Follow your Smart Little Nose

  I almost forgot to post this cover illustration from a few months back. There's often a lag between the time I create the work and get a sample of the printed piece.  Sometimes it's like a surprise in the mail. It's so nice to get a physical sample of the work; especially when there are real mazes inside.. lots of them! Everyone wants  to wander around and try to find their way back home sometimes.  I want to be the prairie dog with the hot tub. I want to be him really, really bad. You have no idea how much.  I also want a baby grand, and I'd like more time to read. I guess I've given these dogs the chance to live the life I've always wanted.  They'll have to work for it, but they'll thank me someday.

The Sunrise Band

 I recently had the pleasure of working on a reader for Red Chair Press. The art director and author, Jeff Dinardo, has extremely high standards and wanted a trade look for the books; so I was delighted to be included. The books, "Funny Bone Readers", all have life lessons and this one centered on how to get along despite being total opposites. And, of course, the power of music to connect.
 It's a 24 page book. I took a few other assignments during March and April but mostly worked on this. It will be released some time later this year; and since I have permission to post the illustrations; here is The Sunrise Band. Desert owls are called elf owls and make their homes in cacti. They have no ear tufts, just roundish heads, so she needed some owlish glasses. The lizard is loosely based on a collared lizard. It was fun immersing myself in the desert with these characters for a while. I'll keep you posted on the publication date.

cover