Thursday, July 29, 2010

Literacyhead!

My lovely and talented friend Shadra Strickland has an entire issue dedicated to her in the wonderful publication, Literacyhead! Literacyhead is a weekly publication designed to use the visual arts to teach literacy. And, in preparation for this weeks issue, the editors of Literacyhead, Jan Burkins and Roberta Gardner, conducted an interview with Shadra in her Atlanta GA studio. Shadra was so sweet to mention her fellow SVA MFA friends (Taeeun Yoo, Jonathan Bean, Paul Hoppe, and myself) which then inspired the editors to surprise Shadra by including all of us in the issue--some of our art and our books. Here's a nice article in the issue, by editor Jan Burkins, titled The Art of Living. I encourage you all to browse through this weeks issue of Literacyhead ~~ It's a great one. Congratulations, Shadra!

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Happy Like Soccer


I started working on a new picture book this summer, written by Maribeth Boelts, currently titled Happy Like Soccer. It's a great story, and I've been having a fun time drawing the world of main character, Sierra. It's been perfect timing, really. I got to watch many games of the World Cup WHILE drawing roughs for the book. What awesome inspiration!
And now I'm beginning the final art stage, which is always both exciting and nerve-racking. I think, no matter how many books I will have completed, there will always be initial moments of uncertainty...Them's the breaks :)
BUT, I'm looking forward to these next couple months of art-making. Nothing compares to creating a picture book...It's the greatest job in the world (if I do say so myself)!

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Back in BK

Happy July all!

I've returned to sweltering hot Brooklyn, after a very relaxing cruise vacation. I admit, it is extremely hard to get back in to work mode... BUT, I do have two exciting projects I'm looking forward to working on for the remainder of this year. One, a picture book written by the talented Maribeth Boelts. And the other a chapter book written by the highly acclaimed Ann Cameron. I'll share more about both of these later on this summer!

Now, I didn't get to do that much drawing on my trip because we weren't in one place long enough. But I did get to see a lot, and took many photos. Here's a shot of my favorite location on the trip, The El Yunque Rain Forest in Puerto Rico. Absolutely breathtaking views, and a must see if you visit Puerto Rico!Ok, now back to the [steamy] drawing board!!!
~Lauren