's book illustrators at the Hampstead Public Library in Hampstead, NH through the months of July and August. My illustration medium is sculpted paper, and one piece from each of my illustrated books will be represented there.

On Saturday June 27 from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm, there will be an exhibition open house. The illustrators will be there to meet and chat, and sign books. A limited number of books will be available for purchase.

Displaying artists, besides myself, are Mary Newell DePalma (Nutcracker Doll,) Vicky Enright (It's a Beautiful Day,) Marty Kelley (Summer Stinks!), Barbara Johansen Newman (Tex and Sugar: A Big City Kitty Ditty), Ginger Nielson (The Adventures of Cali), Susan Paradis (Snow Princess), Ilene Richard (Let My People Go), Andy J. Smith (Stink Bug Saves the Day,) and Susan Spellman (Mabel Takes a Paddle).

More info, and directions at:http://www.hampstead.lib.nh.us/meet-the-illustrators.asp

Hope to see you all there! (Okay, I'll settle for one or two.)

On Writing and Genealogy: Shaking the Family Tree

I recently sold several articles to SCBWI (Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) for their Bulletin, on using genealogy when writing. The most recent, Keeping Those Characters in Line, appeared in the January/February 2009 issue. If you're a member of SCBWI, you can log in to their website and read it. In it, I discuss how organized genealogists are, and how they have a form for everything. I list my favorites and how to download them for free. But I should warn you that using those forms may lead to a new hobby—genealogy! Then you'll have write your whole family history, because truth can be stranger than fiction!

Apparently someone at the Redlines and Deadlines blog liked it, and posted the links. Redlines and Deadlines is written by the editors at Ellora's Cave Romantica Publishers. I found a lot good advice on writing, editing, submitting, etc. But children's writers be forewarned! There's a lot of frank discussion about writing erotic scenes! LOL

Other articles in the series are Using Genealogical Resources for Research (SCBWI Bulletin, March/April 2008) which discusses historical research, and Watch Out For Those Falling Nuts (SCBWI Bulletin, forthcoming, TBA) about interviewing family members as a resource for your writing.

I cannot say enough about SCBWI. If you are an aspiring children's writer or ilustrator, do consider joining. Their publications are informative, and their conferences are first-rate.

What Would You Do With Two Burros?

New York Times posted a story of a Columbian elementary school teacher that packs up his two burros with books every weekend, and treks to a distant village in order to bring a little literacy and education to his area of the world. Brings new meaning to the BookMobile, or as he calls it, "BiblioBurro." Check it out. He's truly inspirational.

What would you do with two burros?
Assuming I had room to house two burros, I could use them to mow my lawn, or plow my road in the winter. My husband could ride one to work. That would save on gas and be better for the environment. They could be fun to sketch, but who am I kidding, I don't even sketch my cat.

My fantasy burros would be Greek (of course!) wearing worry beads around they're necks. I'd have to plant olive and lemon trees for them to munch on. They'd take long naps in the afternoon and Greek dance around the yard till the wee hours of the morning. Oh, wait! I already live with three Greek burros!

What would you do with two burros?

See Our TV Splash

My apologies—the technilogical aspects of posting this last weekend didn't work out, especially when your sweet husband forgets to pack the wireless card! Ah, well.

We made it to Taunton, MA safely this year (last year was the road trip from hell) and arrived around 5 am on Thursday, Aug. 21st. It was still dark out. Our crew consisted of myself, hubby, college boy and middle school boy. Around 5:30 a group of carowners arrived as scheduled at the boat ramp on Lake Sabbatia for our debut on Good Morning, America.

The satellite truck and crew were already there. The lake was gor-jush that morning, just as smooth as silk. Here's the pontoon boat that the cameraman would later film from.

It was great fun to watch the TV crew set-up. I'm not sure why they wanted us there at 5:30 when they didn't air until 7 am, but it was entertaining none-the-less. Sam Champion showed up a little later. I hadn't watched GMA since Spencer Christian was the weatherman (yes, I know that was eons ago), so I had no idea what Sam Champion looked like. But I knew the second I saw him; he had the hair!

Watching him prepare for the broadcast was interesting. He had his little earpiece in, and stood there studying some papers, probably weather reports from around the nation. Then, out of the blue, he would start laughing or say some random comment, like, "Strawberrry Rice Krispies," and nod. I wanted to hear the other side of that conversation!

As it became lighter out, people stopped, attracted by the satellite truck and armada of amphicars. I heard several comments, "I'm going to be late for work," and "I was suppose to be there an hour ago."

A minute before air time, the producer, Darcy, would holler out for everyone to be quiet on the set and we all held our breath. And held our breath. And held our breath. Apparently we were waiting for the news to be read, then Sam jumped in with a ten second forecast. I was amazed at the amount of information he could rattle of in so little time. And that he could remember it all! There may have been a tele-prompter there, but I didn't see one. Even if there was, he didn't have time to look at it.

After the 7:30 report, we lined our cars up—12 in all—to get ready for our splash-in at 8 am.

During that time, Darcy had us surround one car and practice our group wave. Dorky, but fun. You can see a quick clip of that here.

I don't have a photo of the splash-in because I was obviously in the car. If I had one, you would see a large spray of water in front of the car, and water sloshing over the back onto my lap. This is not what other back seat passengers endured, only me!

After we splashed in, we drove around for a bit. Here's a great shot showing all four of the original colors the amphicars were sold in—mint green in the back, ivory, lagoon blue, and red.

Here's our boy Sam taking Ron Green's (International Amphicar Owners Club President) navy car for a test drive. He did okay, but really, he just went in circles.

After the shoot was over, we all drove around for a bit longer. Here were two of the best passengers of the day. Not the adults sitting up in front, but the two dogs sitting in the back seat. They were so good, you'd swear they were statues.

Then the real fun began!

Unfortunately, Lake Sabbatia has some type of weed growing in its waters. They wind around the props and make it hard to turn. Sometimes we drive out and the front bumper looks like a mustache, there are so many. We definitely remove those before we head north to New Hampshire. We don't want those growing around here.

By 9:30, we were on the road looking for some breakfast. Stopped at McDonald's and some people there recognized us from the show!

Have you read this far? Here's a clip from Good Morning America. Right after you hear Sam say, "They really do look like little cars out there," you will see us in our car. I am in the back seat (you can miss the white hair), middle school boy is next to me. Hubby is driving and college boy is co-captain. I'm sorry, I couldn't figure out how to imbed it the blog post. (Anyone?)

You can see more videos on my son's website, Amphicar Ventures, or on YouTube. I'll post more later about the rest of the trip.

But I'm a fan of Sam's now. The perfect hair and teeth belie the fact that he is warm and generous. Was it worth getting up at 1:30 am to drive there? You bet.