Homage Potage

There's a french word "potage" for soup. But it's not really soup. It's a richer soup which is thickened with potatoes or some other starchy veg (vegetables). I have beautiful childhood memories of coming in from Belgium's damp and cold to warm up with my favorite potage. My Mom also made lovely clear soups.

Recently, I was reminded of my Mom's soup when I turned the pages of Soup Day by Melissa Iwai. Not only is her blog, The Hungry Artist, a wonderful resource of gorgeous recipes and photos but her book, Soup Day, is a favorite in my household. Here is my tribute to it, my potage homage . . .

My helper and I searched for the freshest indregients at the store (we might of been on page 4 of the book and we got weird looks, but I do as the French, I give them the strange look back, n'est pas?)

Veg cleaned and chopping had begun (yes, I deviated somewhat from the book here, you'll have to buy Soup Day to know exactly how.)

All the beautifully chopped veg ready to go into the soup pot.

And the finished soup. . . delicious.

Here's my illustrated version of my homage potage. Thank you to Melissa Iwai. What an inspiration! A bientot.

Meet Octospidey

Jerry Pinkney Exhibition and PiBoIdMo

I had the thrill of spending over an hour with the legendary Jerry Pinkney and a group of visitors at the Hudson River Museum. Jerry gave us a tour of his current exhibition, highlighting 50 years worth of illustrations. I suppose he is most known for the Lion and the Mouse, which won the Caldecott Medal in 2009. However, my favorite of his books are: The Old African, Sweethearts of Rhythm and Sam and the Tigers. Which of his books are your favorites? Reply in the comments section.

Here we are, while he signs a book for me (excuse the blurriness of the shot, the paparazzi were going frantic.)

I was intrigued by what Jerry said about his early youth. Although he never knew it until much later in his life, his fascination with the printed page "fueled a need to fill the masses." He also talked about what keeps a project fresh- setting up obstacles in the actual approach of a painting and identifying the illustrating challenge for yourself as you execute the story.

Go see the show! Well worth the trip . . . and the rest of the museum is lots of fun. There's a planetarium, an over sized street art exhibition, etc...  A special thank you to the curator, who showed us the historic manor!

And, while on I'm on the topic of picture books, I would like to formally announce my participation in this year's PiBoIdMo. PiBoIdMo? If you are wondering if I've made this up, no, here's the creed (from Tara Lazar's Blog):

I do solemnly swear
that I will faithfully execute
the PiBoIdMo 30-ideas-in-30-days challenge,
and will, to the best of my ability,
parlay my ideas into
picture book manuscripts
throughout the year.

 

You can find out more about PiBoIdMo at Writing for Kids and see the official logo designed by Ward Jenkins (his work is Amazing).

Wish me bonne chance and a bientot!

Ode to the Kid Lit Blogger Conference

The final episode in the e-saga is posted below. Enjoy and a bientot!

 

Fall Equinox

Ten Variations Obstacle Course

Writing and Illustrating Exercise

This prompt comes from Matt Madden's popular blog. We tried it in my Art group a few weeks ago. See instructions below and find more details at: http://mattmadden.blogspot.com/2011/02/10-variations-obstacle-course-preview.html

Instructions:
A- Think of a common phrase like, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket."

B- Create list of variations on your phrase. Example:
1- Antonym: Do take one chicken out of many baskets.
2- Missing vowels: Dn't pt ll yr ggs n n bskt.
3- Vowels only: o u a ou e i o e a e
4- Confrontational: "Bet you can't put all your eggs in one basket!"
"Heck ya I can!"
5- Minimalist: All eggs one basket.
6- Biblical: Though shall not putith all ones chicken layings in ones carrying case.
7- Affirmative: "Would you just take an egg out of the basket!"
8- Romantic: "Oh honey, put all your eggs in my basket!"
9- Opposites: All baskets don't egg in one put your.
10- Medieval: "In the name of King Arthur and the Knights of the round table, though shall not taketh poultry offspring from its nesting place!"

C- Pick a phrase from the list and make an illustration from it.

Here's my drawing:

I urge you to submit yours in the comments section below. Have fun and a bientot!

I Suppose I'll Say Sketcheroony

In April, I wrote about my sketchbooks, my preferred sketching tools and the drawings from them I called sketcheroonies.

Now, I give you my latest watercolor and ink sketcheroony (yes, I made it up then, so the singular of sketchroonies is sketchroony), from the lovely outdoor concert we enjoyed over the weekend. A bientot!

ps- The musician is Carolann Solebello. You can find her online here: http://www.carolannsolebello.com/.