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I checked two major items off of my bucket list last week – driving to Maine, and visiting Ashley Bryan on Little Cranberry Island. When Deb Taylor asked if I wanted to drive up with her, it was a no brainer. Prior to our departure, a large hurricane had barreled up the east coast causing minor damage to the island but briefly leaving people without power and water. The day that we drove up was perfectly sunny and calm.

The farthest north I had ever driven was to Boston back in 1999 when my mother took me on a college tour. BU was one of my choices. I had never given New England much thought outside of that. Looking back now, I don’t have any real explanation for my disregard of the great north, other than the fact that I didn’t personally know anyone from the region. In my mind, New York City was the edge of the world.

The first thing I noticed when we reached Maine was a purplish tinge that hung on the bare bark of trees lining the highway. I thought I was hallucinating from having been on the road too long with too little sleep, but when I asked Deb to confirm what I was seeing, she agreed. The trees were purple!

We spent the night in Ellsworth and then headed out about half an hour east to catch the ferry in Bar Harbor the next morning. Bar Harbor was the picture of Maine I carried in my head from Time of Wonder. Our little ferry (a.k.a. the mail boat) carried us across to Islesford (a.k.a. Little Cranberry Island) in about fifteen minutes.

Robin and Dean waited for us at the dock with a small wheelbarrow-like carrier for our luggage. Our tour of the island began at “the mall” a restaurant, art gallery, tourist shop and rest stop all in one. There at the dock restaurant, I ate my very first Maine lobster roll. Heaven. I also caught a glimpse of Ashley! Deb and I went over to make our presence known and Ashley immediately invited us to come over to his house after lunch.

The house we stayed in was a larger late 19^th century rusticator. It was a five bedroom country house that sat near the water and slept ten people. There were eight of us in the house for the week – two librarians, three teachers, a teenager, an artist, and a family friend with a wicked sense of deadpan humor. The wood was exposed, very much like Jonathan’s family treasure from Building Our House, and the house was decorated with lovely island accents and old family photographs.

I could barely wait to get to Ashley.

His charming island house was about a ten minute walk from where we all stayed. As with most houses on the island, it remained unlocked with a “come-on-in” policy. Deb and I headed over on our first day and were given a preview of his latest book, a collection of Langston Hughes poems (I won’t be more specific in the interest of publication privacy). Seeing the cut paper illustrations up close was a gift. The week we arrived was the week of his opening. Due to the hurricane damage, the big event had to be postponed. A tree fell near the museum that housed the work, but did not do any damage to the building, thank goodness.

The rest of my days were spent reading and drawing. I woke each day around 8AM to a breezy 74 degrees or so. We would have coffee near the window while Abby worked on her 1000 piece puzzle. Robin would knit, and the rest of the house would quietly read. In the evenings we played trivia and card games. After breakfast, I would head out with my sketchbook to explore and spend time with Ashley.

On my first day alone with Ashley, we compared sketchbooks. I shared my drawings from Africa and he shared his drawer full of sketchbooks from Germany and France. He shared his cut paper collages and I showed him my digital ones. His entire house was a museum. The walls were lined with books, toys, weavings, prints, and paintings. Airplanes hung from his ceilings. When I arrived, he was preparing a canvas to paint in the garden. We collected his morning materials and headed out. I drew. He painted.

A few hours later, we came in for lunch and I was able to meet Ashley’s nieces and nephews. Ashley graciously prepared bread, cold cuts, and cheese for us to lunch on. The big treat of the day, cranberry soda mixed with orange juice! We discussed the Kara Walker sculpture and the insensitivity to things misunderstood along with education and family. It was a lovely afternoon.

My observation of the day was that all of Ashley’s relatives had the “ey” sound at the end of their names. No doubt stemming from his famoly’s love of music. Once the table was cleared Ashley brought down the work from his latest book to which he exclaimed “Gather ‘round children!”. It was time to hear some poetry. And all of us “children” obliged and sat to listen and admire the vivid cut paper collages.

We got a call after lunch saying that the museum was open briefly and we could head down to see the exhibition. I gathered Robin and the crew and we all bounded over to have a personal tour of the exhibit from Ashley. What a treat. The walls sung with color and art. There was a timeline of Ashley’s art and his 92 years of life, many selections from his hundreds of sketchbooks, a fantastic display of his handmade puppets, his amazing sea glass windows, and of course, original art from many of his popular books, including “Beautiful Blackbird”, “Let it Shine”, and “The Dancing Granny”.
The next day, after breakfast and reading (I made it through half of Octavian Nothing), I said goodbye to my friends and struck out to draw on the island. The docks were full of activity, so I plopped myself down and began a drawing of the Cranberry Isle Fisherman’s Co-op. It was the end of the work morning, so most were packing up and heading home. While drawing I met Stephanie Alley. After a bit of conversation I realized she was a famous Captain on the island and gave lobster tours on her boat. The next morning, I grabbed Abby and headed on down for a lobster boat adventure. Robin had mentioned Stephanie’s tours the night before and serendipity brought us together.

After our morning adventure, I found myself back at Ashley’s house. I hadn’t planned to bother him that day, so I sat outside on the curb to draw his home. No more than fifteen minutes had gone by when he and his dear friend, Suze popped out of the house to head over to the museum and greet fans. I was still drawing when he returned home an hour later. Being extremely hospitable, Ashley didn’t just disappear inside his home. He came out to make a few notes from the painting he began the day before, which ended up being my cue to come on in for a spell. Knowing that he had already had a long day, I excused myself shortly after he settled inside.

My last day on the island, I was itching to make a strong portrait of Ashley. I struck out to his house mid day and let myself in to an empty house. Though his door was open to me, I still felt strange hanging out in his empty home. I went outside and finished an earlier drawing and by the time I was done, Ashley appeared. It had been another long day for Ashley and he was expecting more guests, so I didn’t force myself. We had dinner plans at the house that evening, so I headed back to read more of Octavian, which turned into a delicious nap in the sun next to the picture window.

Dinnertime came and we all rallied around Ashley. Dean prepared a wonderful brisket that he had brought over by the mail boat. We had been all abuzz over it throughout the week. Ashley sat and announced, “okay, draw me!”. No pressure there. I made three miserable attempts at a portrait and gave up. During dinner, when the plates were cleared and dessert was brought out (Robin prepared a delicious lemon ice box pie), I grabbed my drawing book and began again, finally capturing Ashley’s spirit.

Deb and I said our goodbyes the next morning and headed back to Bar Harbor, passing along the boat ticket to Robin and Dean’s daughter, Julie. What a treat. “A Visit with Ashley Bryan” will be on display until September 20th on Little Cranberry Island. If you can head over, I highly recommend it.

Yesterday I read PLEASE, LOUISE aloud with students of The Wilkes School at Grace & Saint Peters and Midtown Academy. It was an enchanting afternoon sitting under the stars of Enoch Pratt’s Night Room chanting aloud the text from PLEASE, LOUISE. After we read together, I shared a bit of my journey as a young reader and artist along with a conversation about where ideas come from and how long it takes to make a book. And of course, there were plenty of questions that followed. At the end, I did a live draw of Patrick, a second grader I believe. Unfortunately, though, most of the students didn’t think that I nailed his likeness. Tough crowd ;-). Afterward, I signed about 60 books and gave away posters and bookmarks to all of the students who attended. What a great celebration of PLEASE, LOUISE and the power of reading!

A SUPER THANK YOU goes to the amazing Deborah Taylor, Coordinator of School and Student Services, who graciously offered her support of this launch and a second super THANK YOU to Dr. Carla Hayden, who provided each child with their very own  copy of Please, Louise. Dr. Hayden believes that children should not only have books available at their neighborhood library, but that they should also have books in the home. I concur! Thanks also to Selma Levi, for all of her support and for sharing the space with us!

Exchange of the day:
After passing out books to everyone at the beginning of the presentation, one young man just couldn’t believe his luck.
Him: “I can keep this?”
Me: “Yes, it’s yours.”
Him: “FOREVER?”
Me: “Yes, forever.”
Him: “Whoa.”

Special shouts out to the two big kids against the wall, literary homies, Mathew Olshan, and Jonathan Bean who came to show their support!

Congratulations and many thanks to the Auburn Avenue Research Library for their recent acquisition of two (of my favorite) original pieces of art from A Place Where Hurricanes Happen, “The Flood” and “Window”. I am excited and honored to have my work included in this collection so that other students and lovers of art can access it.

What a week! On Tuesday I visited with Atlanta International School via Skype. Technology is mind boggling. It was my first time using video Skype with anyone, let alone a classroom of youngsters. The video is pretty long in cyber time (a whole 10 min.), but is pretty interesting for those interested in conducting Skype visits. Thanks to Morris Gardner with the Auburn Avenue Research Library and Sharon Hermann, media specialist, at Atlanta International School for sharing this video!

And a special CONGRATULATIONS to my Visual Journalism class for being featured in this week’s edition of  Baltimore City Paper. One of my sophomores, James Harper, even made the cover! Go MICA!!

What a whirlwind! Yesterday I visited students at Barrow Elementary School in Athens, GA. We had a great time. The kids even convinced me to draw on the spot for them! Here are a few pics from the event. Thanks so much to NBAF, Barrow Elementary staff and students, and Morris Gardner at the Auburn Avenue Research Library for such a wonderful time!

drawing Jermaine, who likes bikes!

Pre-K, Kindergarteners, and First graders at Barrow

Barrow Elementary Exhibit

This Tuesday, Sept. 27th, I will be speaking with students at Barrow Elementary School as a part of the Ashley Bryan Children’s Literature Award’s traveling exhibition. My work has been on display at Barrow for a month and will move to various schools throughout Georgia.

Wow, it’s been a minute since I’ve blogged, but I’ve been busy, busy, busy. WHITE WATER debuts in 3 days! I’ve been working on a promotional material for that, including a shiny new trailer for my youtube channel (coming soon) . School starts in a week and I’ve been obsessing over my syllabi, meeting people on campus, and getting to know more and more about my new city (which I adore). It’s going to be a great year! In awesome news – The Ashley Bryan Traveling Exhibit of Illustrated Africana Children’s Literature is now on display in the Barrow Media Center! This exhibit is provided through a collaboration between the Auburn Avenue Research Library and the National Black Arts Festival. The exhibit will be at Barrow until September 27^th when I will visit the school.  To support the exhibit, Barrow has copies of six books that accompany the exhibit, a curriculum guide to inspire lessons using the texts and artwork, and a school-wide subscription to Literacyhead. Woot Woot! You can read more about Barrow and the exhibit here:

Chakaia Booker and The Fatality of Hope

I visited the Reginald F. Lewis Musem today to see Material Girls: Contemporary Black Women Artists and was blown away, specifically by the work of Chakaia Booker (New York, NY) who sculpts using old rubber tires. Equally inspiring was the work of:
Sonya Clark (Richmond, VA)
Torkwase Dyson (Brooklyn, NY)
Maren Hassinger (Baltimore, MD)
Martha Jackson Jarvis (Washington, DC)
Joyce J. Scott (Baltimore, MD)
Renée Stout (Washington, DC)

AMAZING. Sadly, I wasn’t able to buy a copy of the catalog because the gift shop was closed…on a Saturday afternoon *sigh*. It’s worth another trip to collect the catalog and see the museum again. There’s so much to take in from the permanent collection. If you are visiting B-more, I highly recommend seeing the exhibit. A huge THANK YOU to Dr. Leslie King-Hammond for recommending this.

Please join me on July 7th for a wonderful evening with the amazing, Ashley Bryan and Carmen Agra Deedy.

DRAWN IN BROOKLYN opened yesterday! It a showcases picturebook work made in Brooklyn, NY. Check it out! The show is chock full of original art, sketches, and illustration secrets of some of your favorite picturebook artists (including me!).

From Boris Kulikov – Eraserheads

Drawn In Brooklyn Exhibitions
September 21, 2010 – January 23, 2011
Central Library, Grand Army Plaza

Here is a list of activities that are taking place during the show:

Art Workshops with Illustrators
Central Library – Second Floor Meeting Room
Saturdays, 2:30 p.m.
Kids ages 8 to 12 can learn to create art alongside their favorite illustrators!
These workshops can only accommondate 25 kids, so they are first come, first served.

• Mermaid Tails and Neptune Crowns: Halloween Costumes with Melaine Hope Greenberg
  Join author-illustrator of Mermaids On Parade, Melaine Hope Greenberg to get ready for Halloween. Learn how to craft your own costume. Become a mermaid, Neptune or any sea creature you can imagine.
  Saturday, October 2, 2010, 2:30 p.m.
• Stamp Making with Kam Mak
  What made your neighborhood or community where you are living now so special to you? For author/illustrator of My Chinatown: One Year In Poems, Kam Mak, the Lunar New Year is the most exciting holiday in his community. Kam will illustrate a stamp that best high light and celebrate the uniqueness of his neighborhood and community. For example the carousel in Prospect Park, the Aquarium in Coney Island, he will give a short lesson on designing a stamp and show some examples to the kids. Then he will hand out an 8 x 10 blank stamp sheet so children can put their illustration inside. Many of you will have to use their memories and imagination.
  Saturday, October 9, 2010, 2:30 p.m.
• Painting a Birthday Party
  If you like painting and partying join illustrator Boris Kulikov for this workshop. You’ll get an opportunity to create and illustrate your own story about a birthday party of your friend or pet or any character.
  Saturday, October 23, 2010, 2:30 p.m.
• Character Creations
  
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April is going out with a bang! Last week I was the featured artist at the 23rd Annual Conference on Children’s Literature as a part of the Ashley Bryan Art Series. I was hosted by the wonderful librarians of the Broward County Library, specifically the African American Research Library and Cultural Center. If you are in Ft. Lauderdale please visit the Center. It is a beautiful library that houses many wonderful special collections. For example, there is the Alex Haley Collection (includes eight unfinished manuscripts by the author, scenes from Juffure in the Gambia, West Africa, where Kunta Kinte was born, cast photos from Roots, letters from prominent individuals and more), the Esther Rolle Collection (the collection consists of photographs, plaques, newspaper articles about her success as an actress. The collection also includes a painting of Esther Rolle, a dress worn by Rolle and awards, such as the NAACP Eight Image Award and Emmy Award- there’s an “actual” Emmy on display in the library! There the John & Vivian Hewitt Hatian Art and Book Collection (consists of books, artifacts, ephemera, sculptures, and paintings focusing on Haiti) and of course, there is the growing Ashley Bryan Art Collection (The ABAC is a collection of artwork of illustrators of African descent.)

View a photo album from AARLCC for May through July 2009. (.pdf – 2MB)

Thank you to Dr. Henrietta Smith, Elaina Norlin, Essie DeNoms, Eric Gomez, Joy Veasy, Marion Williams and the Friends of Broward County Libraries for making it such a memorable experience~

Next, I am off to NYC tomorrow to celebrate two friends, my cherished one, Taeeun Yoo as she accepts this year’s Ezra Jack Keats Illustrator Award, and Tonya Cherie Hegamin, this year’s EJK author! I’ll be in NY until Sunday.

The work still turns, so while I am in the big apple, I will be meeting one of my publishers to discuss an upcoming project (one that I can barely contain my excitement for, btw) and will be spending time in the NYPL working on revisions for another dummy. Then it’s back to NY to wrap up the last paintings for WHITE WATER and a school visit next week.

If anyone had told me two years ago that I would be challenged with balancing multiple projects and appearances, I don’t think I would have believed them.

Living the dream!

Last week I was hosted by Mrs. Chrystal Carr-Jeter and the Cleveland Public Library in conjunction with BloomsburyUSA, for the opening of OUR CHILDREN CAN SOAR, a traveling exhibition the 12 original paintings from the book. If you are in Cleveland, please stop by to see the work. Paintings will be on display until February 13, 2010.  What an amazing time! I was given the royal treatment from the time I arrived to the time of my departure.

I arrived Thursday morning and once settled in, was whisked away to my first speaking engagement at Cleveland School of the Arts. It was a combined presentation with about 100 kids or so in the school cafeteria. We had a great time talking about art, their enthusiasm for the arts and reading, and how to make good choices from the examples they read about in books.

Exchange of the day

AWESOME KID A: “Where can we find your books?”
ME: “You can find my books in all major bookstores and online booksellers”
AWESOME KID B: “And in the library!”
ME: “YES! Especially in the library!!!”

AWESOME KIDS GROUP SHOT (click to enlarge)

Next we were off to the Martin Luther King branch of CPL where I shared ideas with librarians about how to show the exhibition, do a sound check, and get ready for the reception! I met more great librarians and was inspired by local Cleveland talent. Huge props to ChiefRocka Q-Nice, our spoken word artist of the evening, and local poet/genetic engineer, Sir Joshua.

The highlights of the night were performances by Q-Nice, a performance of “I Believe I Can Fly”, sung by Joshua Delk, from Cleveland School of the Arts, and a dramatic interpretation from Our Children Can Soar.

Afterward I shared a presentation of my work and talked a bit about my experience of illustrating Ruby Bridges as she took her first coura

I finally wrapped my second book, A PLACE WHERE HURRICANES HAPPEN by Renee Watson. It debuts this June with Random House. In the meantime, I will be making two appearances in November.

On November 12th, the Cleveland Public Library is graciously hosting an exhibition of the original artwork for OUR CHILDREN CAN SOAR, which was published with BloomsburyUSA. They have invited me to be a part of the opening exhibition and to talk about my work. If you’re in Cleveland, please come by!

On November 21, I will be at the Brooklyn Museum’s Children’s Book Fair with Zetta Elliott signing copies of BIRD and OUR CHILDREN CAN SOAR

On November 23rd I will be speaking on a panel with the NCTE Annual Convention
Workshop Title: Biographies: Bringing Lives to Life
Date and Time: November 23, 2009, 9 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.

The Baltimore Book Fair was a great success! I had a chance to see some old friends, meet a few new little people and share my love of books and drawings. The best part of the day was when, while illustrating on stage with a few kids, I needed to draw a road. I drew two lines diminishing to a single vanishing point (art lingo for those in the know ). One young girl says, “that doesn’t look like a road!”. I say “you’re right”, add dotted lines down the middle (also toward the vanishing point), after which I hear a loud “that’s so AWESOME!” from a young artist (who informed me that he draws in a sketchbook at home earlier in the presentation).  I think it was his first perspective lesson. . . mind officially blown.

Thanks to Lee &  Low for arranging the visit and Heather C. (organizer and talent handler extraordinaire). For more pics check out the Flickr stream from book lover, P. Bee. Thanks Baltimore!

Is your after school program being cut? A great alternative for kids who are looking for a place to be after-hours is your local library! Zetta and I popped in at the Brooklyn Public Library for a Monday afternoon book club meeting where BIRD was the featured book. The kids didn’t know we were coming so it was a big treat for everyone involved. A big thanks goes to Megan Kilgallen at BKPL! Librarians rock!

The celebration has come and gone. We had a great turn out at the NYPL last night. My friends and family came out strong to share in my moment. Many thanks go to all committee members, the New York Public Library, and to the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation for such a wonderful honor. For those who couldn’t make it to the ceremony, here are a few pics from the night.

Dr. Deborah Pope presenting the award

my agent, Lori Nowicki and my Lee and Low family

Stain Hole, EJK author award recipient

painting the town red!

my art homies, Lauren Castillo and Taeeun Yoo

art homies part 2, Paul Hoppe, Christopher Myers, and Jonathan Bean

the lovely Zetta Elliott

it’s all about the bling

Thanks again everyone. Time to get back to work!