(Inside A Black Apple)

Books in the Wild

My friend Crystal took this photo of the Dream book display, nestled at one of my favorite places, Land Shop & Gallery.

I love that little stand so much!

I actually have always thought, since my teenage days working at the defunct suburban music chain, Wherehouse Music, that a "standie" (as we called them) was the pinnacle of achievement. Putting together complicated, instructionless cardboard displays, I thought "Only very important things deserve this rigamarole."

Only people like Bob Dylan and Stevie Nicks had standies.

I can't believe that there is a standie to hold the Dream books. Taping the cardboard head back onto Bob Dylan in 2002, I never could've guessed.

Day Dreamers !

Today we release the dragons (and a whole bestiary of mythical creatures) -
today Day Dreamers is out!

 It can be found at Barnes & Noble, Powell's, Amazon and your local shop

How about some process images to celebrate? They are one of my favorite things to see with other people's work...I love seeing the beginnings of things.

A sketch/color sketch/final painting of the Griffin dream (one of my favorite spreads in the book).

In the book, each place (a tide pool, a museum, a library, etc.) leads to a different beast and a different dream. Above, these are color sketches of the realities.

And in the land of waking dreams, you will meet dragons and a jackalope, a phoenix, a griffin, two unicorns, and a whole carousel of sea creatures.

And when you leave you learn the thing
That all day dreamers learn
When you leave the land of magic beasts
They wait for your return

Day Dreamers Eve

My new picture book, the companion to Dream Animals, is released tomorrow.

More soon, including
Dragons! Unicorns! Three Headed Pups!

A Very Short Story of a Little Elephant & Crocodile

This gem is from Babar & His Children.
I think it makes it into all-time-favorite children's illustration territory for me.

The text is also great, in a Babar-ish way (it begins "Three seconds in which to act -- and no gun!")  but I think it's a such a perfect three panel story all on its own. What cold heart could resist a baby elephant encountering a crocodile while floating in a bowler hat?

Little cat, Big cat

Little cat, big cat, sketchbook, painting.

I've been painting more in my sketchbook this year (rather than just drawing with pens & pencils). I like it so much, for planning & just for my own personal little tangents.

These are some more bits from Eleanor's world...

Eleanor

Eleanor     11"x14"      Painting on wood

A portrait of the heroine in an imaginary story about a solitary girl & her interior world.

I'm hard at work on my next picture book, but a small series of these Eleanor paintings has been accumulating. More of them soon, including her cats!

A Mailing List

I started a mailing list for infrequent & noteworthy dispatches!

You can sign up here, if you'd like.

I have never had a mailing list before, but I want to be able to let people know when something big is in the works or about to be released. And I get so many emails asking about how/when original work is sold, and though I will always post new work (and when it will be available for sale) here, the mailing list will keep you in the loop:

When new original work is available,

Or new books are released,

Or sea monsters become a verified species...

I will let you know.