Getting a lot of painting done for my first animal furniture picture book.
The zebra book, I ordered a first edition of 40 copies. They are still getting printed, yikes the publish world is rampant slow.
I’m a mom of two young kids, did I mention. The latest craze is stickers. I use them as linking objects. They hate saying goodbye in the morning before school so lately I’ve come with a system of letting them pick a sticker to accompany to them to school. I love stickers, like little pieces of art, and they love them too. A lot better than sugar too. It’s become our fun little morning routine now.
I changed one of the characters in my book from a singing cardinal to a singing sparrow. The cardinal seemed too flamboyant for what I was going for. It’s a character that encourages the protagonist to be brave and find their own voice. I wanted her to be beautiful, but wise in a less flashy, more enlightened way. I then found my thoughts wandering over to my old art teacher again. He would have been the singing sparrow in my life, the Tulip Ring, forever blooming in my thoughts. I started some sketches, from memory. Hoping to relieve some of the tickle it’s got on my brain. I think I got it close here:
I proceeded to wander on the possibilities of where it could be. Is it with family who hold the secrets to his past? A dear friend who guards his most embarrassing moments? A trusted lover with juicy tales? Did it not make it past the skiing accident, tragically crushed on impact, nestled in a functional bird’s nest perhaps. Maybe it slipped off his finger, landed in a ditch, and later discovered by a passing wanderer who pawned it in a shop somewhere off the coast of BC, maybe an antique shop where the furniture and housewares come to life and turn into animals when no one’s looking 👀 I may never know, but I’m leaving the door open, may it find its way back to me, and if not, just momentarily!
Another fantastical thing that happened this week. My friend and author of Maple’s Garden, Christine Van Geyn, ran into my fourth year nursing professor. This woman was my launch pad into my nursing career and thus gave me the key that unlocked my personal freedom. I remember having to write these reflective pieces as part of our studies. It was with her, I uncovered this inability to name my own feelings which sent me into therapy after I graduated that year. Therapy led me to face my tangled relationship with myself, art and eventually Doug whom I never internally acknowledged, nor had a chance to say goodbye to.
She supported our book and passed along a message: she still has this illustrated card I gave her. I believe it was this one, the painting that birthed the idea for my upcoming Zebrathenia picture book ! I painted it in around the time I was under her mentorship, actually. Time is circular.
#artdiary #picturebook #artstory