Squirrel Love

Beehave

I ate the most succulent peach at lunch today. The bees were on to me and wanted some, too. I didn't share.

Catbird sings of the new school year

School started back yesterday and I am slowly reclaiming my studio time again.

Today, I listened to a full morning of npr while shaping up my work space. I read a few new picture books checked out from the library. I ate a solo, uncomplicated lunch out in the garden. I finished the black and white ink work en plein air (outside!) on this catbird piece (it has sat on my drawing board since June, half done). Catbird has been meowing at me all summer to draw him from his river birch perch. I'll color later.

I miss our newly annointed eighth grader! But I am content. She is where she needs to be and so am I. Meow.

Visiting the Flint Hills

Riding the wake of the midwest heat wave, I road-tripped south last weekend with my family. Destination? Manhattan, Kansas, home of KSU's fighting Wildcats and the newly completed Flint Hills Discovery Center. Many of the illustrations from my Tallgrass Prairie ABC are featured in the exhibits.

The center opened in April and I was happy to finally see the place in person. I had a book signing and gave a kid's program, then it was time to take in the center. A wonderful introductory short film defies description (be prepared for all your senses to become aligned to the tallgrass). The following interpretive areas are neatly organized to explain the particulars of tallgrass prairie, biologically, culturally, and beyond. You can take in the historical impact of european settlers. You can discover how tallgrass species are ingenious at survival. A sobering section on global warming and a children's activity area balances it all out. There will be changing temporary exhibits, too, but the permanent material would keep a visitor busy for years.

And of my work there? I will say I loved seeing it so LARGE. I'm used to viewing my illos in inches, not feet. The reproduction was beautiful. Much care and attention to detail went into every inch of this place of learning.  Thank you to the Flint Hills Discovery Center staff, for generously hosting me last weekend, and to those who chose my illustrations to be part of it all.

In 2011, while I was still working on the mural artwork that now surrounds the interpretive area entrance, I watched the real-time outside construction camera installed there. It was winter and snow occasionally fell on the site. And then it was spring and a big blue Kansas sky was visible above the almost complete building. Now, where only an empty lot sat, a gorgeous structure of stone and glass stands, mimicing perfectly in spirit the tallgrass prairie of the Flint Hills.  Journey down if you can. And also make time to see the real deal; take a hike in the Konza Prairie, a close-by natural research area open to the public, and also, the Tallgrass Prairie Nat'l Preserve, which is about an hour from Manhattan. And maybe, when you go,  it won't be 109°!

Tallgrass Kansas to share and explore

Painting some rock outcroppings 

Red-winged blackbirds can be seen in the flint hills tallgrass

A collared lizard will become part of the program

Tools of the trade...

Preparing for a visit to the Flint Hills Discovery Center (Manhattan, Kansas) this weekend. I'll be giving a children's program there on Saturday, July 28th, at 1:30pm.  I've added to a large mural I travel with, to better represent the tallgrass prairie of the flint hills area. The grasslands I know of Iowa don't have the abundant limestone outcroppings that the tallgrass in Kansas did (and does). The rockiness made it tougher,  less desireable for the european settlers to plow, a blessing for 21st century citizens as much of this tallgrass remains undisturbed because of this. I plan to learn as much as I share!

The kids and I will color and create a multi-foot long prairie of our own. Come and take a peek!

Here's a link to the Flint Hills Discovery Center of Manhattan, Kansas.

 Flint Hills Discovery Center

Back in April, I met one of my favorite illustrators, Melissa Sweet, at an SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) conference. I have most of Melissa's picture books (most recently award-winning "Balloons Over Broadway"), but because I had travelled out of state for this conference, lugging books in my suitcase was not possible. Instead, I had her sign something small I carry with me in any event, a colored pencil set tin illustrated with her work. The brand named "eeBoo" makes great children's things, including lovely art supplies like this pencil set. The quality of the colored pencils, lush and waxy, is top notch. And these tins are adorable! Melissa signed the inside lid, and now I've retired the tin; I don't want to scratch off her signiature. Officially, it belongs to daughter Lucy, but I'll just keep it in my studio for inspiration.

Melissa said eeBoo let her name her own colors in the pencil set of 24. How cool was that! I've always loved evocative color names (like paint samples or jcrew sweater colors!) and Melissa's are well chosen; Lava black, Georgia peach, Bayberry green. I decided for a little writing exercise that I'd come up with my own set of colors to reflect my Midwest surroundings. So eeBoo, if you are ever interested....!

River bottom brown

Gothic black

Farmhouse white

Katydid green

Wikiup brown

Catbird gray

Cardinal red

Goldfinch yellow

Combine green

Twilight blue

New corn green

Firefly yellow

State fair blue

Oak leaf green

Harvest moon cream

Bobcat buff

Hickory nut brown

Gravel road gray

Coneflower purple

Butterfly weed orange

Demin blue

Fox red

Wild rose

Piglet pink

Birds to help heal

This spring, a local hospital purchased a few of my bird prints. The pediatric ward had been recently re-modeled and the hospital's art consultant wanted to give the space a cheerful, playful decor with a connection to nature. She was familiar with my work and thought a bird focus might work well here.

Each room with assigned a songbird identity. Thus, there is a Blue Jay room, a Chickadee room, A Cedar Waxwing room and a Goldfinch room! Every room has a set of prints of the boy and girl birder from my "Where Do Bird Live?" picture book. There is also a poster sized print of an Iowa wetlands landscape with heron (from the Iowa Nature Calendar), the "Wilson's Orchard" indigo buntings piece and several other miscellaneous bird portraits.

Today, I had a chance to see the work, now framed and hanging in the pediatric wing. It is unique to see so many of my pieces together as a collection. I loved the room identification birds! It's great to see the larger sized wetland piece; the heron is a welcoming, friendly face in one corridor.

It is also satisfying to see my art interacting with the functional aspects of hospital care-giving. My red-winged blackbird is poised right over a fire alarm. This is perfect. He is a good alarmist! All in all, I am honored to be part of this healing place and hope my birds bring some brightness to a child's time there.