New art...or oldie but goodie?

I'll be participating in some upcoming promotions with my agent, so of course I'm back to my fighting my nemesis: deciding which piece to put in! Do I find an older piece, maybe done for another client? Or do I create something new? So in my search of archived art, I came across these pieces which viewers may not have seen:

Coming soon!

The F&Gs for LUCKY BEANS by Becky Birtha came in yesterday! (For those se of you who don't know, F&G stands for "folds and gathers" and is an unbound copy of a book)

It's my newest book coming out this Spring from Albert Whitman & Co. As with many of the books I illustrate, I have lots of mixed feelings while I work on the art - ranging from elation to despair! This particular book takes place during the depression, so I needed to do a lot of careful research.

I also like to challenge myself, so I drew scenes with more perspective, and layering. It was very difficult! So when I was finished with this one, I really wasn't happy. It wasn't perfect, it wasn't what I saw in my head. Months later, I'm seeing it again for the first time in context - words and pictures, trimmed and folded.

It really works, and looks nice! The team at Albert Whitman was great to work with, as well. Kudos to them! Hopefully the book will receive good reviews, too. :)

More reading

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd

It's about finding motherly love, but it's also about forgiveness.

So why isn't Lily's forgiveness of her father addressed?

Horn tooting!

Neat! There is a book called the Encyclopedia of Writing and Illustrating Children's Books and my work is featured inside! I got my copy recently, and it looks great!

Neesha's post

I am going to need to re-read this PLUS the comments when I get home and can devote more time to this rich, thought-provoking discussion...