Irish Immigrants © Judith Hunt The last few weeks have been busy with sketches for the Ellis Island book and uploading the MEIC profiles of the artists who were in the Working Artists Show to the MEIC blog... besides the usual farm chores of weeding, cutting dahlias for the farmstand, harvesting raspberries, more raspberries, and even more of them raspberries!...I think when we pumped the pond

As an art director, lots of artwork passed across my desk. When managing a studio of artists/cartoonists I saw lots of art. Even as a self-employed artist, by organizing group art shows and teaching, I still see other people's art. Seeing these images and getting to know many of the artists personally, I've gained a perspective; evaluating rather than getting distracted with envy or

My most hated and despised enemy is the Japanese beetle.Why you ask?Because they have way too much fun while eating the most glorious flowers!!! AArgh!They are not content with daisies. No, they must pick the fragile ballooning hollyhocks, finish off the last of the bright sun yellow Japanese primrose, consume every bud on the roses (that made it yet again through another Maine winter) , and

Despite the 3 or was that 4 weeks of rains the cottage garden continued to do it's thing...grow like weeds.The latest newcomers are daylilies, rudebeckia, hollyhocks, and the "splendiforous" (yes, I know this is not areal word but it fits!) cottage rose.The bees are drunk with the abundance of it all.

Veritas Press and World's End Images come up with some really interesting assignments every so often.Lots of research, great reading material...an educational experience and artwork all rolled up together. What more could I want!One of the assignments were of Hannibal's elephants. Great big scary beasties running amuck down the mountainside...imagine being in that time period and seeing these

Just some of the people who came: David Funk, Michael Caron, Jamie Hogan, Leticia Plate, Michael Boardman, Judith Hunt, Pat Wooldridge (in hat), and some others I do not know.Well, despite the rain the Maine Illustrator's Collective 2009 Working Artists Show reception came off without a hitch even the lights worked! Had fun preparing the food and flowers and table. Many artists brought not only

Finally finished the last thing to do on the show besides bringing wine, food, snacks, glasses, forks, knives, spoons, plates.... and then cleaning-up! Hope someone else does the dishes.Now I've got to get back to doing paying work!

Pat Sharp's Serene Stream- just one of her pieces being supported by her grant from the Maine Arts commission-and it's in the show!The Working Artists Show got all hung up on Weds evening at the Kennebunk Library. Drove to Rockport and picked up the last of the artwork from Pat Sharp who drove down all the way from Milbridge.Pat is an interesting funny woman. She seems to have done everything in

Being an artist, a mom, and a single parent made my art career a wraparound business.Wrapped around the constant juggling of my childrens' needs.When my youngest son was born, I was in a such a state of panic about my impending deadlines, that I wrote a very strict daily schedule to enable me to complete the jobs between rocking, nursing, burping, changing & washing the diapers, and napping.

Elephants are the order of the day.Big elephants, not pink ones, realistic elephants from out of time and history.While searching for elephant reference I ran across this cute (I'm sorry but it really is cute) fountain/sculpture elephant and the incredibly magnificent puppet elephant from the "The Sultan's Elephant" event brought to London by Artichoke in 2006 <!-- START SUPPORTERS DIV -->

Here you have perfectly nice, interesting picture and then you have to mess it up by hiding objects in it for children to find. It is really like doing two pieces of art.The secret I was told, when working for Highlights for Children in-house, is you find or create a complicated picture; the busier the better. Sketch it and then turn the picture sideways and upside down and discover how an

It poured buckets Thursday night and into Friday morning and about 2am I heard a smash sound and then a splinter sound right out front.Looking out the upstairs window I spied a car smack in the flowerbed and half on the lawn revving and revving it's engine, spinning and spinning it's wheels and, of course doing even more damage than was already done by it's jumping the street up an incline and 20

Blue Morning by Don TillerJust looking at Don Tiller's paintings makes me happy.I discovered his work while searching for farm paintings last year and then found out much later he lives in Port Townsend, Washington, a place I have always wanted to visit but haven't yet. PT is out on the peninsula across from Seattle. It is a picturesque town, old Victorian buildings, nice people, and lots of

I played the "little woman" role most of my art career. Supporting both financially and artistically male artists I was married to or just friends with oftentimes before my own work. I even went so far as to differ to male artists allowing them the better work in my studio.Why?Early training I suppose. You know, Mom, Dad and our society.And I have only myself to blame for putting a males career

The farm is finally up for sale.The best part of selling the farm is that I know I leave it better than I got it. It is a real functioning farm, not just a couple of acres of barren land with scraggly lawns and undernourished topsoil. There is a purpose in the plantings; healthy herbs both medicinal and culinary, flowers that bloom consistently each month of the growing season, fruit trees, berry

Promoting others is real work. Promoting myself is often time consuming but fun. For others I am beset with concern I will not do them justice.Just finished up the first stage of promotional mailings and internet announcements for the July WORKING ARTISTS Show in Kennebunk. Took me most of the day besides filling out forms for college and doing a fafsa with a student and finishing up some samples

Once in awhile, I get a quickie assignment that is usually good for an interesting change.This was one of them..the first Mercedes Benz. image © 2009 Treasure BayImagine the bumpy ride this would give the driver and passenger; despite the little leaf springs on either side.The sepia illustration for a Treasure Bay book took less than a day to find reference for the sketch and watercolor, scan and

Our farm's gardens usually have some really large, eye-popping flowers. Some of these we propagate for sale and others are an integral part of the farm's landscape.Huge red-orange crepe paper oriental poppies make punch points of color against the darker background of rosy glow barberry and the maroon/purple of spreading Lysimachia ciliata. Repeating the warm orangy tones of the poppies are

I organized a group art show recently for the Maine Illustrator's Collective in Kennebunk, Maine.The July show called "Working Artists" is being promoted to bring awareness of what commercial artists must do to survive economically ... wrapping their creative time around raising families, other work, commitments and still meeting their client's deadlines. The stresses on commercial artists,

Often I am asked to create either "cartoon" characterizations or recreate long past characters in history or literature.In doing the illustration, I try to visualize the person or animal or object's personality as this will effect the positioning of the character creating a more convincing treatment. The reader will then "get-it"and be involved or connected to the art.A couple characterizations

I use a lot of purple and yellow in my gardens. These colors vibrate and interplay and green foliage is a perfect framing or background color. When there is interplay between darks and lights and colors the eye moves back and forth over them and the resulting feeling is quite pleasing.This type of color scheme is called a complementary scheme and is found of course on the color wheel.The last

Much of my art is created with feeling and intuition first rather than structured planning.I grew up so poor that my early drawing paper was butcher paper. The brown paper my parents brought home for me was the kind that meat was wrapped in. Paint was unheard of until I entered elementary school and painting so incredibly delightful that I could not tear myself away from art sessions. I even

I collect tropical rainforest plants. The rain forest cactus , orchid cactus, or epiphyllum is one of my absolute favorites. Each huge blossom 3-4" blossom is a fantastic sight in the spring...sometimes I get them to bloom all summer. Get one as it will do well inside the home, don't need direct light and are not poisonous to cats or dogs. Don't over water- just remember to water a little every

I enjoy being a worker bee.In the 80's, being published in comics and cartooning, brought my art 10 seconds of fleeting fame. Despite being good at the work the atmosphere surrounding the business felt fake and hyper, the assignments many times were sexist & pop culture oriented and the "clicks" and user "friends" drove me nuts. Being a country girl & single parent, with "family values" I just

I wish I could have been Huck Finn. Doesn't everyone?While doing this illustration I imagined living Huck's life on the river based on some of my my own childhood wilderness adventures.Huck Finn character sketch copyright 2009 Judith HuntYes, his face is a bit crooked that's how I pictured him not perfect but impish.Thankfully, my parents believed in real camping out...no campers for us! I