My MATS Bootcamp 2015

Magic Carpet Ride

This is my final submission for MATS Bootcamp online course, 

taught by art licensing agent, Lilla Rogers and produced by 

Beth Kempton of Do What You Love.

June's assignment : illustrate an article about digital nomads

Each month we receive an assignment. 1st we're given hints and reference for 

sketching and a week or so after, we receive the final assignment.

I really love having these deadlines, despite nearly missing this last one. 

I mistakenly thought we had another week. 

It's been a busy month.

I was proud I knocked out this piece on Sunday in time to submit. 

My work is more suited to a teen or kids' magazine than it is for Forbes where - 

Tips for Becoming a Successful Digital Nomad was printed.

Even so, I like it :)

Above - May's assignment : crustacean + pattern - plate designs

April's assignment : design a poster for The Global Art Gathering held in Brighton, UK

February's assignment : wall art on wood 

(we skipped March while the MATS B course ran)

These were some other paintings I made. You can view them larger on my website or here

and see sketches if you'd like - here

Our 1st assignment - January : create a journal cover (Edwardian brooch/jewel inspired)

You can view my sketches here

This was an extra little piece - A Manifesto for the class

I had another very good experience taking this course.

The Facebook private group is super for support and sharing opinions and resources.

Plus, the projects are fun and tailored to the current market.

I took Make Art That Sells part A (one week deadlines) 

in spring of 2014. I've signed up for Lilla's Global Talent Search

that begins in August. I'll keep you updated on that one! 

Thanks for taking a look!

Hope you have AC, I finally turned mine on.

xo, A

I love painting pictures

  I just shared my sketches for the MATS Bootcamp class I'm taking

on Monday, but I wanted to show these painted versions on wood. I like them a lot!

Hope that doesn't sound bad, but somehow simply switching to the round format

feels * Fun* Fresh * Fabulous ;D

Our final assignment is to create a piece of wall art on a round wood panel.

Several years ago I had bought a bunch (too many) of 5" and 7" panels for prints I was creating.

I'm glad I held onto these, they're even notched on the back for easy hanging.

These are on the 7" diameter size. I wish they were larger, but they're sweet.

I have to go back onto a TV job tomorrow, so we'll see if I have time 

to make more before the end of the month.

I feel like I could keep going and going.

And now 

onto some (pretty awful) photos from a pretty great 

event at Society of Illustrators Tuesday night.

Nate Williams spoke about his process for creating art 

and discussed his 1st two picture books.

Afterwards there was a Q&A with a fun informative panel-

James Yang, author/illustrator

Giuseppe Castellano, Art Director/Penguin Young Readers

Jim Hoover, Assoc. Art Director/Viking Books

and the lovely Kirsten Hall, Agent/Cat Bird *(website, a work in progress)

She baked chocolate chip cookies for the whole audience.

They were delicious, too!

Nate's talk was funny and full of some gems to consider when working on story ideas.

I attend a fair number of talks about creating picture books, but this was better 

than most, in part, because the audience had good questions 

and the panel was straightforward in their answers.

I also learned that James Yang is quite funny!

I received an original print for being one of the first 15 to arrive.

Friends may find this funny, since I'm often running late.

I bought Hank & snOliver and a couple of journals.

Nate is incredibly nice. I know a lot of you illustrators know him

from Illustration Mundo, I'm not really clear if he's still running it or not.

I know he had featured my friend, Kristine Lombardi's work there

and they had had phone conversations about the industry in the past.

I was happy to report that she was busy meeting a deadline

for her 2nd book to be published by Abrams.

The best part of the night was when the panel all agreed that this is a 

"Golden Age" in children's book publishing, not only in terms of numbers

of books being published, but for the sophistication of images 

being created for them. 

Hmmmm, if I can't break into this now ...

 well, I'm gonna leave on a high note!

Have a great weekend!

xo, A

Mirabelle's Birthday Celebration

Here are Mirabelle and her younger sister, Odille. These two lovely girls are the daughters of my very close friends, Lance and Melissa. They live only a few blocks from me in Brooklyn. Melissa & I also share a work studio in my building. She is an amazing photographer. I will be profiling her work here soon. Her parents, Nancy & Bob Zexter hosted Mirabelle's delightful birthday party at their home in Swansea, Massachusettes!

The Zexter house is located on a public golf course, which is beautifully maintained. Besides seeing players out on the course, there are plenty of bunnies, birds and field mice, too. It is quite a charming place to visit.

Above some amateurs on the field ;) A charity tournament was played on Saturday, the day of the party, making it seem extra festive!

I'm only giving you a sneak peek at their home in this post, because there is much to show. As antique dealers, Bob & Nancy have a very unique home. Above is a mural Nancy painted years ago in one of the bedrooms.

Here Melissa is whipping up the cake batter after a quick swim at the pool that morning. She's wearing the high school t-shirt of her good friend since that time, Leslie Wolf (ie the Woofer ;)

Odille waits patiently, yet looking a bit forlorn here...

After numerous attempts to light all the candles in the breeze, one seems to be enough for Mirabelle to make her wish!

This is Rosie, she's as sweet as she is big!! That's saying a lot, too. She belongs to Phil (Melissa's brother) his wife, Kelly and their kids, Lily and Ethan. Think she's eyeing some cake here.

The Groucho Marx glasses were a big hit, but now it's time for quiet contemplation...

Apparently, Odille was excited about the pinata all week and time was closing in on him here.

I've spared you the violence, but only because I was videotaping the event while Lance held tight to the pinata. Unassuming little children took swipes at his head and body until he crashed to the ground. The candy was snatched up in mere seconds!

Noah was the youngest that day and I found him endlessly entertaining & cute to watch!!

Love this moment above as Odille makes a big bubble :)

It was a perfect little celebration on a sunny Saturday in Swansea!!

Mirabelle loves Playmobil, like most kids here age. I enjoy it myself!

HaPpY bIrThDaY MiRaBeLlE!!!!!!!

I will be posting more on this visit since Bob was kind enough to take my mom & me all around Rhode Island. He and Nancy could not have been more gracious! We both had a wonderful time!! Thank You again :D