Good News

Halloo everyone,

A while back, I mentioned that I might have some good news. Life got so busy with the thesis show, graduation, and then internship that I completely forgot to update you all with an explanation. Every year the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) hosts an international conference out in L.A., and for the first time ever, this year they offered student scholarships. Turns out, I won one of two student scholarships to this enormous and amazing conference. (!) The scholarship not only includes entry to the conference, but also covers fees for a special illustration master class, a one-on-one portfolio consultation with an art director, entry into the juried portfolio showcase (there are prizes!), and a year's membership to SCBWI. (There was much jumping up and down and squealing when I found out about it.) Exciting stuff.

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of prepping materials, finishing a few new pieces, readying my portfolio, printing new promos, and going over the conference schedule with a fine-toothed comb. A little crazy, admittedly, but it's really exciting. What does a conference full of picture book people even look like? Well, let me give you an example. The theme of this year's annual gala is "40 Winks" - for their 40th anniversary - which means that appropriate dress is going to be pajamas. A fancy party in PAJAMAS!! Break out your best bunny slippers! I LOVE MY FIELD.

So, I'm heading out to L.A. bright and early on Thursday. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a new piece -

I'm using it for my L.A. promo. =)

Craftitude

Halloo blog readers!

So in addition to the usual sorts of art-working things, I've been doing a bunch of crafty things - birthday related projects, in fact. I made a certain someone with a new job a "cube" decorating kit. When you work amongst a sea of cubicles, you need some fun stuff for your desk.

In addition to photos, a mug, tea, snacks, and random toys, I also personalized a couple of notebooks. I hate being a brand snob, but I love my Moleskines... love love love. Other than something handmade, they make my fave notebooks ever. If I'd had a bit more time, I probably would have hand bound something... but for lack of free time (in light of recent publishing internship), I bought a couple of moleskines and proceeded to personalize them. It's always helpful to have somewhere to organize your thoughts, soooo...

Work Thoughts:

and Creative Thoughts

In addition to thought-organizing and all of the other stuff I mentioned, it's also nice to have a little work buddy...

As of yet unnamed -

I've actually gotten a lot of good responses from my teeny weeny goldfish bowl, so I may be making more of them. (Hard to tell scale here, but it's made in a votive holder.)

Until next time!

Panthers and Flamingos

I know it's been forever. The summer has been zipping by with a speed and ferocity only matched by my cat (who thinks he's a panther, but in fact much more closely resembles the Cowardly Lion).

Yes, this cat...

It has been eons since my last update. Eons. Yes, you heard me, eons. Since graduation, I've been interning at Penguin in an imprint of their Young Readers division. It has been an incredible learning experience; my projects have ranged from design based (book based merchandise for Christmas, end-paper design, picture book layouts, scanning and placing artwork) to daily support of the art department (archiving old work, mucking my way through the slush pile, packing up artwork (this is MUCH cooler than it sounds... the other day I got to - very carefully - handle original artwork by Dave Catrow, Sophie Blackall, Patricia Polacco, Tomie dePaola... I mean, Tomie dePaola!!!!)). Not to mention, the people I work with are fantastic - the art director is brilliant, the two designers are incredible at what they do, and the assistant to the department is always super helpful and is an artist/designer in her own right.

That being said, with the full-time gig and summer rolling in full tilt, there has been little time for much else... like updating the blog. That being said, I haven't stopped working on artsy things. So here's a little something for all of you fab blog readers out there.

I made a "Get Well Soon" card for a dear friend/mentor who just had knee surgery.