I actually meant to post this yesterday, but early in the afternoon there were numerous large earthquakes (more info and photos here) and aftershocks which changed my plans. My family and I had been in New Brighton and I was on my way to the library right on the waterfront. There are two sets of steps leading up to the building and I was in the process of walking up the last set when the first quake hit. People began to evactuate the buildings around the area very quickly and then another large shake rocked everything. It was the first time that I had been in a public place for any of the earthquakes and that was in itself was quite disturbing - people everywhere were crying and in shock.
We decided the best plan of action for us was to get home, which turned out to be quite a mission. As we were driving along the roads, we could see liquefaction bubbling up through the concrete and grass. In places, the cars had to drive around large patches of water and sand (and whatever else...) that had spread across the road. At a few of the intersections the traffic lights were not working so that was chaotic, although most drivers were being cautious and accommodating. We eventually made it home and were thankful to see that aside from a few books fallen over on shelves and crooked pictures, there was no damage. Now, back to what I was intending to write about.

I spent most of yesterday morning on my illustrations. I laid them all out on the table to get an idea of how the sequence of the story will flow, adding the two remaining illustrations that I still have to draw.

Then I worked on the illustration that has been sitting on my drawing board for a several weeks. Its not quite completed, but all the difficult parts are done. As yet, I'm not sure what the two remaining images will be - need to sort that out.

While I was fluffing around with the pictures in my folder, I came across this drawing, which is the first pastel portrait that I've ever done. It was drawn from a photograph that I took almost a year ago. Still have some work to do on my technique!

Well, I haven't had much time to spend working on illustrations over the last few weeks, but I have a very good excuse: weddings! And lots of them. Five weddings in six weeks to be exact - how's that for exciting?!! There was a lot of travel involved, but the hours in the van were well worth it. Below are some photos of the different weddings.

First up, was my cousin Breanna's wedding to Brodie on the 5 November, on the West Coast.

 

Then two weeks later, it was back to the West Coast for a double whammy: my friend Wendy and her husband Nick were married on 19 Nov.

and the following day, 20 November, my brother Jono was married to Simone. Yes, that is rain you can see falling heavily in the distance.

but look, the wedding party still had a great time!

It was another month until the next wedding, my former flatmate Anna and her husband John , which was in Christchurch on 16 December.

The next day in Hokitika - on the beach - Anna-Ruth and Isaac were married. Beautiful day!

As we are now well and truly into December, I thought I would post something with a seasonal theme. Aside from trying to think up more marketing ideas, ( see above image ) I've also been mulling over what are some of my favourite children's Christmas books. I confess, it took me quite some time to compile this short list - does this indicate that I am deficient in festive spirit, or that I am just picky when it comes to Christmas stories? Hmm...
Anyway, here are the books that did make my list - and please note, they are in no particular order.

JESUS CHRISTMAS PARTY, by NICOLAS ALLAN

THE CHURCH MICE AT CHRISTMAS, by GRAHAM OAKLEY

 THE CHRISTMAS MIRACLE OF JONATHAN TOOMEY, by SUSAN WOJCIECHOWSKI
 

THE JOLLY CHRISTMAS POSTMAN, by JANET and ALLAN AHLBERG

While this next story isn't technically from a children's book and doesn't have any illustrations, I'm still going to include it. After all, without it there wouldn't be any Christmas!

JESUS BIRTH, by LUKE and MATTHEW. ( Matthew 1:18-25 & Luke 2:1-20 )

Just a quick update - hopefully I'll have time next week to add more!

Last Saturday, Cotswold School, a local primary school just down the road from where I live, held their Market Day. I only decided to inquire about getting a stall last week, so I was pleasantly surprised that they had space available. The market was from 9am- 2pm, but I arrived just after 8am to have plenty of time to figure out where my site was and to set up the table.

There are some photos here of the market. I'm in one of the shots, but for some reason I've got a very grumpy look on my face, but it really wasn't a horrible day. I have no idea what was going through my mind - must have been distracted by something!

Its been a super busy two weeks! I celebrated my birthday on the 16th, but it was a fairly small event due to everyone being so busy with preparations for my brother's wedding on the 20th. I didn't mind the quiet evening though, as I had been battling a nasty cold for a while and lost my voice for a few days. However, that didn't stop me enjoying my birthday presents! Have a look at this one:

This book is incredibly thick and pretty heavy. My copy has a slightly different cover, a green background instead of red, but the inside is what matters! There are reviews on yes, 1001 different children's books, ranging from board books right up to Young Adult fiction. As I scanned through the index pages, I realised that I've read just over 100 of the titles so far. Still a long way to go!


And now here are some photos of Jonathan and Simone's wedding which we attended last weekend on the West Coast. Unfortunately the weather was wet and cold, but that didn't stop the ceremony going ahead! Although I wasn't in the wedding party, I got to follow them around as they had their photos taken and supply them with food.
These are shots taken at the beginning of the ceremony.

 

I think this is my favourite photo from the day. I love the look between the couple - very special.

And lastly, here I am with my cousin Lillie. She had just informed me that someone was taking our photograph and we're both pretending to ignore the photographer.

Well, its taken long enough but I've finally finished that pencil sketch. Its a wonderful feeling to complete the piece - even though it was simply for my own satisfaction not because I was working on a commission or to a deadline. This peice was only a quarter of the size of my other portraits. I drew it in my small sketch book, which gave me the flexibility to take it with me on camp instead of being constrained to the drawing table in my room.

I was contemplating this afternoon why it is that the majority of my portraits are of men. Looking back through my old drawings most of the faces that I've drawn are males. Why? I enjoy the challenge of drawing weathered, wrinkled, aged faces and women (generally) do all they can to avoid appearing any of those things. So, to put it bluntly, female faces are boring to sketch. I find that a face wtih contours and shadows is a much more interesting piece to draw than a smooth surface of skin.

Here are a couple of old drawings that I've fished out of my folder. I must have done these eight to ten years ago, when I was just beginning to explore portrait sketching. As you can see from this one, there are a whole heap of mistakes - the proportions are all over the place (the nose is way too big!) Can you tell who it was meant to be?

Then this one was probably done a year or so later.

 The quality of the pictures isn't that great, sorry, but hopefully you can see the style and technique changing over the years.

Although my main project at the moment is completing the illustrations for my second picture book, I have also been working on a pencil sketch portrait. While I do enjoy the flexibility and vibrant colours that are possible with pastels, I am especially fond of the texture that drawing in pencil creates. The portrait is not from one of my own photographs - I came across it on the internet - so I'm just using it for practice. Every time I sit down to work on it, I think 'There's only a little bit more to do, surely I can finish it today.' but as I progress I realise that it will take more time than I first thought.  That's one of the problems of being a perfectionist.

Anyway, pencils are probably my favourite medium for artwork -take a look at the ways other people have explored alternative uses for this humble tool.

 Check out the incredible pencil carving that Dalton Ghetti creates. It will blow your mind!

 This amazing artwort is by Jennifer Maestre.

 These pencils are carved by Mizuta Tasogare and Kato Jado.

The amazing possibilities of the creative mind!

Next week I start part time work at a nearby primary school as a Teacher Aide, and this morning I spent a couple of hours at the school getting used to the role. I have worked there before, two years ago, when I was doing the teacher aide training and have also been in other schools around the country working in a similar role.

Well, in the class today, the teacher told the students that I did something very exciting and interesting when I wasn't helping at the school. All the kids turned around to stare at me, waiting for an explanation. Sitting on one of the tiny wooden chairs with my knees up almost to my chest and with the eyes of the children glued to me, I felt a little intimidated. What if they didn't think my job was exciting or interesting at all? What if they all just yawned and rolled their eyes?

I needed have worried - the children expressed a gratifying level of surprize and wonder when I told then them that I wrote and illustrated my very own picture books. A myriad of small hands shot up in the air, ready to ask questions and a dozen voices began to chatter animatedly. For a few minutes as I answered them all, I felt like a celebritiy.

A little later in the morning, while the kids were practising their handwriting, I was sitting beside one young boy and helping him with his work. Suddenly he stopped and looked thoughtful. His pencil dangled above the paper as he turned to me and said quite seriously, "One day I might be an author like you." That is why I love working with kids!

Weekend Happenings

My brother is getting married in three weeks and on Saturday we had an engagement party for his fiance. It was outside at a local picnic area and the weather was perfect! While waiting for all of the group to arrive, three of us began playing petanque on the large grassed area beside our picnic mat. The only problem was that the grass was quite long and the small golden ball kept sinking into the grass, making it difficult to know where to aim the larger petanque balls. One of us would have to tread the grass down around the golden ball so that it was visible to the others.

Everything was fine until one person (not mentioning any names) decided to throw it in a slightly different direction. The tiny ball disappeared into the long grass and no one knew where to look for it. We spent at least twenty minutes, possibly longer, searching for the ball - which was very similar to the golden snitch except without the wings. As each new person arrived for the party, we enlisted them in the search. We slowly covered the ground, heads down, peering intently at the long green blades of grass. Just when we were considering mobilizing all the other innocent picnickers, my sister finally discovered the ball. Hooray!

We decided to play croquet instead of petanque - those balls are much harder to lose.

Its been a while since I posted anything! I came down with a nasty head cold just over a week ago - one of those head colds that make you feel groggy and ill for days. Then, when I was pretty much recovered, it was off to Church Family Camp in Staveley for the long weekend. On the Sunday afternoon, we all gathered in front of the main building for a group photo. Here is Lynn Clevely's snap of us all.

Between the speaking sessions, there was a selection of activities to keep the campers occupied, such as playing rugby (of course!), shooting competitions, card games, impromptu music jam sessions and exploring some of the nearby countryside. I took my small sketch book along and spent a few hours over the weekend trying to finish a pencil sketch portrait. It always takes me a long time to complete any pencil drawing and this one was no exception - I still haven't finished it. Lynn Clevely snapped this shot while I was drawing on Sunday afternoon.

Although the camp officially finished on Monday afternoon, Dad and I left before 10am because I had a stall at the Plains Railway and Museum which is just out of Ashburton. It was a celebration day (well it was over the whole weekend really, but I could only make it to the Monday events) for their 40th anniversary. My table was set up inside the station, beside the children's activity area. I thoroughly enjoyed the day - it was a well run event with lots of people passing through the station. I sold twice as many books yesterday as I did at the Big Model Train Show!

Well, the plan was to have lots of photos to upload onto my blog after the Big Model Train Show. But it hasn't worked out that way.
We remembered to take the camera and tucked it into the bag full of all the other necessities for the day. As soon as I arrived at the venue, I began to rearrange the picture books on my stall table and set up the information displays. Dad (he helped out for the day) taped two posters advertising 'Custard and Carriages' to the wall behind us - I forgot to bring blu-tack so we had to use some tape from one of the neighbouring stall holders.

Soon after the doors opened and the first groups of people began to circulate around the venue, Dad hunted out the camera and positioned himself a short distance from my stall, ready to take some photos. I was distracted with talking to people as they stopped to look at my books, but I could vaguely see him lining up the camera to snap some shots. He seemed to be taking a long time. Eventually, Dad made his way back to my stall and whispered that the camera was dead - the battery needed to be recharged. So that was the end of our photographic attempts. If you want to see some images from the show, try this site.

During the full day that I was at the show, many people came by my stall and showed a lot of interest in the picture book. There were several stacks of information brochures about my book on the table and quite a number of people took a flyer with them. However, in terms of sales, it was a very slow day. Although I tried not to be too discouraged, I find that it is hard to remain confident that the book is actually any good after a tough sales day. That is when supportive family members are very valuable!

As I've been busy this week with preparations for the Big Model Train Show, I haven't done any writing for a while. I always feel frustrated and useless when a period of time elapses and I've not been able to write for whatever reason. I find it helpful to read about how others relate to the act and occupation of writing. It reminds me that other people also wrestle with the difficulties associated with creating stories. Here are some astute and brilliant comments about writers and writing:

The story I am writing exists, written in absolutely perfect fashion, some place, in the air.  All I must do is find it, and copy it.  ~Jules Renard, "Diary," February 1895

Writing is easy:  All you do is sit staring at a blank sheet of paper until drops of blood form on your forehead.  ~Gene Fowler

A writer is somebody for whom writing is more difficult than it is for other people.  ~Thomas Mann, Essays of Three Decades, 1947

"People sometimes ask me when I'm going to write a 'real' book - for adults. I give them a big smile and tell them, 'When my stories are no longer good enough for chldren, then I'll write for adults." - Verla Kay

"A professional writier is an amateur who didn't quit." - Richard Bach.

“I think that all artists, regardless of degree of talent, are a painful, paradoxical combination of certainty and uncertainty, of arrogance and humility, constantly in need of reassurance, and yet with a stubborn streak of faith in their own validity no matter what.” -  Madeleine L'Engle

One Week To Go

The Big Model Train Show is only one week away! The show begins for me on Friday, when all the stall holders go to Pioneer Stadium to set up all the different displays. On both days that the show is running (8th and 9th) I think I will be at the stadium between 8am-5pm at least. Various family members have offered to help out during the weekend - yay! It would be terribly exhausting trying to run the stall by myself the whole time. Hmmm, I have a suspicion that I will be exhausted by the end of the two days anyway!

In other news: All Books New Zealand has agreed to sell 'Custard and Carriages' and the book will appear in their monthly catalogue. All Books specialise in supplying books, audio CDs and selected NZ DVDs to libraries, schools and tertiary institutions throughout New Zealand and they are based in Christchurch. Check out their website here. I'm excited to have them selling my picture book!

Also, Paper Plus Greymouth has ordered some copies of the book and are selling them in their store. So, if you're in the area, pop into the Greymouth branch and take a look at 'Custard and Carriages'.

At the end of last week, I finished the ninth illustration for my next book. It will actually be picture number twelve (second to last) when it appears in the book, but I don't draw the illustrations in the 'correct' order. Quite often, I won't know what the sequence of images will be throughout the story when I begin drawing, so I can't start on the opening image and work my way through to the last picture. Someitmes I think I've got the story worked out and I launch into a drawing, but part of the way through, I realise that the picture doesn't fit at all, or that it is simply not needed. This can be most frustrating! However, I would rather re-draw the picture when the book is in it's infant stages, than having to rush an illustration when the rest of the book is waiting at the printers.

Now that the weather is changing and we are almost through the first month of spring, it is much more pleasant to work at my dawing table. Because there is no heating in that room, it can be a chilly place to work during the winter months. Instead of working in there while it was so cold, I relocated my illustrations to the main living room, where there is a wonderfully warm fire. But now that the sun is out more often and for longer, the idea of returning to the back room to do my drawing doesn't seem quite so horrbile. Here is a photo of the room on a lovely sunny afternoon.

I always have a book beside my bed that I read at night, and whenever else I get the chance. The latest, which I started a couple of days ago, is a biography called 'Dr. Seuss and Mr. Geisel', by Judith and Neil Morgan (below). image from this website

As I'm not a huge fan of Dr. Seuss' art style, I have generally tended to avoid books by or about him. To be honest, for some reason, I find The Cat in the Hat a rather irritating character - I think it is because he makes me anxious and I start worrying about all the mess he creates! However, in a moment of weakness or reckless adventure (not sure which) I borrowed this book from the local library.
So far I'm only part way through Chapter 5, but it is proving to be a very interesting read. And it has photos inside! I love looking at the pictures. Being able to read about an author/illustrator's life, where he worked, the history of the time in which he lived, all that sort of stuff is always enlightening. And who knows, by the time I've finished reading the biography, I might have changed my oppinion of the irrepressible Cat in the Hat!
 Image from this website