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What warms your heart on a cold day?  What warms your heart when the tides of change come crashing in?  What warms your heart when the” no’s” become overwhelming? What warms your heart when the crowd scatters and you are “Home Alone”?

I have a whole list of favorite things I like to look at periodically.  These are things that Warm My Heart.   I found myself smiling and even laughing. They are things I feel that God has blessed me with.  When I look at them I see stories! I see people, I see events…  and more.  Life is so much more than what we see during our day.  Life is a tapestry of stories that intertwine and make memories for us.  Some are so real we can almost re-live them just recalling them to our memories.

Favorite Things

1. God my Father, Jesus my elder brother, the Holy Spirit my helper.
2. All my Family
3. Friends / art friends
4. People
5. Rosie and Violet
6. Coffee with cream
7. Purses
8. Odd things for the house
9. Floor Pillows
10. Blankies
11. Coffee Shops
12. Art galleries
13. Hankies
14. Sketch books
15. Lists
16. Personal chef
17. Trip to Maine and beyond
18. Jeep
19. Toys
20. Children’s books
21. Goat yogurt and blueberries
22. Zinnias
23. Colors : purply blue, raspberry, Yaya green
24. Good movies with popcorn
25. Breakfast in bed with a good magazine.
26. grandsons!
27. my SONS.
28. a zillion best friends!
29. colors
30. the valley between Kenosha and BaileY
31. the mountains
32. a crackling fire in the stove
33. falling snow
34. deep snow and 4wheel drive
35. My cozy studio
36. a good book
37. a comfy chair
38. writing a story
39. a bike ride . . …… and today…. Matthew!

Today’s Warm Fuzzy came from a friend.  She took this wonderful picture of her son sleeping with my Peepsqueak plush.  He is so cute!  Matthew is on my list!

What are your favorite things?  I am sure mine will grow!!

Filed under: Kicking Around Thoughts

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There is so much involved in designing.  One must be up on the trends for color and pattern and more. I always have my eyes open to finding things I love to look at!

Here are the Pantone color trends for 2013.

http://www.pantone.com/pages/fcr.aspx?pg=21005&ca=4

I had to take a close look at them. . . some of them bore me unless they are paired with an “eye-catching” color.  Color is so amazing!  It can make your day!  It can bring a smile to your face, and warm your heart.  It can also bring you down. Why else do people get depressed when they experience too many gray rainy days?  All that because of color? Yes!  Think of the feeling you get when you take a walk and come upon a beautiful scene.  Do you ever “OOOOoooh and Aaaaaahhhh?”  Do colors grab you?

Colors can calm the soul.  One of my favorite movies is Miss Potter.  I like her spunk, I LOVE that she talks to her cartoons,  and I also love the scenes of her beautiful English countryside.  The colors speak peace and tranquility.

One might want calm and peaceful and serene colors for the baby nursery.  So why did I decorate my first child’s nursery in bright sunshine yellow with brown and Kelly Green accents?  ha!  Because I crave bold colors!  All I could think of was that my baby would wake up and want to be inspired by what she saw.  The room had to be warm and happy and that is was!!

As the room progressed to fit two more daughters into it, we moved to pinks and browns. I loved it, but the girls were not really drawn to it.  Interesting.  In my house, you will find that colors change often.  If I could, I would paint my house every year!  My husband jokes about our bathroom being smaller because of the many times I have painted it!  I am thinking of a new color as I type!!!  I am leaning towards a beautiful blue with just the right amount of purple in it!  Baby blue is okay, but I always want something with a little PUNCH in it! I like to walk into a room and hear my heart sing! La la!  Wall colors can be muted but if that is the case, in my house, the paintings must sing!  Oh how I love a noisy house filled with color.

So what am I to do?  Follow the trends?  Or start my own trends?  Am I brave?  These are the questions every designer must face.  I always lean towards being a renegade trend setter!  ha!

Filed under: All Things Artsy, Art is FUN!, fun

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Have you ever started a new chapter in your life?  Have you ever dared to do something you never did before?  Did you feel launched into it and found yourself in free fall? You are not alone. It happens all the time! Anyone who wants to do something worthwhile in life has to take risks and sometimes those risks lead to even more risks!

When my art career began, I was imagining all the possibilities. I dreamed of success. I created many fun little cartoons and talked about what I wanted to do with them.  Then one day, I ran into a friend who was DOING what I wanted to do.  She shook me!  She said, “Les, you have to go to the N.Y. Stationary Show and you have to go NOW!

I had heard of this show. I had many of my friends online talking about going.  This was back in the late 90′s.  There was something in her voice.  It was more like a command from heaven than a gentle nudging from a friend.  I made up my mind to go!

This was huge for me.  I had only been on an airplane once for a 45 minute flight. I practically sat on the lap of the man sitting next to me… asking him what this bump was and what THAT  bump was!    I decided I better pray about this trip.  I told the Lord that if HE wanted me to do this then he would have to make the way for me.   A few days later someone had put an envelope in my mailbox. It was  $300.00.  Enough for my flight!  It was not long until I was flying across America to New York City.  I met up with my girlfriend and stayed with her uncle and aunt. We took buses, rode trains and cabs.  Once at the show we had to pedal our portfolios. I am NOT a sales person. … but there I was asking people where their art director was and if I might have a minute with them.  Over and over.  Hmmm…. it became a little easier each time.

One last company sat down with me.  They looked through my whole portfolio and asked if I had anything more?  I pulled out one last picture of a little baby.  That was it!  That was the one the art director liked.  She asked me if I had any more and I told her I would email them to her when I got home. You better believe I was sketching babies on the airplane!

This was one of my first “be brave” moments. Over and over the good Lord has taken my by the hand and shown me what to do next.  Some would say, “you are weak if you need help for everything.”  But I say,  I am smart for asking.

I have a few more adventures I am yearning for.  There will come that day, when the dreaming is over, and the bags all packed and ready to GO!

What are you waiting for?  Be Brave!!!!!

Filed under: God STuff, Kicking Around Thoughts, Reflections

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It is a great joy to be an artist!  I rarely get tired of creating new things. When I am not creating, I am busy thinking about creating.

Occasionally I get stuck.  A design might not be working, a color might be off, a story might need more tweaking etc.  This is when its time to take a break!

Saturday was just such a day. The blue skies of Colorado were mesmerizing. The crisp clean air and the white, bright snow were a refreshing sight!  My husband and I walked along this lake soaking it all in.

Sure enough,  upon returning to my work, I could see what I could NOT see before, a new perspective!  So if you get stuck,  take a break!!  Get some fresh air!  Your work will be waiting for you only this time you might just find the solution you were looking for.

Filed under: Kicking Around Thoughts

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Oh little Peepsqueak.  This picture of you reminds me of something that happened to me when I was little.  We were visiting an aunt in Washington.  She had a rope that dangled from a tree in her backyard. She also had a big DOG that came running into the yard barking at ME!  I jumped on that rope and UP, UP, UP  I went!  I did not even know I could climb a rope!  I just did it!  ha ha!

Most of my art comes from my imagination, but it is also from my memories and from my life experiences. All that being said, I think I can still climb a rope!

Filed under: My Characters, Peepsqueak!, Reflections

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Time is ticking away - Christmas vacation is slipping away.  But, I'm enjoying looking at the New Year, trying to plan how I can fit everything in that I want to do - especially art.  As it stands, I will be the featured artist at the Town Center Gallery in October and I've got to get busy producing new work.  Although it's a smaller-town member gallery, I'm excited about having a goal to work for.  And, I'm really delighted to be taking steps back into the more "fine art" world - it can only enhance my illustration.  I'm inspired by new ideas that I look forward to pursuing - I'll get more into that later.

Today, I carved out an hour OUTSIDE of the house, no less, to do a little sketching.  I'm wanting to do some small still life paintings to get into the swing of things and play around with my new and improved understanding of acrylics (thanks to the mural).



Anyway, during my break I've been addicted to watching previous seasons of the PBS series Art 21 on Netflix Instant Watch.   It has reawakened my interest in fine art and all of the discussion that goes with it that I miss from college (although I can't say that I took proper advantage of the opportunities for such discussion back then).  I'm going to dust off my many sketchbooks from back then and see how my ideas have changed since then. Maybe I'll post more on those thoughts soon.

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In just a few more days it will be officially Fall!  My absolute favorite time of year!  It feels like the HOT balloon of summer has been pricked and it is slowly releasing all the hot air, giving way to cool mornings and evenings. The studio is a bustle of activity.  New dreams and new hopes are coming alive.

You may say, all of that?… just because it is September 12th?  Aren’t you depressed because things are dying?  No!  Not at all.  Every season is glorious!  All have their pros and cons but for the most part, I love them all and I love being…. ALIVE!  haha!

The last few weeks have been busy with preparations for my SCBWI conference (http://www.scbwi.org/). I am a speaker and I am so excited.  I love meeting more creative people and hearing about their dreams.  The air is charged whenever we meet.

After that it is back to my studio for more fun!  There is never a dull moment. Ideas are bouncing off the walls at times and knowing which one to work on is my biggest problem.

So, back to work with me! Happy Fall!

Filed under: Work is Play....?

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Gotta love it when people find their place in the world.  This guy is obviously doing what he should with…

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Pencil in hand, papers scattered across my old green kitchen table.  Poised and ready, I begin work on another book.  Perhaps I should say two books!  I have two in the wings.  The second Peepsqueak book and Shivery Timbers!  I can already hear the farm animals in the barn and the crazy Snofolk tumbling down the hills.  Blue Skye Studio, you ROCK!!

Filed under: Work is Play....?

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Being an artist is surely not a job for the faint of heart. At least if you are trying to earn a living at it.  I am a student to many of my successful artist friends.  I have seen the common thread of those who are doing well, is this “KNOWING” that no matter what, you will continue to create. There is also the need for a “skin like a rhino” and the drive to keep getting out the pencil and keep sketching and creating, even when you hear words like, the economy is down, business is slow, yada yada yadaa bla!

Call me what you will, I was born to make art, draw cartoons and color pictures each day. It is what makes me get up in the morning and what I often think about when going to bed. I have even gotten ideas in the night when I am happily dreaming away!  Oh the paintings I have done in my sleep!

I finished this last panel for the Licensing show in Las Vegas yesterday. What a load lifted.   I thought I finished the art late Sunday night, but upon sleeping on it, I woke up knowing it needed more tweaking.  I LOVE how the bright turquoise came out.  Pro Copy really got this one right!

Off to work on a snow man story!

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I simply love Colorado, with its mountains and the W I D E open spaces. There is something about the vast blue sky that gives me a boost. I find that the breaks I take in my day are just as important as working hard in the studio. When I return to my studio I see things differently. My mind has rested and my body is more relaxed.  Yep, I am HIGH on life!!  Even my little cartoons are glad I left and have come back with a good attitude and the ideas begin to flow!

Filed under: Kicking Around Thoughts, The Great Outdoors!, Work is Play....?

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OOOOHhhhhh!  I love the UPS man!  . . . that is . . . well . . . you know what I mean.  I don’t actually KNOW him but I love when he brings me packages!  I LOVE surprises!!! (My husband drove for UPS once and I do love HIM! :0))

Today UPS brought me a children’s book I ordered.  Oh it is so cute!  It made me so happy!!!  Some folks get happy with diamonds or vacations on cruise ships.  I would be happy with a drawing board in every room in my house and piles of children’s books and art supplies scattered about!  Ha!  … Here are a couple of images of my new book.  I wonder if I will ever meet Peter McCarty?  I think I will look for him on Facebook!

Filed under: Just for fun, Kicking Around Thoughts, Surprises

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I was going to finish cleaning my kitchen floor… but then I thought, why not add a blog update?  ha!

Today I went for a walk.  There is nothing like walking in leaves!  I love fall mornings.

As usual, even on my walks I am working.  All I could see were color palettes! I picked up leaf after leaf to add to my fall collection.

Filed under: Exercise, Just for fun, Kicking Around Thoughts, Work is Play....?

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I wrote this last night...

What wonderful news for us and for the world!

WE HAVE A NEW PRESIDENT!

And not just another president, but one who can become a GREAT President.

One who will change the American people, and also inspire the world.

One who can actually give an intelligent and eloquent public speech, full of hope for this great country of ours and for a better world.

One who can unite a nation of different people, of different races, religions, ideals and economic levels.

Hope has just entered the American vocabulary again tonight, with no trace of cynicism.

I am so proud to be an American tonight. I am so proud of my new President.

I am proud to be American in this historic time of change and hope.


Love, Peace, and Hope, to you!

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No More Gunk! is a Double Doozie - two books in one! This book is the first for a new imprint of Guardian Angel Publishing. The Health & Hygiene line features books teaching children about taking care of their bodies.In No More Gunk! by Donna J. Shepherd, short, playful rhymes and Kevin Scott Collier's humorous illustrations help children learn in a fun way the importance of proper dental

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