Illustration Friday: Return

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!

Illustration Friday: Silent

This week’s submission for Illustration Friday is in honor of Veteran’s Day. When first creating this image for The Wishing Tree, I imagined Amanda waving goodbye to her father as he deployed, silent in her worry and effort to be brave.  I hope everyone will take a moment of silence today to remember our veterans and all that they’ve sacrificed for our country.

Have a great weekend! 

Memorial Day

I hope everyone will take a moment today to observe the traditional meaning of Memorial Day. It would mean a lot to those who serve this country, their families, and the loved ones of those who never made it home.

We remember with compassion those who have died serving their countries in the futility of combat. There is none of us but must come to bereavement and separation, when all the answers we are offered fail the question death asks of each of us.

Illustration from The Wishing Tree. 

Twin Cities Book Festival

Fellow Elva Resa illustrator Nina Crittenden and I will be at the Twin Cities Book Festival next weekend and we’d love it if you stopped by!  I’ll be signing copies of the award-winning children’s book, The Wishing Tree and Nina will be signing her debut book, Cedric and the Dragon, which is sure to be winning awards soon.  Nina recently sold out all her copies of Cedric at the Minnesota SCBWI Fall Conference, so grab the next batch while you can!

Twin Cities Book Festival
Date: Saturday, October 16^th 2010
Time: 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Place: Minneapolis Community and Technical College, 1501 Hennepin Ave. South, Minneapolis, MN 55403

The Children’s Book Illustrators Guild of Minnesota (CBIG) will also be in attendance, so please be sure to stop by their booth as well.  They’ll be passing out information on the group and selling books and art by notable CBIG members Alicia Schwab, Marilyn Brown, and others.

We hope to see you there!

Illustration Friday: Equipment

With fairly humble equipment, Amanda turns an ordinary craft store tree into a Wishing Tree for her deployed father, complete with yellow “leaves” of hope.  This Illustration Friday submission is from the Mom’s Choice Award-winning picture book, The Wishing Tree.

Have a great weekend, everybody!