You are in for a real treat if you do not know about Crankies. I ordered a traveling Crankie from Louis Leger and took it to Alaska City Folk Arts Camp in Anchorage to make Crankies with young artists and musicians. They are a type of moving panorama, a story put to song, an old […]
All moms should instill a sense of magic and wonder in their children generation after generation! I know what magic looks like. Thanks, Mom! “I know what magic looks like. You see that magic and you want to be part of it again and again,” comes from our friend, Bill Dentzel, fifth generation carousel maker. […]
This is the original watercolor for a brand new novel written by Matt McConville, a friend of mine, titled …It’s Just The Wind, Kind Of A Sailing Story. It takes a village to make a book, ask any author. I’m compiling a visual narrative of the evolution of this book’s cover design. In the meantime…jump […]
Painting Class Meet “Shy Dragon” from Julie Read‘s painting class at Northwinds Gallery. The class was first come first served, free, and art supplies were provided with two hours of instruction! The assignment was fun and unexpected. We drew names from a hat to determine our subject matter – all based on Julie’s love of […]
The first time I tried to illustrate the elusive northern lights, I used chalk pastel. I thought I could duplicate the ethereal softness by smearing and blending colors across a dark blue paper sky. I was looking for magic. I found it when I began experimenting with ordinary salt tossed into wet watercolor. […]
He’s in love and he has met his match. Coyote In Love now available in paperback with a free Teacher’s resource. Learn about coyotes, tracking, hear a real coyote sing, make stars to spin or to hang in your window and much more. We saw this coyote sneaking across the field at dusk out on […]
The Smartest Part of a Picture Book is the dummy! From the Storyboard where you explore and imagine, the dummy is where you really see the book. You problem-solve, you work things out, smartly. Holes in the story will appear as you turn pages and see the text next to the art. This is the […]
Last winter, at the Alaska State Literacy Association conference, I presented a slide show to teachers about why we need fairy tales. But, why tell Alaskan fairy tales? Even if you have not been to Alaska you understand that it is a place like no other. The people are as genuine as any you might […]
Do you remember that grammar function in Word that assigned a grade level to your writing? I never paid much attention to it. Now I wonder how the analytics tool worked and why it is not available any longer? I had never planned to write a “kindergarten book” or an “8 year old book”, I […]