Illustration Friday: Passion

It's time for me to start doing Illustrator Friday again.  This past year I've been so busy with moving and commissioned jobs that I had no time for it, but nowI have a lot more flexibility so I'm diving in to this week's topic "Passion."

Allow me to introduce you to Owl

Meet Owl, a character from a story I'm currently working on.  She's peering inside a window hoping you'll let her in and protect her from the cold.

Victor's First Pumpkin

When a client asked me to do an illustration for his novel about a vegetarian vulture I was intrigued and gladly accepted the challenge.  Vultures are often portrayed as vile, ugly creatures and I was eager to show a different side to these truly incredible birds.  How cool is it that I get to work with such delightfully unusual projects! I seriously have the coolest job in the world.

Books I Read in 2014

My New Year's resolution last year was to read 20 books.  Sadly I fell short and only made it to 17.  I would like to use the excuse that 2 of those books were over 600 pages long, but then 3 of the books were under 150 pages long.  I have no excuse.  *Sigh*  Next year.  Next year I will have those 20 books for sure!

I have listed the books with #1 being my favorite and #17 being my least favorite.

1. Pilgrim at Tinker Creek – Annie Dillard
2. The Poisonwood Bible – Barbra Kingsolver
3. Breathing Lessons – Anne Tyler
4. The Underworld – Don Delillo
5. Watership Down – Richard Adams
6. The Old Man and the Sea – Ernest Hemingway
7. Breakfast of Champions – Kurt Vonnegut
8. Understanding Comics – Scott McCloud
9. Bird by Bird – Ann Lamott
10. Total Chaos – Jean Claude Izzo
11. Chourmo – Jean Claude Izzo
12. The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman
13. Mary Poppins – P. L. Travers
14. Winter’s Tale – Mark Helprin
15. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – Robert Louis Stevenson
16. The Fault in Our Stars – John Green
17. Sons and Lovers – D. H. Lawrence

I rate and write short reviews of the books I read on Goodreads.  If you'd like to follow my reading history more closely my profile is here.  Happy reading everyone!

Happy Holidays!

I'm gonna disappear for awhile as I launch in to the madness of Christmas present preparation, but before I go I just want to remind you all to keep in touch with your inner child this season and wish you all very merry Christmas!

Christmas Literature vs. Film

We all love Christmas time so we can watch our favorite Christmas movies and read our favorite Christmas stories, but when it comes right down to it which is the most important to you? Christmas literature or film? It's a ridiculous question I know, but if you had to choose.....

I was having a hard time deciding so I made a bracket to help me decide. The dilemma was rough! My top two finalists were "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever." and "It's a Wonderful Life." Gah! How could I choose?!!! I finally ended up choosing "It's a Wonderful Life" so I guess that means film wins (for now). My husband Keith is also a film person because his winner was the movie "A Christmas Story." but Charles Dicken's "A Christmas Carol" put up a good fight.

I am interested in hearing your own thoughts! Feel free to use my bracket to help you decide. Keep in mind I made this bracket for myself so I apologize I've left out some of your favorites. Also please forgive the atrocious butchering of titles. I had to make them fit into very small, tight spaces.

Enjoy!

Top 15 Favorite Christmas Picture Books

So many Christmas picture books to choose from!  Seriously the libraries are packed with all kinds of Christmas gems.  I've read about 50 of them this year, but this is only a handful.  I know there are many others out there that haven't come to my attention yet, and if you have favorites that aren't listed here please let me know!  I've carefully selected our families top 15 favorites by observing the books my son likes best, the ones I love most, and the ones that delight us both.

My 3 Year Old Son’s Favorites
These are the one's my 3 year old son has asked me to read time and time again.  He never gets tired of them!

Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer – written by Robert L. May and illustrated by David Wenzel
Christmas Eve with Mrs. Claus – by M. P. Hueston, illustrated by Teri Weidner
How do Dinosaurs Say Merry Christmas? – by Jane Yolen, illustrated by Mark Teague
Santasaurus - Niamh Sharkey
The Christmas Box - by Eve Merriam, illustrated by David Small



My Favorites
Most of these are ones I loved growing up.   There's nothing more nostalgic than my childhood memories of reading these books by our Christmas tree lights.

The Wild Christmas Reindeer – Jan Brett
How the Grinch Stole Christmas – Dr. Seuss
Merry Christmas Strega Nona – Tomie dePauola
Father Christmas – Raymond Briggs
The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey – by Susan Wojciechowski, illustrated by P. J. Lynch

Our Mutual Favorites
The best kind of books are the ones that both you and your kid truly love and enjoy.  These brilliant five have brought many smiles to my son and I this Christmas season and I strongly suggest that you all go out and read them!

Santa Claus the World’s Number One Toy Expert – Marla Frazee
Snow – Uri Shulevitz
Fancy Nancy Splendiferous Christmas – by Jane O’Connor, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser
It’s Christmas David! - David Shannon
Red Sled – Lita Judge