Maurice Sendak

A small dedication post in honor of a wonderful and inspiring man, children's book author and illustrator, Maurice Sendak. 

 on illustrating:
"..it's sublime to just go into another room and make pictures ..it's magic time..Where all your weaknesses of character and all the blemishes of personality and whatever else torments you fades away, just doesn't matter. You're doing the ONE thing you want to do and you do it well, and you know you do it well and...you're happy."

Illustration from Maurice Sendak's book 'Higglety Pigglety Pop! Or, There Must Be More to Life'

Happy Earth Day!

A quick sketch for the day :) I hope everyone had a wonderful Earth Day today. Remember to show our Earth a little love not only today, but everyday! And do your part to take care of it because it is OUR home! :)

pencil on paper, 2012

Groundhog Day

 

"Better late than never." A coloring page in honor of Groundhog Day 2012.  Click on the image to enlarge and print. If you still don't have a Mr. Groundhog book, order your copy HERE . A wonderful story written by Pat Stemper Vojta that teaches kids about friendship and confidence. Great for any time of the year, not just Groundhog Day.

Blessed :)

This post is not about my artwork, but simply a moment in my life that I had to share. Working my second day at a part time job, I  had routinely helped a customer out. Thinking nothing more of it than, he was a kind older gentleman who I was happy to help. He said thank you, smiled, and I went on my way to put away merchandise. Less than a minute later he approached me with this folded piece of paper .......

As he opened it he said, "Thank you for all your help :) ," and I saw this wonderful paper cut art unfold before my very eyes!!! I was speechless to say the least and felt so blessed that he was handing it to me. In that short amount of time, he had created this beautiful little bird taking flight right off the page! It turns out that he is a local paper cut artist.  I regret not having a pen to write down his name, because a busy day caused me to forget it. One thing is for certain, even if I don't find him again, I will never forget this moment and the way it filled my heart with never-ending love and joy :)

 "So speak kind to a stranger
cause you'll never know
it just might be an angel come
knockin' at your door
knockin' at your door"

-Ben Harper

Home Sweet Home

A recent house portrait commissioned by a good friend as a wedding gift for her groom. The house that they have worked so hard to make into a home. She asked for his favorite maple tree to be the only thing in color. I thought it was a wonderful and unique gift and was very happy to be a part of their special day.

8" x 10" archival ink pen and watercolor

Shelter From The Storm

 

Today, Fall officially begins!! Which of course was the inspiration for today's drawing. And although it's been raining all day, it reminded me of what a perfect season it is to stay warm and snuggle up with the ones you love! :)

 

8" x 10"

 

 

 

 

LYS Sports Academy Jackets

This post is one I've been wanting to share for some time now. A few years back I created a character design for a local volleyball club. They had asked me to come up with a "logo" type design, using a popular Ukrainian  character named "Lys Mykyta". Lys is the Ukrainian word for fox, and the character is based on the famous fairytale by the legendary Ukrainian writer Ivan Franko. The logo appears on the teams website as well as embroidered on jackets worn by the players in the league. As an illustrator it is always neat to see your artwork reproduced and in this case seeing it so nicely embroidered on the jackets was great!

"Lys Mykyta"

LYS Sports Academy Jackets

embroidered detail