BIG KIDS Magazine:Rachel and Me

My  artist friend Rachel is seventeen years old.  It’s difficult to assign a chronological age to this young woman because she is both wise beyond her years and as uninhibited in her creativity as a pre-schooler.  That’s how I knew she was the perfect candidate to collaborate with me on this illustration for BIG KIDS Magazine.

Tah Dah! Our collaboration is above.  The prompt for the illustration is “Treasure Maps”.  We’re mapping our creative journeys. Rachel created the left side, I worked on the right.  On my side the journey relates to Rachel, as her friend and mentor.  It helps to have an older artist friend, for encouragement and suggestions; that would be me.  I’m  in my skinny yellow house complete with family and cats and plants and that’s where Rachel comes to make art.  Rachel’s is more comprehensive… the journey so far.   Rachel wrote the beautiful poem.  The entire work is about being an artist; from play scribbles through adulthood.  Rachel, moves from scribbles scanned from an actual construction paper masterpiece she created as a very little girl, through growing pains, to near independence.

Rachel and I  decided to keep the tone or feel of the illustration light and full of kid inspiration.  After all, the inspiration was and is BIG KIDS Magazine-truly a work of collective art.

*The image accompanying the first post is a collaboration of Rachel’s work and mine. The second post, all Rachel and this post is our published collaboration in BIG KIDS Magazine.

New Project Ideas!

Art teachers, parents, grandparents, uncles, friends and aunties, new projects with “how to’s” for artsy young people on

Portrait of a Girl and Her Art Blog.    Subscribe! Many more projects to come.

Sneak Peak/New Book- Cover!

VERY soon now, Portrait of a Girl and Her Art will be available in hardcover, paperback and PDF .

I’m working on additional electronic formats.

Very soon I’ll have purchase info ready for one step clicking.

Portrait of a Girl and Her Art  already has a dedicated blog where art tips, exciting interviews with young artists, and submissions of art by young artists will keep the inspiration momentum flowing!  Please visit soon.

ALMOST…My new book is COMING

My brandy new book, PORTRAIT OF A GIRL AND HER ART  is in the final stages of production!   Hopefully, all typos and misspellings have been identified, and the many gorgeous images have been perfectly  placed.

What’s it about?  Quite simply, it’s all about young female visual artists and their work.  It’s a labor of love that has taken me five years to complete.  In it, you’ll find portraits of fifteen featured artists, quotes from them about making art, and at least one featured work from each.  But wait, there’s more.  The book is chock full of vivid visual art of all kinds from even more girls and young women artists.  There’s also..a take-away guide for you, the reader, to inspire your artwork and/or a creative way of thinking.  And finally, “sketches” or  little bios of the featured fifteen artists from my point of view.  It’s eighty pages packed with awe and inspiration.

I couldn’t be prouder of this book!  You’ll be hearing lots more about it in the weeks to come. I’ve also created a blog for PORTRAIT OF A GIRL AND HER ART  to keep the inspiration flowing.   The blog will serve as an interactive art class filled with tips, concepts, interviews, ideas, heart, and of course, lots of ART!   I’m working on it as you read.  Everyone is welcome to visit and participate.

I just can’t wait!!!!

YOung aRT/sKetCh BoOks

Looking for some artsy inspiration on a grey cold afternoon?  Here is inspiration for literally EVERYONE.

Meet Taylor.  An artist I’ve admired since she was a small individual.   That’s the way of think of Taylor.  Sure, she was a once a child, but always so much her own person, even as a small person.  Today, Taylor is a brilliant, beautiful young individual, who will be forever, an artist.

You don’t have to take my word for it.  The proof is in her sketchbooks.  Taylor began housing her wonderings, ponderings, drawings, and writings in a kind of living journal as a very young teen.  She works in her self created sketch books to plan larger works.  She explores her experiences with and in the world, in her books.  Each page is an elegant small work of  Taylor art.

Unfortunately, my photos do not do justice to her books. Taylor employs pop outs, little kinetic pieces,  three dimensional incorporations, and folded surprises.  Some pages are simply artfully designed pencil drawings, tatoo designs or poems. But each page is created with materials you would find in most households.  No fancy art supplies.

So how about you?  Inspired yet?  If you need a little bit more of a push to get a sketchbook of your own going, look for “Portrait of a Girl”, my new book, coming in a few months. It features Taylor and many other young female artists who just might give you the affectionate kick in the pants you need to bring a personally artful dimension to your life.