Adelita and the Veggie Cousins Fan Art

These adorable drawings arrived in the mail recently: 

It took me awhile to tell what these were (my first guess was pickles), but then I recognized them with delight: calabacitas! Calabacitas are a type of squash and prominently featured in Adelita and the Veggie Cousins / Adelita y las primas verduritas. I gifted these two artists, nephews of my very good friend, with a copy of the book when I met them during a fabulous vacation in New Hampshire last summer. Both their Dad and their Uncle Matt were painted into the book as children, thanks to some great photographic reference loaned from the family.

Getting fan art, letters, and notes from kids is the best part of this job! Thank you, Alex and Eliot, for bringing a smile to my face! 

Best of 2012

2012 has held many highlights for which I am very grateful. Our move to Rhode Island has done so much to re-energize me, and looking back, this has truly been a year of artistic inspiration. Some of my favorite highlights include:

• Attending amazing events at RISD all year long, such as The Big Draw, Design the Night, Mindshare, ICON7, alumni gatherings, art sales, shows, and several industry workshops. I networked and expanded my horizons quite a bit this year.
• Discovering a love of shellfishing and crabbing with my husband and exploring new ways to cook our bounty. Together with our friends, we learned quite a bit of crustacean and mollusk biology, humane harvesting and dispatching techniques, and some fabulous new recipes.
• Getting involved with local animal rescue groups like the RISPCA by raising funds through a children's illustrators workshop, fostering Shelldon (miss you, little guy!), and volunteering at pitbull training classes. Every one of the gentle and fascinating creatures I've met is a story of survival.
• Meeting every month with my amazing critique group here in Providence. They've known when to boost my confidence, hand me my [butt], and have done so much to help me become a better writer this year.

Best of all, this year has felt like a healthy balance between my work and my personal life, making up for all those years when I was stressed out of my mind. Best wishes to all of you for 2013!

Photos courtesy of Kirstyn Reid and Matthew Althof.

How You Can Help the Families of Sandy Hook Elementary

Here is a list of ways that anyone can support the families of Sandy Hook Elementary:

Give Art

• For my MN connections, the Children's Book Illustrator's Guild of MN is hosting Smiles for Sandy Hook Elementary, which will be a collaborative art project with area children and businesses. 
• Here in RI, many local businesses are participating in the Providence Teddy Bear Drive. Homemade or store-bought teddy bears of any shape, size or color are being collected for the children of Sandy Hook.
• Are you a talented writer or poet? You can send words of support and messages for families affected in an Evergram. They will be collated and given to the families in the future.

Donate Funds

• The Sandy Hook School Support Fund has been established by the United Way of Western Connecticut with the Newtown Savings Bank. This is the leading organization for those looking to make a monetary donation in lieu of gifts.
• A former Sandy Hook student has set up the Sandy Hook Elementary School Victims Relief Fund and donations will be directed to the Sandy Hook PTSA.
• The American Red Cross is providing assistance, deploying mental health counselors to the area, and donating 50 units of blood to Danbury Hospital.
• The Newtown Youth and Family Services, a nonprofit mental health clinic, is open for grief counseling and all donations made at this time will go towards helping those impacted.

Volunteer

• The Connecticut Department of Emergency Services and Public Protection says anyone wishing to volunteer should call (800) 203-1234.
• The Newtown Memorial Fund is actively recruiting volunteers and offers of help of all kinds.