New illustrations and upcoming events

Oh dear, is it really past mid-May already?

Since last month's book launch I've been working away steadily on paintings for the picture book 'When I Was a Boy in Sudan' by Terry Whitebeach and Sarafino Enadio.  It is quite a complex text with a narrative, information boxes and occasional speech or thought balloons.  Book designer Julie Hawkins had the bright idea of putting information with pictures in a vertical panel down the edge of the left hand page, which keeps the design uncluttered, so I have a combination of these vertical panels and larger pictures in landscape format for the right hand page.

These are a couple of the paintings showing Mama (left) and the Sudanese children crossing the creek at dawn.  It's a lovely book to illustrate and also a huge challenge.  It passes through different times of day, seasons, and weather and features people, animals, rural and village scenes and interiors.  It's a steep learning curve understanding how to make use of the space and get the pages to flow.

I'm not working in isolation at the moment, but feel quite linked-in to the local community of authors and illustrators.  On the weekend I attended a wonderful book launch at Fuller's Bookshop in Hobart for Julie Hunt's 'Song for a Scarlet Runner' - a can't-put-it-down novel for children which is also being enthusiastically embraced by adults (I'm on my second reading!)  On 29th May I'll be in Fuller's again with six illustrators/cartoonists, including Christina Booth, Tony Thorne and Christopher Downes, for One Word One Day.  This event was a big success in 2012 and is being run again across Australia.  It's an initiative of the Australian Society of Authors to raise funds for the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (details here).  We'll be making artwork on a mystery word to be released on the day and it will be fun, so drop in if you're passing (between 10 am and 2.30 pm).

Book launched

Yes, we've launched the Smallest Carbon Footprint in the Land! Here are some photos from last Thursday's launch at The Hobart Book Shop.   I look almost indecently pleased with myself - signing my first book with the new Parker pen kindly given to me on the night by the author, Anne Morgan.  You can see from my shirt that I met with a little fowl play on the way there.

It was a wonderful evening with people coming in character - you can see in the second photo the gardener Prince Jamie (in hat, third from left), the bearded pumpkin grower Gordon (in Scots attire, holding pumpkin), genie Bling and the op-shop fairy godmother.  The author, Anne (far left) is doing a reading from the book with  young actor Tas (second from left) playing the big bad wolf.  The bottom photo shows some of the forty or so people who came along including glass artists, painters, scientists, authors, other friends and people who just wandered in off the square.  Thanks to all who came, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.

Farewell to glass

After more than fifteen years and three kilns, I've packed up my glass studio and distributed its contents to a dozen other glass artists, ceramicists, jewellers, buyers, home, a college, the tip shop, and the bin.
Strangely, I don't think I'll miss glass.  It's a wonderful medium.  Working with it taught me about colour, design, detail and finish;  how to develop an idea from crude initial stages to a more refined level than I'd ever envisaged; and how to use time and materials efficiently (not that I always did).  I've stopped making it partly because it's hard on my shoulder, but mainly I've given it up because I'm just too busy doing something even more satisfying - illustrating and writing.
Happily, I retain all the friendships that I made through glass, and the satisfaction of the things I've made, including my most enduringly popular collaboration - the jellyfish chandelier (left) which was the topic of my first blog post ever.  We had planned to make a glow worm cave, too, but alas, it's too late!!  I've pulled out of Off Centre gallery, but still have a few wee things at home if anybody is desperate for glass.  I'd rather illustrate your book, though.

Book launch

Happy Easter, everyone!
Please come along to our launch if you're free, and celebrate with a glass of wine on us.  I will be making a trail of black cardboard pawprints to show the way.

Sudanese picture books

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A little while ago I posted some work I did for a picturebook mentorship application to the Australian Society of Authors.  I found out yesterday that I didn't win a mentorship - but rather than being disappointed, I felt rather relieved!  The reason is that I've been asked to illustrate TWO picturebooks for the Tasmanian Sudanese community, and will be very busy with that.
The books, beautifully written by Terry Whitebeach and Sarafino Enadio, are called 'When I Was a Boy in Sudan' and 'When I Was a Girl in Sudan', and are memoirs of the daily traditional lives of Madi people living in what is now South Sudan.  The books aim to help children of Sudanese descent who are growing up in Australia to understand their cultural origins.  Some of the books will also be donated to schools in South Sudan, where there is a desperate need for books in English that the children can relate to.
Above is a sample double page illustration I did for the authors last week, showing children running to protect their crops from weaver birds.  They liked it very much, so I'll be working on the books and posting some more illustrations in the months to come.  Although I put the text on this illustration myself, I will be working with book designer Julie Hawkins who has generously offered to donate her time to the project. Here's one of the gorgeous books Julie has designed: http://ingraphicdetail.com.au/projects/books/pedder.
By the way, ANYI FEFE means - 'Run!'

Exhibition - and Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day!
To celebrate, I'm having a very quick exhibition of my recent book illustrations, from today until Feb 20, at Off Centre gallery.  This is one of them.
I've also made some glass blocks featuring hearts...
Hope you all enjoy the day.

Wings

A design for an old fashioned colour plate, for Illustration Friday 'Wings'.

It's published!

The final wraparound cover.

I'm delighted to announce that the Kindle version of 'The Smallest Carbon Footprint in the Land' has now been published and can be found on Amazon here.  There will be an iPad version soon, and the print version is in press and will be available in March.  It can be pre-ordered through the publisher's website here.  I can't wait to see it!  I'll post details of the launch for the print version when known.  I'm not sure how e-books are normally launched - perhaps in a virtual environment? - but I celebrated with friends yesterday over a glass of bubbly at MONA.

The Mystery of the Teapot

Pardon my long silence, folks - what with holidays, bushfires affecting friends, the tourist season at the gallery, and tens of kilos of fruit from the garden to pick and process, I haven't had any blogging time for over a month. With luck, things will be more relaxed from now on.  My best wishes to those affected by the bushfires, and Happy New Year to all.

These pictures are from a picturebook mentorship application that I submitted last week to the Australian Society of Authors, who support authors and illustrators at all stages of their careers.  One of their initiatives (supported by the Copyright Agency's Cultural Fund) is to offer new authors and illustrators individual guidance from experts in their intended fields for projects under development.  I submitted a dummy picturebook called 'The Mystery of the Teapot' - a story set on a tabletop, in which a rat, bird and bee speculate about a mysterious key hidden in a teapot.  Does it open the window to the moon, wind the golden clock at the end of the world, or just open the pantry?

A page from the picturebook dummy

I discovered that it is a tremendous amount of work to write a picturebook MS, create characters, design a dummy showing what happens on each page (sixteen spreads), and create a piece of finished artwork.  Initially I had four characters, one of which was a little fish that carried its bowl around with it (below).  Unfortunately, when I came to put the dummy together, I just couldn't fit the fish in.  I needed three animals of varying sizes, all of them highly mobile.  As everybody liked the fish best, I think I may have to write another book starring a fish!

Character sketches for 'The Mystery of the Teapot'

I'm hoping to win one of the mentorships but it's a long shot, as only about 10 are awarded per 500 applicants.  If I don't win, I'll still work on the book during 2013.  Putting together the dummy was an eye-opener - I think it took me a week to draw the first spread, a few days to draw the next, and one day to draw the final six spreads.  Of course, at that point I realised the MS was terrible and needed more work ... ah well.  Rome wasn't built in a day.

Veg Out

Veg out at the beach

At a cafe yesterday I was startled to see tousled capsicum on offer.

On closer inspection I realised my reading of the menu was overly creative.  The capsicum wasn't tousled.  It was merely toasted.  But here's the thing: for a moment I seriously entertained the possibility that this was a new culinary term.

The potatoes at our local pub are smashed.  The limes are muddled.  Yes, fruit and veg everywhere are appearing in states of dishevelment and dishabille, and I for one blame Jamie Oliver.  In his new 15-minute meals, veg are whisked from garden to table in less time than it takes to say 'photosynthesis' and subjected to a series of verbal indignities along the way.  They're wazzed, jazzed, scrunched, zipped, and thrown into the pot to crack on while Jamie goes in with the seasoning.  Add a dollop of careless charm, sprinkle with glottal stops and it's gorgeous.

I can't take it any more.  Let veg be veg.  In fact, let them veg out.  I plan to do likewise.  Happy holidays!