Does anyone other than a fellow illustrator, have any idea how long it can take to be 'fresh and spontaneous' on paper?

Just SOME of the Tiz & Ott trial covers above my desk - obsessive moi?

I have so many versions of the cover for my next book, Tiz and Ott's Big Draw  that are just not quite right in my own eyes - too stiff or too weak or just blah. Early this morning, in desperation, I totally redrew and re-painted the front cover, for the umpteenth time.  And this time it worked! The cover took less than an hour to finish. That said, days of struggle lay behind that short burst. By noon I was showing it to my lovely editor at the Tate and it worked for her too - oof!
Tate Publishing is right next door to Tate Britain so I popped in afterwards for another burst of the great Late Turnershow, Painting Set Free.  And me -  set free too!

So here I am, back on the blog, to share some good news and some work done this year.
I was so surprised and honoured to find that this picture from Tiz and Ott's Big Draw

Tiz and Ott brushed and doodled (...) scrawled and splattered.....and together they made their own way.... ©Bridget Marzo

was selected for the prestigious Association of Illustrators 2014 Shortlist in the children's book category.  Great company - including favourites like Katherina Manolessou, Nadia Shireen and my fellow SCBWI member Julia Woolf.
Chris Haughton was the category winner and deservedly so. By chance I had written about him not long before for Varoom - focusing on one of my favourite illustration topics, empathy.

My rainbow picture above has also been selected to tour with the juried Illustrator Showcase which opens at the SCBWI British Isles Conference in Winchester this Saturday November 1st.
A few prints will be on sale there for the charity War Child. It will then tour next summer to Seven Stories, the National Centre for Children's Books in Newcastle.

Oh and Bridget's Book of English is out with Bayard Jeunesse France.  Must do a proper web site page for it as soon as I have a moment. It's a book of 200 first English words following a furry family through the day with 30 lift-the flaps. This Saturday I'll be showing it at the SCBWI Mass Book Launch party.

In September I was asked to blog on the Words and Pictures  about working for children's magazines, just as I was finishing  illustrations to  a picture book length story in record time for Belles Histoires, the French children's magazine published by Bayard.
Here's what my studio wall looked like in July...

Roughs for Belles Histoires story 'Princesse Alice perd son dent' -  ink, brush and wash scanned in with texts

There are lots of cats in the story - that was the easy part - but I've never been asked to illustrate a spoilt princess  - a new challenge, let alone an indulgent king talking to a mouse - all in costume.

Last news but not least is I have broken my own record - I have given more creative workshops for children in schools, libraries and unusual places than ever before - and I love it.  But more about all that later!

My books ready for signing at the British Book in Paris - Bridget's Book of English and a reprint of Petites Mains Dessinent just out with a new blue cover

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