"Swimmers" Exhibition Opens April 6!

The Maplewood, NJ, exhibition will feature fifteen paintings from the ongoing series. And probably some cheese cubes and wine.

Swimmer (Oxygen), 2017. Oil on Canvas.

Swimmer (Tremor), 2017. Oil on Canvas.

Swimmer (Orange disintegrate), 2017. Oil on Canvas.

March 1st is National Pig Day

...and even though he'd won second place,
Francisco considered the contest a bust.
He spoke seven languages.
He was a chess master.
And yet he'd been bested by
a Yorkshire named Mr. Taco
in what turned out to be
a glorified eating
competition.

Darla,
on the other hand,
beamed with
pride.

Some Creatures

 

 Katie boasted an impressive pedigree among mythological beasts; her father was a Minotaur, her mother a Satyr. Katie, unfortunately, hit the recessive gene lottery in the pairing.

 

The Gahzurtz

The Bearded Snickelthorpe

casein on paper, various sizes

The Last Days Of Summer

Swimmer (shallows), 2016.

oil on canvas, 24 in. x 36 in.

There's a new Charlie Bumpers book coming down the pike...

...and while I can't tell you much more than that about the upcoming Bill Harley title, these three little things may happen somewhere in it. 

Swimmers

   

Swimmer (Stripes), 2015. Oil on Canvas, 20 x 16 inches. 

 

Swimmer (Spectre), 2015. Oil on Canvas, 16 x 20 inches. 

 Swimmer (Cyan), 2015. Oil on Canvas, 18 x 24 inches. 

                                                          

 Swimmer (Grid), 2015. Gouache on Paper, 8 x 10 inches. 

 

 Swimmer (Leviathin), 2015. Gouache on Paper, 7 x10 inches.

 

Swimmer (Icharus), 2015. Gouache on Paper, 7 x10 inches.

Swimmer (Cloud Chaser), 2015. Gouache on Paper, 7 x 9 inches.

Some new paintings

 

Swimmer 1, 2015. Oil on canvas, 18x24.

 

Swimmer 3 (granulation) 2015. Oil and wax on drafting film, 14x17. 

 

Swimmer 4 (teal), 2015. Oil on canvas, 16x20. 

 

Swimmer 5 (blue), 2015. Oil on canvas, 16x20. 

 

Swimmer 6 (night), 2015. Oil and wax on canvas, 18x24. 

There goes inverted Frosty.

Tilda's Gator Is Fierce.

TGIF, again.

The Gavial Intrigued Florence.

TGIF, folks.

Tossing Gophers Is Foolish.

TGIF.

Things in the works.

Finishing up the paintings for a new book with the fine folks at Charlesbridge. I won't tell you what it's about yet, but it is written by Darrin Lunde and it does not prominently feature giraffes at any point in its 32 pages.

In other news, it looks like Fab Four Friends, written by Susanna Reich, is just about ready to print. To be published by Christy Ottaviano's eponymous imprint at Holt, it tells compelling story about the early days of an obscure British pop group that you've probably never heard of.

 

The latest installment in Bill Harley's Charlie Bumpers series is out from Peachtree Publishers, Charlie Bumpers vs. The Really Nice Gnome.

I recommend you get caught up before this one comes out in Fall.

And lastly, it looks like we're in the home stretch of the road to release for Rock & Roll Highway: the Robbie Robertson Story, written by Sebastian Robertson for Christy Ottaviano Books. 

Young love, the Iron Curtain, and Zelyonka.

Perhaps this will require a Wikipedia link.

Some new paintings, appearing in an upcoming issue of Cricket Magazine.

Oil on paper, various sizes. 2013.

Who's going to Vegas?

These guys.

To take part in the Vegas Valley Book Festival exhibition, "Imaginings through Illustrations."

I'll be there, too, appearing in the company of this humbling list of high falootin' literary types. 

Holy flying sneakers, It's June!

Well, that happened all of a sudden. Aside from the usual "where did Spring go?" business, June also means I can finally talk about how I spent my winter. Whew.

As it turns out, I spent a stretch of it on a new collaboration with two-time Grammy winning singer/songwriter/storyteller Bill Harley:

A brief synopsis in the words of Peachtree Publishers: 

Shortly before school starts, Charlie Bumpers learns that he will have the strictest teacher in the whole school for fourth grade. It doesn't matter that she's been named Teacher of the Year. He s still afraid of her. Last year when he was horsing around in the hall, he accidentally hit her in the head with his sneaker (don t ask). How will he survive a year under a teacher who is just waiting for him to make another stupid mistake?

Telling you anything beyond that would be violation of all sorts of illustrator ethics. And yes, illustrators do have ethics. I'm just not going to tell you where we keep them. 

I will tell you, however, that Charlie Bumpers vs. The Teacher of the Year is the downright funny and genuinely heartwarming first book in an upcoming series, is available for pre-order now for September delivery, and contains some of the following people doing some of the following things. 

 

  

And now I've told you too much.