Mother Taylor

The back of the photograph above says "Mother Taylor- Ted's grandmother". It was tucked inside a book I picked up years ago at an auction. It is one of my favorite Iowa winter images. I love Mrs. Taylor straight forward stare down. She could be standing by sunflowers on a hot summer's day and she'd have the same look. The depth of the snow cracks me up,too. It's got to be at least 4 feet! Anyway, I pulled it out today to share. We had a balmy 3° this morning but it did warm up later. Worked on my author's questionnaire all day. Tomorrow I get to draw.

Worked on a logo for a local non-profit river education organization. Love the heron as a symbol- what an elegant shape they have. Scratched up this piece- the slight "smile" on the face of a heron couldn't be helped. Will share final image later.

Image of a warm elsewhere

As the snowflakes fall again, I think longingly about that children's book workshop held in Assisi this summer...

Woodland Valentine

It's nearly Valentine's Day. Whoooooo will Owl give his heart to?

Oh yes, even more today. This is the longest winter. No school again, so Lucy and I took a walk in the woods. Quiet and peaceful.
We saw deer, a few birds, our black squirrel. Cookie baking straight ahead. Not much illustration going on though.

Ohh Black Squirrel...

There are at least two black squirrels who live in the woods behind us. These individuals (who are a sub group of the eastern greys) blend so well in dark summer woods but you can see them for miles in the winter snow! Because of their unique coloring, they are easy to individualize and look out for. I worry everytime I hear an owl hoot at night, hunting for, well, squirrels for dinner! Here's a couple tiny scratch spots of him I did yesterday, and a photo from the fall underneath the bird feeder.

The speed of white

A small spot of winter fun.