Tales from the Rushmore Kid

Sketchbook Art - Musee d'Orsay

One of my favorite museums in the world is the Musee d'Orsay.  In the center of Paris on the banks of the Seine, opposite the Tuileries Gardens, the museum was installed in the former Orsay railway station. I am a nut for French Impressionist art, but I also love the architecture of the museum, which displays collections from the period 1848 to 1914. I leaned on a bridge, with hundreds of people passing by, as I quickly painted this muddy sketch. I usually spend two entire days in this fabulous museum. One of the jewels of the Musee d'Orsay that I always visit is an American painting, "Whistler's Mother."

SCBWI - Costume Contest - 2009

I love this party--the Saturday Night SCBWI Ball at the National Conference. Not only do I get the privilege of creating performance art, I get to act goofy with my friends. For the past few years, Greg Trine (Melvin Beederman Series), illustrator Yuki Yoshino and I dress up, dance and try to win the costume contest. We always give everyone else stiff competition.  This year we came in 2nd place with our Mother Goose and the Goosettes costumes. Here we are pictured with Lin Oliver, executive director of the SCBWI.

Kristi Valiant - Illustrator

Sometimes when I am checking the blog traffic I will find a site that interests me. This is how I came across illustrator Kristi Valiant. Her art was brilliant, so I asked her for an interview. As it turns out, Kristi has a recent picture book out that she illustrated, Cora Cooks Pancit. I give you Kristi Valiant.

When and why did you start illustrating for children?

When I was little, I was fascinated with the illustrations by Janet & Anne Grahame Johnstone in Dean's Mother Goose Book of Rhymes. God gave me the talent to draw, and those Mother Goose illustrations gave me the desire to work in children's books.

First Book - What book got you hooked?

I love this charity. They give kid's book to the needy and promote literacy. Last year they ran a campaign to invite readers to share the first book that made a difference in their lives. The state that gets the most stories will win 50,000 books! So write on!

A book lovers’ campaign created by First Book to bring thousands of new books to kids in need. I'm writing to let you know that this campaign is back again this summer!
 
Now through September 30, readers everywhere are invited to visit www.firstbook.org/whatbook <http://www.firstbook.org/whatbook>  and share the first book that made reading fun for them, then help get more kids hooked by voting for the state to receive 50,000 new books for low-income youth. The results will be announced online shortly after the voting closes.
 

Suzanne Pfefferle - Pelican Publishing Company Publicist

Suzanne Pfefferle, publicist for Pelican Publishing Company, contacted me about a blog tour for one of her authors.  I agreed to participate and she agreed to be interviewed!

In these tough economic times, what can authors/illustrators do to help the publicity department promote their books?

There are several ways an author can generate publicity for their book on a limited budget. The first thing they should do is create a website, begin a blog, or join a social network. Everyone is online these days, so creating a presence on the web is a great way to generate buzz for a book.

Museum of Fine Art Boston

Whenever I am in Boston I have to go to the Museum of Fine Art Boston. One of the finest museums in the world, the MFAB has a wonderful rotunda featuring John Singer Sargent murals.

One of my favorite American portrait painters, Sargent lived most of his life in Europe. He painted house sized portraits of the wealthy and the aristocracy. Tired of painting portraits (the rich probably bitched too much!), Sargent turned to landscapes.

Near the end of his life, he painted the entrance to the MFAB, and he worked on the MFAB murals until his death. For me, the entrance to this museum has the holy feeling of Saint Peter's Basilica at the Vatican. I've been told that the new wing to the MFAB, now under construction, will have an entire gallery devoted to John Singer Sargent.

SCBWI Summer Conference 2009 - Inspiration, Motivation and Hard Truths

Like all years, the 2009 SCBWI Summer Conference was loaded with inspiring speakers. Sherman Alexie's keynote got a standing ovation and brought tears to the audience. He ended with a story of the power of books and reminded us to never underestimate what our books can do for others. Kathleen Duey ended the conference with her speech on the family of the SCBWI and how we should embrace it.

Many of the workshops had practical tools to go forward for both the published and unpublished. Alice Pope spoke on "Practical On-line Promotion" while Karen Cushman gave detailed instruction on research.

But one thing differed from all the other conferences in the past.  Again and again, authors and editors stressed the importance of having an agent in these hard economic times. With less houses accepting unsolicited manuscripts, no extra employees to speak of and lists being cut way back, it is imperative to have a good editorial agent.

The SCBWI did a great job with on-line tweeting and a conference blog, http://scbwiconference.blogspot.com.  Check it out if you didn't attend the conference to get detailed information on what you missed.

SCBWI Costume Contest '09: Blue Moon Ball!

It's that time of year again where I get a chance to do performance art at the SCBWI National Costume contest.  Here's a short video on how I made my costume "Mother Goose."