Happy Friday! This week's Illustration Friday submission is from the award-winning Storm Codes. Here, Katy and her mother catch sight of her father's Great Lakes steamship, The Edward B. Greene, following a harrowing November storm in Duluth, MN.

Storm Codes was recognized with the Jeanette Fair Award, a Silver Mom's Choice Award, and an Honorable Mention from the Northwest Minnesota Book Awards, among other honors. Want a copy signed by both the author and me? I'm selling autographed paperbacks with FREE SHIPPING here.

Have a great weekend, everyone - AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!

I spent some time sketching kids who were as difficult to capture on paper as animals at the zoo! It was cute to see so many of them hard at work on their art, contorting their bodies and squirming and really getting into their creations. There was an array of activities throughout the museum: drawing to music, block printing, meditative drawing, a huge collaborative mural, & even a drawing exchange.

In addition to creating masterpieces, it was also a great chance to see those on display at the RISD Museum. I always get lost in there for hours, especially in the Greek and Roman art halls. Plus, there were pads of paper and pencils in nearly every room, ready for use in those sudden moments of inspiration.

Can you believe this event was FREE? For those of you who couldn't make it, you'll have to wait until next year for your chance to join the fun! For now, you can check out the RISD Museum calendar of events.

What an adventure! There were hundreds of talented people, some pretty amazing faculty, and a vast array of intensely packed programming. I left my first 3-day NESCBWI Conference completely worn out and a little overwhelmed, but here are some highlights that will keep me smiling all week:

• Working with fantastic volunteers like Jen O'Keefe and Sean Bixby, who were invaluable help during the Portfolio Showcase that I coordinated this year.
• Seeing my pal Nina again, who flew all the way out from MN for this,  and members from my amazing critique group here in Providence.
• Visiting the Eric Carle Museum and the Dr. Seuss Sculpture Garden.
• Meeting a gazillion internet pals from the KidLit Café Facebook group in  person.
• Networking constantly and everywhere.
• Attending Kelly Light's extremely helpful Character Design class and learning more about writing from Mary Brigid Barrett and the nonfiction market with Peggy Thomas.

There's tons more that happened (trust me: I saw Dan Yaccarino lose a rib- eating contest to the petite Heidi Stemple), and I wish I'd taken more photos. I'll just leave you with these images from the Dr. Seuss Sculpture Garden:

Have a great week, everyone!

Comunidad is a non-profit organization formed by ArtAndes, a dealer of high-quality, hand-woven textiles from Peru.  The organization works with the indigenous people of Paccha, a mountain village in the Peruvian highlands, whose lives and communities were decimated by the Shining Path terrorist group. Comunidad is dedicated to providing the community with the tools and resources they need to get back on their feet.

This year celebrates Comunidad's 10-years of service to the people of Paccha. Everyone is invited to a special night of great food, live music, a silent auction, a raffle for hand-woven tapestries, and much more!

Fundacion Comunidad Annual Fundraiser
Date: Saturday, April 21, 2012
Time: 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Place: Art Andes Showroom, Northrup King Building, 1500 Jackson Street NE #285, Minneapolis, MN 55413
Fee: $60 per person ($40 tax-deductible). RSVP by April 17th.

I'm continuing my tradition of donating custom artwork to the silent auction, where I will create a one-of-a-kind portrait of the winning bidder's loved one. This prize has been very effective at raising funds for Comunidad over the years, so I'm hoping for repeat success!

For more information about this event and to purchase tickets, please visit Fundacion Comunidad.

Celebrate El día de los niños / El día de los libros (Children's Day / Book Day) with a special 50% discount off books purchased from Arte Público Press! This special offer is good on orders until April 30, 2012 for events celebrating El día de los niños / El día de los libros.

This sale is a great chance to pick up Adelita and the Veggie Cousins on the cheap! (Go ahead and collect other great titles from their catalog while you're at it!)

"On the first day of her new school, Adelita learns that vegetables can have similarities and differences, as can new friends. . . . The dual message of nutrition and diversity will probably find its place in today's curriculum and can certainly augment units on food, language and culture."

-Kirkus Reviews

"The last two pages have a recipe in both English and Spanish for the '1-2-3 Super Calabacita Soup.' The bold, colorful illustrations capture the action well."

-School Library Journal

To take advantage of this offer, call 1-800-633-ARTE or e-mail your order to bkorders@uh.edu. To see a sample of the book, click here.

I'm also soliciting opinions on which illustration to use on the back:

Cast your vote (both for front and back) below, or message me through Facebook or Twitter. 

What an apt theme to mark the return to my blog after a month's hiatus! Today's Illustration Friday post comes from The Wishing Tree. In this scene, Amanda welcomes her father as he returns home from his deployment. This special book won a Gold Mom's Choice Award and is available from Elva Resa Publishing.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Thank you to everyone who came down to Providence on Sunday for the New England SCBWI's Live Animal Study! RISD's Edna Lawrence Nature Lab was packed with artists and students for a delightful afternoon of sketching, networking, and fun. Humane Educator Laurelin Sitterly brought a selection of rescued animals from the RISPCA for the group to study, and she gave a wonderful presentation on each creature. It was so neat to watch other artists work, both from the live animals and the taxidermy models on hand at the lab, and I was dazzled by the talent at this event. Plus, there's no better place than the Nature Lab to spend a winter's afternoon!

One cannot be overly grateful to the RISPCA and RISD for sponsoring this workshop. By allowing us the use of the amazing facilities, models, and Laurelin's expertise at no cost, the New England SCBWI was able to invite everyone for free. Overwhelmingly positive reviews demand that we host more events like this, so look for another workshop in the near future!

Be sure to check out the recaps posted by some of the talented attendees:

• Natalya Zahn
• Michelle Martins
• Cat Smith
• Carolyn Arcabascio
• John Lechner

I'm so proud of him! The Center for Education and Leadership is celebrating President's Day with an Open House, at which my husband will be speaking, so if you're in the Washington, D.C. area today you should definitely stop by!

This was my first attempt using Aquabord (being the only 20"x30" watercolor surface I could get my hands on quickly) and I learned a lot from the experience. If I were to work with it again, I'd layer gel medium or use an acrylic spray between the layers of color. Building layers of varying opacity with watercolor and gouache on these boards was tricky. If my brush was too wet, it would "reactivate" the dried paint beneath it and I'd lose ALL the underlying layers of color.

To further complicate things, my husband and I were still moving into our new house AND it was during that horrid heat wave on the East Coast. Our 1901 cottage has no central air, so much of the work in this series was painted while wearing a bikini and trying not to pass out. Finally, the finished paintings were much too big to scan so I had to take pictures of the finished work outside on my picnic table. I just barely met my deadline, it was such a stressful time.

Fortunately, I consider lessons learned as valuable as the commission itself. So, all troubles aside, it was totally worth it! I'd do it all again in a heartbeat. It was an honor to work with this client, as they are trying to make life a little brighter for their precious little patients. If you're in MN and want to see these paintings in person, they're on the fourth floor of the Children's Hospital in St. Paul.