National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature

I had the opportunity to visit the national Center for Children's Illustrated Literature in Abilene, Texas last week and view the Jon J Muth exhibit.  How fun and inspiring to walk around and view his paintings!  I have always wanted to visit this museum.  I look forward to seeing another exhibit in the future!

NCCIL 

Caillebotte Exhibit

My husband and I visited the Kimbell Art Museum in Ft. Worth, Texas recently and viewed a beautiful exhibit!  I have always loved Caillebotte paintings, but this exhibit introduced me to so many I have never seen before.  His wealth allowed him to spend lots of time painting without concerning himself about income.  He also designed sail boats and was a serious collector of stamps. Art museums are such a great way to get the creative blood pumping!

Mother/daughter writers and illustrators

So busy with projects and preparing for school visits, I have not taken the time to blog lately.  Today, I took a little break to tackle a house project, replacing grout that had cracked in one of the bathrooms.  I have never done this before, but I actually enjoyed mixing and applying it. It reminded me of clay.  The only part I did not like so much was the clean up.  I have learned through the years, though, that everything in life has the less enjoyable parts, so the best thing is to just move forward, knowing it is simply all part of the job.  I took another break and read this article about a mother and daughter who both write and illustrate children's books.  Refreshing!  The article, that is, not the grout.
Shirley Hughes and Clara Vulliamy  

A Little Christmas Sketch

School Presentations

I finished the year up with presentations at a school about 20 minutes away.  What an awesome time with students and faculty!  Each presentation, focusing on my newest picture book, Supermoon, ends with a drawing I teach the kids to make. It brings back memories of teaching art. Sooo much fun!

One student asked, "How long do you think you will have this career?" :)  I wanted to answer, "I'm just trying my best to make it an actual career."  So many of them had seen the most recent supermoon in September and they were already eager to talk about it and listen to a story about it.  I love kids!  They are my people!  

New Sketch

This is a sketch from one of the projects I am working on.

Kind of messy, but creativity is like that sometimes.

School Visits

I had the great pleasure of visiting two schools last week in the Texas hill country area.  The students were incredibly attentive and had some great questions.  The faculty was beyond gracious and helpful.  I felt so welcome!  A friend of mine who lives in Fredericksburg accompanied me on both visits and helped man the power point presentation. To reach the New Braunfels school on time, we had to rise at 4:00 A. M.!  That's a true friend!

After the visits, I met my husband in yet another small Texas town to watch our youngest son play football.  The trip reminded me of why I love Texas so much.  The people.  There is just something special about the lone star state.

I'm looking forward to more upcoming visits in the next few months!