Slugworks

Wow, I have really done a great job updating my blog, eh? Sheesh. I thought I was going to do better… But here goes; I’ll try again.

Ok, I have FINALLY updated my website to help those who were having some issues with navigation. For all you folks who thought I only listed one book on my books page, well, now hopefully it is more obvious that they are all there. So check it out! Also I have added links to my etsy shop, which is up and running. For springtime I made some bunny ears for my octopi:

In book related news, I actually made my deadline for The Twelve Days of Springtime, woot woot! Well, everything but the jacket. But still. I am now waiting to hear if they actually like them…. I sent them in at the beginning of March and haven’t heard yet. Hmmm. But anyway, here is a little preview:

Hopefully they will love them and I won’t have to redo any of them!

I recently did a little project with a second grade class from Long Island - they read Prudy’s Problem and Seymour Slug in class and then wrote me letters asking questions ranging from “what inspired you to be an illustrator?” to “what is your favorite color?” Then they drew slug pictures for me. I wrote back answering all their questions (used to be blue, but now I lean more toward greens and oranges…) and sent them some pictures (including the one above) and bookmarks. Now they are all writing stories about slugs! Apparently I have been an inspiration for them - cool!

In a couple of weeks I will be doing a school visit to the second grade classes at the Wilson School in Cumberland, ME. Even though I do not do school visits very often, they have had me come since the year Prudy’s Problem came out and they’ve always been so great to me - always a good time!

So there you have it for now. And I will try to update more frequently, really! Yup, I’ll do that…

Ok, I hereby admit that blogging does not come naturally to me! Jeez, it’s been a month since I posted last… but I will try to do better this year. Yup. I will. Uh huh. Anyway…..

The latest on my quest for work and a publisher for these stories of mine is this. My friend and former editor suggested that I send samples to an art director she knows at Greenwillow. So I finally did that last week, and I got an email from an editor there asking to see the dummies I have. Yea! That means that even if she doesn’t like the stories, they at least liked the art samples enough to ask to see them, which means they will maybe think about me in the future. Very encouraging!. I also had a postcard printed up to send out to art directors everywhere:

This is a picture from the story What Walt Found and I hope it will pique the interest of all those editors out there! In the meantime I am working hard on the pictures for The Twelve Days of Springtime and cursing myself for putting it off for so long. But I can get it done. Yes. I can.

On the other front, I have lots more stuff listed on my Etsy shop - check it out!

I have also heard that some people are having a bit of trouble navigating my website - I will try to remedy that soon.

On a personal note, meet Tom, our newest family member! Adopted from the local SPCA, Tom is seven years old and a total sweetheart. He also likes to sit at the computer while I try to work, which makes this blogging business even more difficult than usual…

Hey there! Well, I have FINALLY got my shop up on etsy.com, at least partially. The prints are for sale there now, so check it out! Click here to enter!

Hi, all - I am running late on this as usual, but here are some pictures from my studio during the open house. In particular, please notice the WALL OF REJECTION! These are the rejection letters I have received so far for my two stories I keep sending to people. But I believe in them! So I will keep trying!! Wish me luck, sigh….

Here we have my works in progress - 5, count them, 5! stories! Of course only one of them is actually a real paying job; the rest are all stories that are trying to find a home.

And on that note, here is the Wall of Rejection!

This weekend (Nov. 17th and 18th) the Mill at Salmon Falls is having open studio days! I hope everyone in the area will try to get there - there are artistis ranging from painters to potters to woodworkers to playactors. Something for everyone! I will have books, ornaments, octopi, book art, and more for sale. I’ll post some pictures when it is all over!

Well, they don’t really look like real squids, but that’s what I am calling them. In any case, here is a preview (please ignore the stray thread that found its way onto the blue one, oops):

and they come with removable eye patches!

Again, they will be available in several different colors and fabrics.

First of all, let me announce that the open studio days at the Salmon Falls Mill will be Nov. 17th and 18th. And now…. for you lucky folks who happen upon this blog entry, I have a preview of one of this year’s ornament designs - Puss in Boots. warning: spoilers ahead, haha! If you would rather it be a surprise, don’t look…

Of course they come in all different colors and fabrics! Stay tuned for pictures of squidmen…

I am almost done rearranging things in my Springtime sketches - not too bad for the most part, but there are a couple I am not sure about. I should be ready to start transferring them onto good paper soon, but I was scanning them into my computer so that I could enlarge them and move things around, and my scanner has decided to quit every time I try to use it. AGH!

On another front, I have decided on my ornaments for this year - cats and squid men! Will post a picture as soon as I get far enough to have something to post a picture of…

I just got back from a trip to Philadelphia and New York! We were taking my daughter back to Drexel University and moving her into her new (old) apartment. We had to rent a trailer for her furniture so of course it took nine hours to get there (two hours longer than usual), but amazingly enough the traffic was no problem - we’ve never had that happen before! It turned out to be a roasting hot stilfing day there in Philly, so it was quite a sweaty affair getting the furniture in and cleaning and such, let me tell you. Then took the U-Haul back to the rental place in a very unnerving section of the city - definitely found where we don’t want her ever to live…

But she is settling in and hopefully someone will come eventually to remove the massive pile of garbage that the last tenants left right in front of the steps.

Then we drove to Brooklyn to visit our other daughter. Traffic was just fine until we got to Brooklyn, sigh. It took over an hour to just get partway around the BQE to our exit, but we did see this:

so I guess it was all worth it, hahaha!

The next day we went into Manhattan; it was raining, naturally, but not too bad for the most part. Met with Howard, my editor at Abrams, and got the revisions I need to work on for The Twelve Days of Springtime, and I dragged my daughter in to meet him as well, so that she could ask about dropping off a portfolio of her own, and also if he knows anyone who might be interested in her terrific tabloid celebrity paper dolls she’s been working on. He passed them along to one of Abram’s imprints, so all in all it was a succesful visit!

So after several days of lugging furniture and vacuuming and scrubbing and eating extremely well and walking miles and miles, we made it home in much less time than it took to get down there, and of course since we were in the car all day, the weather turned just gorgeous! So now I am home, and I really really really have to get back to work.

Hello, all! Being new to Blogdom, I don’t really know what to talk about, so I will start with a post about current projects I am working on. First, the big one - I should be getting my sketches for The Twelve Days of Springtime, with suggestions and comments for revisions, from my editor any day now. Then I will work on the revisions requested and hopefully soon start on the finished art.

Then I have this year’s ornaments to think about. What to do, what to do? I had better come up with something quickly! I am thinking perhaps one of them should be a cat. Any suggestions? If you have a clever idea, leave me a comment and I will take it into consideration!

I am also working on a painting of one of my pairs of salt and peppers… so far it is frustrating me, so I have not gone back to it in a while.

And finally, my quilt project du jour (is that how you spell that?) - my daughter wanted me to make a quilt out of her old t shirts that she didn’t want to wear anymore, but didn’t want to throw away. I said sure, and naturally this has turned out to be a much bigger project than I had intended… sigh. But I will get it done eventually - maybe even post a picture of it here!

Talk to you later!