This blog follows my work as a Caricaturist, Silhouettist as well as a Writer/Illustrator of children's books!
Thinking About Harnessing Creativity! Video on Tove Jansson!
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There's a wonderful story called "Spring Tune", the first in one of my favorite children's book, Tales of Moomintroll. It's a clever demonstration of the elusiveness of creativity as it features a creature called Snufkin, who is a wanderer and the best friend of Moomintroll who always stays home with his family. Snufkin plays harmonica and the passage below describes how he relates to the creation process!.
"It's the right evening for a tune, snufkin thought. A new tune, one part expectation, two parts spring sadness, and for the rest, just the great delight of walking along and liking it.
He had kept this tune under his hat for several days, but hadn't quite dared to take it out yet. It had to grow into a kind of happy conviction. Then he would just have to just his lips to the mouth organ, and all the notes would jump instantly to their places.
If he released them too soon they might get stuck crossways and make only a half-good tune, or he might lose them altogether and never be in the right mood to get hold of them again. Tunes are serious things, especially if they have to be jolly and sad at the same time.
But this evening Snufkin felt rather sure of his tune. It was there, waiting, nearly full-grown- and it was going to be the best he ever made. "
Here is a wonderful video on the life of Tove Jansen the creator of the Moomin's and other books!
A new challenge for me! I'm working on a kickstarter project to help do a print run of my newest published work, an ebook for middle school readers called Babysitter Blues, which I both wrote and illustrated! If I can figure out how to tool around on the kickstarter website I will move actually ahead with this project! I will keep you all posted here as it progresses! The ebook is available on Amazon.com! Here's an illustration from the book! In this one Evan is mad at his little sister Nava for making up a song with her harmonica about him and how unhappy he is about babysitting her and their two little twin brothers! "Wa wa wa wah! My bwother's not happy. Wa wa wa wah. my bwother's so sad. wa wa wa wah my bwother's not happy, wa wa wa wah, he's got the babysitter blues!" I'm thinking of putting that little bit to music, and offering a recording of it as a reward for some level of contribution on my kickstarter page!
And more pictures from Babysitter Blues!
Evan at his desk!
Louis telling Evan about how believing that the soul goes on after death is like a ship going out
of sight over the horizon. "You can't see it but you know it's there."
Evan trying to coax his little sister out from under the table!
Evan taking his siblings out of children's class after
one of them has a tantrum. Guess which one!
Evan gets a Baha'i prayer book as a gift from Nava!
Evan and his Mom having a good mother/son moment in church.
I have to say that I did more caricature gigs in 2024, not to mention a few Silhouette gigs this year than I ever have in the fourteen years or so that I've been doing silhouettes and caricatures at events throughout Maine, New Hampshire and Mass. I'm looking forward to upcoming gigs in 2025! My calendar is already starting to fill in! Some of my events this year included several wedding receptions, a baby shower, birthday parties, a family day at a retirement community, an anniversary party on a yacht, comic cons for kids in Portland, Me and Concord, NH, a lawn chair festival, prom parties, late night project grad. celebrations, fall festivals, and several corporate parties as well as Holiday events! I just loved being a part of all of these and have never had as much fun doing Caricatures and Silhouettes for people! Here are a few! A princess at Kids Con in Concord asked me to draw her caricature! A project grad. in ...
A number of years ago, I went to a children's book conference at the University of Mass. with some friends. We got to see Tommy Di Palo (StregaNona, etc.) speak about his Italian-Irish family and how he based many of his books on his upbringing in that culture. One of the workshops I took that day was presented by the noted African-American children's book illustrator James Ransome. He showed slides of his work and discussed his method of illustration and especially how he used composition to compliment the action in his books! After the workshop I got to ask him a question I had because I was working on a children's book at the time that featured an African-American child. I asked about illustrating children from a different culture or race than your own. I had previously read an article saying that illustrators or writers should stay within their own race or culture in their artistic endeavors. In other words, since I'm white do I have the right to illustrate or w...
SO grateful that I have two books that I've written and illustrated available on line NOW! A picture book for the young ones and a chapter book for older readers! My picture book about a day in the life of a Baha'i Child called Kamal's Day, published by Bellwood Press, shows how a young boy studies some Baha'i quotes in his neighborhood children's class and is involved in other core activities in his home and neighborhood. Glad to say that this book would make a great gift for a child from age 3 to 8! Me with my book-Kamal's Day, published by Bellwood Press! Join Kamal as he goes about a typical day in his neighborhood, spending time with his family, attending a neighborhood children's class, visiting an elderly neighbor, playing with his friends, and helping his parents host a study circle. Kamal's Day offers us a glimpse of a young person who is fully engaged in the community-building process, and it is hoped that Kamal will offer famil...
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