Cat & Bunny in stores January 27th, 2015

It is finally happening! My first book, Cat & Bunny (Balzer+Bray, HarperCollins), will be in store in just a couple of weeks, on January 27th!

I am having a book launch party to celebrate the publication at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It's on January 29th at 7pm, so please stop by and get your copy signed! 

Happy Letter Writing Day!

Free table place cards for Thanksgiving!

 It's the first time in 6 years that my husband and I are in our native New England for Thanksgiving! (We spent three in England and then three more in California). Growing up in Massachusetts, we were used to the cold weather of late fall, when you are not sure if it's winter yet, where there are still leaves on the ground and it's cold enough to snow. Where you can watch Macy's Day Parade and not have to think about the time difference. Above all, though, is getting to be with family. (We do love the years with our siblings on the west coast, too!!)

So, in honor of being at home here for Thanksgiving, here is a free pattern I created a couple of years ago (see below). Just save the image to your computer, print it out and follow the directions!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Publisher's Weekly review

I'm thrilled to share my first review! Cat & Bunny has received a star review in Publisher's Weekly.

It's an honor to have my book given a thoughtful summary and critique. Here's the link to read it for yourself!

Pre-Order Cat & Bunny!

My first book, Cat & Bunny, is now available for pre-order! Ask your local neighborhood's bookseller or go online to Powell's or Harper Collins. You can also ask your local public or school library to get a copy. 

 It's a story about first friendship and the adventures and challenges that come with it. Published by Balzer + Bray, an imprint of Harper Collins, and out in store January 27, 2015.

Cat and Bunny!

My first book, Cat and Bunny, will be out in stores in January! Published by Balzer and Bray (Harper Collins).

 I got the unbound pre-copy in the mail and it feels so real. So good.

Had a baby and so now back to drawing babies.

late Christmas post

Another out of season post! Well, better late than never. 

This is my 2013 Christmas card illustration, sorry I didn't post it sooner. I have been pretty busy the last couple of months, getting illustrations done for a book (yay!) and also getting ready to welcome a baby into the world (YAY!) 

hummingbird

I checked my blog this week and realized that a Halloween themed illustration was still the latest thing there! It's so embarrassing to be behind in the season…Luckily I have a new painting to share!

This was commissioned by my sister-in-law, Erica, who came for Thanksgiving and was en route to Costa Rica where she goes every year to help run a yoga teacher training course. A good friend of hers  there has a little baby girl and so this painting is a gift. It's based on the little boy version I made a while ago (see blog post from January 29, 2013), Erica thought with a few changes it would make the perfect present. She suggested I add a Respendent Quetzal and a Hummingbird, which are birds found in Costa Rica and a nod to the baby's name, Ava (related to the Latin for bird.)

I really enjoyed this little project and the challenge of drawing these beautiful birds. It was important to make them a part of the picture but not take over too much attention from the bubbly baby!

Erica's request came at a great time, too, because I've just finished the illustrations for my first children's book! It's too early for me to share the details but as soon as I can I will be letting everyone know the publisher and hopefully some of the illustrations!

My yearly Christmas card illustration soon to come! 

halloween children

Happy Halloween!

queen

I haven't posted for a while and so here is a new painting! Not sure where she came from but I know there is a story there.

cowgirl song

you are amazing

I painted this in honor of my sister-in-law Katie Lundquist, who is amazing. She just graduated from Warren Wilson College in North Carolina and the whole family went out to celebrate with her. I wanted to make her a custom card which says more than just congratulations on it, something which expresses how proud we are of her and her accomplishments. Hope this did the trick!

PS. she is a great writer, so check out her blog! 

http://lightonbalance.blogspot.com

Children's Book Week!

Happy Children's Book Week!! 

Why not celebrate by visiting your local library or children's bookstore?
(You can also build a fort)

moon and ship

This is an instagram I took of my first ever oil painting.  I think that I was a still a teenager when I made it and it might be one of my favorite things I have painted. It has been at my parent's house until I recently visited them and found it amongst a bunch of my old work. It now lives above the hearth in my apartment, where I can see it every day.

Beach crab.

oak leaf

Just a little sketch of a fairy holding an oak leaf, that's all.

jo

This is a rough sketch I did a while back for Little Women. Just thought I'd share it!

postcards!

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was getting promotional postcards made for my agent to send out to publishers...well here are some photos of them!

They have already gone out and the response has been tremendous!

If you would like a postcard please email me with your name and address. I have a few extras and would be happy to share! 

 Here's a sneak peek at a painting I am working on. It's acrylic, a medium I used to paint with all the time but haven't in the last couple of years or so. Watercolor was much easier to travel with while I was living abroad and then I became attached to it, greatly developing my style and technique. It's been in my mind recently to pick up some acrylic paints (I didn't even own any since moving back to the US!) and then yesterday I set to work on this, sort of out the blue. 

It's great when things just happen like that.

ellen

I've recently been working on a couple of large projects which I can't wait to share, but for now I will post this photo of my work space!

Also, I am proud to share the blog of my very talented 15 year old niece Ellen! Check out her work! 

http://ellenstreeter.blogspot.com 

She's going places :)

cat

bunnyboy

girl reading

(You can tell it's a library book because of the sticker on the spine.)

baby!

 Happy baby!

storytime

Storytime!

bears

 I made this pattern last year for a Spoonflower competition and the theme was outdated technology.  I knew that it wasn't the best design for a fabric

 (I wouldn't use it) but I like the illustrations!

To see it used in a repeating pattern, check out my Twitter page.

little women

Here is the illustration I entered into the SCBWI's Tomie dePaola Award contest. The rules were that it had to depict a passage from either Little Women, the Adventures of Tom Sawyer, or the Yearling. It had to be black and white and in a spread format with the text on one side. It was also supposed to be unique!

I decided on this passage because it reflects a moment in time that was both important to the characters in the story but also to the entire nation during the civil war. Gathered together on Christmas, they thought of their father who could not be with them. I love this book and this scene just felt right to me. In order to make it my own and make it unique, I drew them as bunnies! Tomie dePaola didn't like that part, as he said so in his introduction to the winners. Alas, I did not win, although I am still proud of my little painting and wanted to share it.

agent!

Good things are happening: I am now represented by the wonderful Steven Malk at Writers House! Please check out their website where you will find my portfolio: http://www.writershouseart.com. I'm honored to have the same agent as such talented artists as Carson Ellis, Scott Campbell, Marla Frazee, Jon Klassen, and Stephanie Graegin and many more! 

Above is a detail of an illustration I made for a promotional postcard which will be sent out to publishers. I drew a baby for every letter of the alphabet and gave them an animal costume to match their letter! It was so fun to create, although a few letters gave me a hard time...such as U, V, and X....

Unicorn is not an animal! To get ideas I looked online and found that many animal alphabets used unicorn, which I think is sort of cheating, personally. I chose 'Ulysses Butterfly' because it is an animal that actually exists and has a cool name, too. For V, I went with vulture -not the cutest thing ever but the alternatives were very obscure. And for X, I chose x-tetra fish, which I'm pretty pleased with. Since I am looking to do picture books it makes sense to draw little kids and babies, besides the fact that I love to draw them! Also, adding the animal element helps as many picture books have animal characters (which I also happen to love drawing!). Can't wait to see this printed on the postcard, I will post pictures when I get them.

All for now...

snowman

I just can't stop drawing snow!

snowballs

Sitting here in Los Angeles, my mind is taking me to a place where snow happens in the winter. I'm missing it a bit as our trip to Boston for the 10 days before Christmas did not give us much snow at all (just an inch or two which promptly melted).

Oh! Glorious snow!

christmas cheer

Happy Holidays everyone!

Here's my 2012 Christmas card design. I've been illustrating cards for the holidays every year for 4 years now and this is the first to feature little critters. You can see the others on my website and etsy shop.

Also, please stop by my page on facebook and give me a 'like' if you want, I'd appreciate it!

Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and New Years!

1927

Mr. and Mrs. Bunny, 1927

radio flyer

It has just occured to me where I must have gotten the inspiration to draw a little blonde kid on a red wagon...Calvin and Hobbes! Bill Watterson (along with Norman Rockwell) was one of the most influencial artsists for me growing up. The artwork is permanently etched into my brain and must be coming out now that I'm drawing more kids. Of course he's dressed differently and his hair is tamed and he has an honestly pleasant expression on his face, so he isn't exactly Calvin. He's close though....

family portrait

Family portrait of the Bunny family circ. 1939