shadrieka My favorite dark is prussian blue and burnt sienna gouache. It has such a velvety soft tone that I can go into and pull lights out from without it feeling too dead, and the darkest end of it is sooooo rich. It’s my favorite. Here’s a snippet from a study that I worked on this … Read more
Let’s raise our brushes and send a shout out to Lauren Castillo, yes, THE Lauren Castillo, illustrator of books like WHAT HAPPENS ON WEDNESDAYS, BUFFALO MUSIC, THAT’S PAPA’S WAY, BIG CAT PEPPER and THE PIG AND MS. PRUDENCE. Stop on over at her blog and wish her a happy sweet sixteen!
This year I worked with Learning Leaders to visit NY classrooms and share my work with kids. I did 8 visits between two classes over the course of 4 consecutive months. For the activity portion of my visit we made single sheet books where the kids had to tell a story with pictures only! It … Read more
Wow, my job just keeps getting better! At the Free Library of Philadelphia Festival, I met Ms. Stokes, an enthusiastic and dedicated special needs teacher from New Jersey, who invited me to come and speak to her students before the end of the year. In the meantime, she bought a copy of BIRD and shared … Read more
I love the look and feel of Stonehenge Cream paper. Carl Titolo introduced us at SVA and I haven’t looked back. It takes charcoal, gel pen, pencil, and ink very well. I used it for the paintings in BIRD and OUR CHILDREN CAN SOAR. For my next project, I would like to find a sturdier … Read more
We received two great reviews of OUR CHILDREN CAN SOAR today: In the Chicago Sun-Times: Last year President Obama’s campaign gave rise to the phrase “Rosa sat so Martin could walk; Martin walked so Barack could run; Barack ran so our children can fly.” That’s the basis for a stunning new picture book, Our Children … Read more
Is your after school program being cut? A great alternative for kids who are looking for a place to be after-hours is your local library! Zetta and I popped in at the Brooklyn Public Library for a Monday afternoon book club meeting where BIRD was the featured book. The kids didn’t know we were coming … Read more
Afaliah has released her first single on I-Tunes! Download Ms. U today~
More great news for BIRD! The book is the winner (tied with another title) of the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People (from The Poetry Center at Passaic County Community College) in the Grades 4 to 6 category. The list isn’t online yet, but if you check out “Paterson Prize for Books for Young … Read more
Great news! Quilt #4 sold yesterday. It will be missed. There are seven other available silkscreened drawings looking for a nice home. In the spirit of reality television shows, reserve one now before your favorite is voted off ;-).