I've been taking Lilla Roger's class "Make Art that Sells".  Its a really fabulous class. I missed
a couple of assignments because of my move to a new place.  Here is what we are working on this week. This is still sort of in progress....

We are doing really rich lush art that can be used on different products like zippered bags etc.  I did
a couple of my own mock ups.  I love fashion and girly things so I took a couple of my girls and added lots of layered vintage imagery.  It was really fun and I think its something that I can do in the future with my illustration work.

Hello.... My life has been crazy lately.  I've been working on some great assignments as well as moving into a new place.

Here are some samples of a cute book series for girl's I've been working on. The girls are sisters who open their own salon (inside of their mother's salon).

These covers are the first two books out of four that will be coming soon! The kindle editions are out and books will be available Feb. 11th.

I'm in the process of taking Lilla Roger's class "Making Art that Sells".  Wow, there are some fantastic
artists taking the course! Here is the piece I did for the first assignment. We were working on a vintage
kitchen theme.  I kept it pretty simple and the color palate down to a minimum.

It would really be nice to know how to put things into a pattern myself...but haven't learned
that yet.

Yesterday I was browsing online and came across some characters used in an app that look like they were lifted from one of my original illustrations.  The faces, coloring, body positions all the same.  The
clothing and background were altered.  What do you think?

Below are the two illustrations they used and my original illustration (girls in the green circle).

I'm not too happy about it.

I'm working on a few fun projects right now.  Of course they all include lots of girly girl characters!  Below are a few of the sample sketches (not chosen) for a couple of upcoming book covers.

I am especially fond of girls who look to the side...you can tell they have something up their sleeve.

Coming out in September....a super cute book of fun quizzes for girls!  I had a great time working on this project for American Girl.

Just in time for Valentine's Day....a little pair of love birds...

Love is in the air... well almost.  This girl is rocking her nerdy's and looking forward to Valentine's Day!

Found a little sketch on my computer and was playing around with it this morning.  Just a rough mockup of what I thought might be cute on a girls tee.

Winter is here time to bundle up in all those cute knits and furry sweaters.  One of the popular colors right now for clothing is mustard.  Love it or not?

Sometimes you just have to close your eyes and breathe.....

Having some fun with sketching my favorite subject!

Found a cute sketch today and turned it into a birthday card.  Sometimes I find little treasures when I go
back and look at some old scribbles.  When I first started out in my illustration career, I did a lot
of greeting cards.  I still love working on them and looking at them in stores.

Looking through some sketchbooks I found these cute girls with hats!

Here's a little glimpse of a new book I recently completed.  I will be illustrating more books and products that will tie in with this one.  Who doesn't love a tutu?

Found the Poison Apple book I illustrated online yesterday!  It will be available next month. I loved working on this.

I've entered some fun girly designs in a contest at Threadless.com.  I thought working with a contest deadline would motivate me to get some personal fun images done.  Let me know what you think!  Which is your favorite?

Just received my copy of the Brownie annual for 2013.  I had the pleasure of illustrating it.  I love the way it came out. It's so wonderful that little girls across the ocean will be looking at my characters. This is the third year I've worked with Girlguiding UK....so fun!

There are two creative sides of me.  One is the children's illustrator and the other is a painter.  I love to paint and have opened an Etsy site to showcase some of my "vintage inspired" art.  I've kept the two sides of me separate for a while now. I love old photography...year book annuals, photo booth pictures.  Check out my Etsy site.  http://www.etsy.com/shop/MyMysteriousPast

This is....Jack

I have a secret life (well sort of secret..haha) as a painter as well as an illustrator. My love of vintage photographs coupled with my passion for painting inspired me to create "My Mysterious Past". When I'm not illustrating for the children's market I spend time painting portraits of people from bygone eras.  I've always been fond of old photographs and I feel an attachment somehow to the people in them. I like taking the vintage quality of the photos/characters and painting them in a way that seems contemporary.

I think they are versatile because you can put them in a vintage room or in a modern/ eclectic environment. They are affordable, collectible and painted with deep affection.

All of my paintings are inspired by old (20's through 60's) photographs of real people.

Take a look when you have a chance at http://www.etsy.com/shop/MyMysteriousPast
 Let me know what you think.

Here is a sampling of a few of my favorite characters....more paintings to be added soon.

                                               Jack.... a hip pipe smoking man from the 40's

Just found this on Amazon.  It's the fourth and final book cover I did for the Forever Four book