More Web Resources

http://en.childrenslibrary.org/

http://www.asuen.com/blog/blog.central.kid.lit.shtml

Here are another couple of useful resources I've stumbled across while browsing through industry blogs and attending meetings. First, is the International Children's Digital Library. The site features books published throughout the world. It's a great resource if you are interested in what type of books are being produced in other countries. The second is a page on the website of Anastasia Suen. This page is called Blog Central - Children's Book Reviews and features a substantial selection of book reviewers for the children's market. This is very useful especially now that Kirkus is closing it's doors.

I've been keeping track of the online resources that are illustration, art and children's literature specific on my web site. I've you are in need of such resources feel free to visit my resource page.

Happy Drawing.

Tempe Center for the Arts Illusrator Panel

Better late than never, right? I just stumbled across these photos of the Illustrator panel that I was part of back in August, that was part of our Illustrator show at the Tempe Center for the Arts. Thank you Molly for sending these photos to me ages ago and I'm sorry that I am only getting around to posting them now.

It was a great evening. You can see Molly Idle, Paul Mirocha, me (Tanja Bauerle), David Christiana, and and Ann Coe talking about what we do as illustrators and the industry in general. It was so inspiring to be part of such incredibly talented company but what I liked most is to see how passionate everyone is about what they do. No matter what we do creatively, we share a common thread which is an extreme love for our craft.

Happy Drawing.

T.

Christmas came early...

What is more fun than getting a box of your own books in the mail? I was so excited to open my box of just released "Wright on Time - Utah" books. They turned out wonderfully. Don't they look awesome? I've been doing the happy dance a lot lately, and it just keeps going...

Happy drawing to all.

T.

Wright On Time - Utah is now available!

Here it is! Wright On Time - Utah, book 2 in the series, is now available. So exciting to see it in print! You can get it through Amazon or through http://www.wrightontimebooks.com/store/do-life-right-inc/wright-on-time-arizona--utah-books-1--2/ where there is a special Holiday promotion if you buy both books together. Enjoy!

Back to drawing for me.
T.

Meet Molly Idle at Changing Hands Bookstore

Come along to Changing Hands Bookstore in December to meet our wonderful Molly Idle. She'll be reading her book "Nighty Night, Baby Jesus," which she both wrote and illustrated.

Here is a link to Changing Hand's website with more info about the event:
http://www.changinghands.com/event/idle

When:
December 12, 2009 - 1:00pm

Location:
Changing Hands Bookstore
6428 S McClintock Dr
Tempe, Arizona 85283


See you there,

T.

SCBWI Tucson Writers and Illustrators Get-Together

WHAT: SCBWI AZ Informal Networking Get-Together for Greater Tucson, Casa Grande, Marana, Green Valley, and all Surrounding Communities

FOR: SCBWI AZ Writers and Illustrators (Guests are welcome to attend one Get-Together before joining SCBWI.)

WHEN: December 1, 2009
6:30 - 8:00 p.m.

WHERE:
Borders (cafe)
4235 N. Oracle Road
Tucson, AZ 85705
North Oracle Rd. between Limberlost Dr. and Wetmore Rd.
Phone For Location Information: 520.292.1331

INFORMAL DISCUSSION: Mass Market, Trade, and Institutional Publishers:
What's the Difference and Which One Am I Writing/Illustrating For?

Illustrators please RSVP by Friday November 27 to Susan Simon at susan@susansimon.com Illustrators may bring some work to share.

Writers please RSVP by Friday November 27 - to Michelle Parker-Rock at RegionalAdvisor@scbwi-az.org

Hope to see you there.
Happy Drawing.

Wonderful Review of Wright on Time - Arizona

Check out the link below from Blogcritics. It's a wonderful review of the Wright on Time - Arizona book, the first book in the chapter book series that I am illustrating. They said wonderful things about the book and also about my cover design and illustration.


http://blogcritics.org/books/article/book-review-wright-on-time-arizona/

I must admit, that this has been a most wonderful week filled with the best news. I hope I have many more like this.

Happy drawing.
T.

Salt & Soap Presentations in Flagstaff Tomorrow

If you are in the Flagstaff tomorrow, stop by the library in the afternoon and say hi. I'll be there with the author of the Salt & Soap book, Lori Rome and the pups as well.

Friday, November 20th 11:00 am

Salt and Soap Presentation with Lori Rome - Flagstaff Bookmobile at Mountain School

Friday, November 20th 4:00 pm
Salt and Soap Presentation with Lori Rome - Flagstaff Library

The Lighthouse Keeper

THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER from THE LIGHTHOUSE KEEPER team on Vimeo.

Here is a wonderful animated short from the Gobelins animation school called The Lighthouse Keeper. The artists that created it are Gaëlle Thierry, Jérémie Moreau, Rony Hotin, Baptiste Rogron, Maïlys Vallade, and David François. This piece is a wonderful example of how important lighting is in art, whether it is an animated short or an illustration doesn't really matter. Lighting sets the mood, and suspense beautifully in this piece.

Enjoy!
T.

Maurice Sendak Talks About Illustration

Here is the father of the 1964 Caldecott winner and cultural icon "Where the Wild Things Are", Maurice Sendak, talking about illustration and what makes his books so special. I love his response. He feels that the idea to add an underlying story to the actual story is instrumental in making the his books intruiging to his audience. This reminds me of Tim Gillner's (Art Director of Boyd's Mills Press) "adding a carrot" concept to making the story and illustrations of a book come to life. Author/Illustrator Dominic Catalano also talks about this idea, by adding tracery imagery to artwork it can beome much more meaningful and inciteful and add to both the character and visual story development.

Happy drawing.
T.

Incredible Online Figure Resource

Hi everyone,


I just thought that I would share this great online resource with you. The site is called http://posemaniacs.com/ and it is the most useful figure reference resource that I've found yet. This site features interactive poses of people that you are able to move and rotate in order to analyze how a figure is constructed. It's a wonderful tool if you are working on an illustration of a person but you do not have a model handy. I also found this video by Thomas James that shows in detail how this site can be utilized. I especially like the animated portion when you can show a walk cycle, for instance.

http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/2097443#utm_campaign=twitter.com&utm_source=2097443&utm_medium=social

Hope you find this site helpful. Keep an eye out for a message about our next meeting. I know it's past due, so I'd like to set one up in the next few weeks.

Happy drawing.

New Illustration References

Another quick note:

I just added some more illustration references to resource resource page on my website. There are some great sites that focus not just on children's book illustration but on illustration in general. Now my google reader will keep me even more captive. Here's a link to my list if you want to take a peek:

http://www.tanjabauerle.com/resources.html

Happy drawing to all.

T.

Chris Piascik Draws

Chris Piascik from Quarter Productions on Vimeo.

Take a peak at this great video. Chris Piascik starts with a lopy doodle pattern and continues to fill it in to create a dynamic illustration. It just goes to show that any doodle can become artwork. :)

James Owen "The Shadow Dragons" Book Launch

Hi everyone,

Just a quick note to let you know that James Owen will have his official book launch for his fourth installment, "The Shadow Dragons", of the Imaginarium Geographica series at Changing Hands Bookstore in Tempe, this coming Tuesday evening the 27th at 7:00 pm. If you go to the link below you can read more about the event. They are expecting a significant crowd so if you plan on going, make sure that you get there very early in order to get a seat.

http://changinghands.com/event/owen

Hope to see you there.

Happy drawing.

T.

Video of Lori with Salt and Soap

This is really neat. Here is a quick one an a half minute video of Lori Rome, author of my Salt and Soap book. You get to meet the pups and she talks a little about how they came to live with her. Lori spoke at the Prescott Public Library last week and The Prescott Daily Courier reporter was quite taken with her story.

http://www.dcourier.com/main.asp?SectionID=100&SubSectionID=159&ArticleID=73489&TM=39284.47

Enjoy!

Arizona Reading Association Conference was a success!

Here is a photo of Lori Rome, Salt and Soap and me at the author/illustrator reception this past Friday evening at the Arizona Reading Association Conference in Flagstaff. As you can see, the pups had a blast and so did we. It was a great event and there were some excellent speakers including Sig Boloz on Friday and Adam Rex on Saturday to name just a couple. Our presentation on Saturday went really well and our book was very popular. Very exciting!

I also got the chance the spend some time chatting with James Owen, author and illustrator of the incredible Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica series. What a wonderfully talented and inspiring artist but most of a all really nice guy. Here is a photo of him with me. Oh, I'm so tickled having met him.

James will be at the Changing Hands bookstore coming up on October 27th, at 7:00 pm. It will be the launch party for his latest release "The Shadow Dragons". I'll definitely be there.

Changing Hands Bookstore - 6428 S McClintock Dr, Tempe, Arizona 85283

See you there.

T.

Wright on Time - Utah, all done.

All the artwork is complete for Wright on Time -Utah. Very exciting! Expect it to be available by December. I'll post a note when it's officially released. This one is all about dinosaur bones and teeth. :) I'll post some of the interiors once I return from the Arizona Reading Association conference in Flagstaff this weekend.

T.

Tanja finally has a new website

Fall break. The temperatures are cooler and we can actually go outside here is sizzling Arizona. Izzy's home from school for two weeks. So what does that mean to this illustrator? Yup, let's re-create my entire website.

Ok, so there is more to it. I will be presenting at the Arizona Reading Association Conference in Flagstaff this weekend and needed to create some promotional flyers to hand out to interested parties. As I started creating the flyer, I wanted to make sure that it visually tied in with my new bookmark for branding purposes. However, my bookmarks moved away from the visuals that I was using on my current site. Uh, oh - do you see where this was going? There is method to my madness.

Above is the old look. I liked it, but the site needed a lot of work. I wanted a cleaner look and wanted to add lots of different areas, so an entire re-design was in order. After a long week with lots of long nights, and a skipped life drawing class (sorry Mr. M) here is the new look:

I added a bunch more reference materials, a school visit and presentation section, added new artwork, re-vamped my books page and more. I like this configuration much better seeing that adding more things will now be much easier.

Take a gander through the site and let me know what you think and if there are any areas that could need impovement.

Happy drawing to all.

T.

More upcoming events

Here are some additioanl events that I will be participating on over the next couple of months.

Hope to see you there.

T.

October 2009
Fri, Oct 16th - 5:15 pm and on
ARA Author Reception
Arizona Reading Association Conference 2009 - Du Bois Center - NAY - Flagstaff

Sat, Oct 17th - 11:15 am - 12:15 pm
Salt & Soap presentation with Lori Rome
Arizona Reading Association Conference 2009 - Du Bois Center - NAY - Flagstaff

November 2009
Thur, Nov 19th - 10:30 am
Salt & Soap presentation with Lori Rome
Bookmobile Flagstaff

Thur, Nov 19th - Afternoon - I'll post the exact time once we get it finalized.
Salt & Soap presentation with Lori Rome
Flagstaff Library

James Gurney is awesome

Ok, so I should be working, but I checked my google reader and just had to share this one with you. If you are not already following James Gurney's blog, you really should. http://gurneyjourney.blogspot.com is filled with practical advice and plenty of art tips, not to mentioned that it's very inspiring. I love the posts when he walks us through how he creates images.

His book "Imaginative Realism" is almost out so he's posted some promo clips for it. This last one just cracked me up. Enjoy.

T.

Wright on Time - Arizona is here!

Is there anything more exciting than getting a box of one of your own books in the mail? It was a great day the other day, when my box of WRIGHT IN TIME - ARIZONA published by Do Life Right, Inc. arrived. Don't they look great? The black and white illustrations inside also look wonderful.

The best thing is that the artwork for Book 2 is almost complete, so we will soon be seeing Book 2 as well.

Happy drawing to all.

T.

Mary Grand Pre draws Harry Potter

href="http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=908600606699998849&hl=en#

Thank you to my good friend Tanya Jordening for pointing this video out to me. It shows Mary GrandPre, the illustrator of the Harry Potter series, talking about her work process and inspiration for the characters while drawing a sketch of Harry Potter. It is a really interesting clip. Watching other artists draw and talk about what they do is always so helpful.

Incredible Aquarium

Kuroshio Sea - 2nd largest aquarium tank in the world - (song is Please don't go by Barcelona) from Jon Rawlinson on Vimeo.

I stumbled across this video on facebook. If you need a little break just sit back and enjoy. This takes me back to my scuba diving days. One of my dreams always was to swim with a whale shark so seeing a bunch in this aquarium is simply amazing. One of these days I'll get back to the ocean and some serious scuba diving.

Sigh....

Molly Idle reads Night, Night Noah at Tempe Center for the Arts

If you are looking for something to do this Thursday moring, September 10th, between 10:00 am and 11:00 am The Tempe Center for the Arts will have another story time at the gallery.

Molly Idle will be reading her book: "Nighty, Night Noah." Stop on by for the story and enjoy some beautiful artwork while you are there. The illustratior show will still be up until September 19th. There is also a craft activity for kids to create their own picture book.

The Tempe Center for the Arts is located at:

700 W. Rio Salado Parkway
Tempe, AZ 85281

(480) 350-2829

‎Hope to see you there.

How to Write and Illustrate Children's Books

Hi everyone,

A quick note about an event at Changing Hands Book Store this coming Monday evening. Great panel with great information.

Time: Monday, August 24, 2009 7:00 p.m.

Location: Changing Hands Bookstore

HOW TO WRITE & ILLUSTRATE A KIDS’ BOOK
Explore the writing, marketing, and publishing process involved in creating first-rate children’s literature with authors J. S. Lewis (The Fall of the Templar), Janette Rallison (Just One Wish), author-illustrator Chris Gall (Dinotrux) and illustrator Amanda Shepherd (Such A Silly Baby!). Joining them is literary agent Erin Murphy, who is not taking unsolicited work but will answer questions.

More info and directions to the location can be found at:

http://www.changinghands.com/NASApp/store/IndexJsp?s=storeevents&eventId=428881

Hope to see you there.

Tanja

Next Illustrator meeting - Tues. Aug 25th, 7:00 pm

Hello Everyone,

It’s time for our next illustrator meeting. We’ll be meeting on Tuesday, August 25th, 2009 at 7:00 pm in the evening. We’ll meet at the Barnes & Noble at the Tempe Marketplace again seeing that it has proven to be a great location. It is located in Tempe where the 202 and the 101 meet off Rio Salado. We’ll be meeting in the café. Here is more info about the location as well as directions on how to get there:

http://storelocator.barnesandnoble.com/storedetail.do;jsessionid=18F9DD089372E8294E9BDB99CB3796D6?store=2243

2000 E.Rio Salado Pkwy
#1032
Tempe, AZ 85281
480-894-6954

Bring along any work you would like to show, get feedback on, questions you might have, etc. I'm looking forward to another wonderful evening shared with incredible artists.

Let me know if you are able to make it so that I know how many people to expect and try to reserve seats for everyone.

See you there.

Tanja Bauerle
Illustrator
Studio: 480-857-8157
Mobile: 480-518-3338
Web: www.tanjabauerle.com
blog: tanjabauerle.blogspot.com

Story Reading at Tempe Center for the Arts

Hi everyone.

This Thursday morning, between 10:00 am and 11:00 am I will be reading my picture book “The Adventures of Salt and Soap at Grand Canyon” during story time at the Tempe Center for the Arts Gallery. I'll also be sharing some photos of the actual puppies when they were found at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. There will also be a craft activity for kids to create their own picture book.

The Tempe Center for the Arts is located at:

700 W. Rio Salado Parkway

Tempe, AZ 85281
(480) 350-2829‎

Hope to see you there.

Incredible Sand Animation

Wow, is all I can say. This 8 minute video will amaze you. What an incredible artist and what a uniques medium. She tells a very sad story about Croatia's history, but her creativity will leave you breathless.

San Tan Sun News Article

Can you imagine how tickled I was when I stumbled across this article? I had no idea that it was running or even being written. Exciting that the exhibit is getting a little extra exposure. The article is in the current issue of:

The San Tan Sun News – August 1 -14, 2009
Artist shares Illustration, reads with children - page 28

It's a free local publication. Thank you San Tan Sun News.

Wright on Time - Arizona on the radio

The author of the chapter book series that I'm working on, Lisa Cottrell-Bentley, was just a guest on this show! She reads the first chapter of the of the soon-to-be-released book "Wright on Time: ARIZONA" the first book of the series. She's the second guest and also answers some questions about what inspired her to write the series.

Take a listen...

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/RobinFalls/2009/08/05/Robin-Falls-Kids-Story-Time

Paper Cup Exchange - Illustrators' Panel

Quick note about an illustration event this Thursday at the Tempe Center for the Arts. Some of the artists that are exhibiting in the “Read me a Picture” illustrator show will be participating in a panel discussion. The panel will be moderated by the Changing Hands bookstore and will explore the illustrating, marketing and publishing process involved in creating picture books with the featured illustrators. If you would like to learn more about the children’s illustration industry and the process come on by on Thursday evening.

Thursday August 6th, 2009
7:00 pm to 8:30 pm
in the “Studio”
at the Tempe Center for the Arts
700 W. Rio Salado Parkway
Tempe, AZ 85281

Hope to see you there.

T.

PJ Lynch Video - His working process

One of my favorite illustrators is PJ Lynch. If you haven't yet visited his blog, stop on by and be amazed (http://pjlynchgallery.blogspot.com/). I love to observe other artists while they work so videos such as this one keep me enthralled. Here he describes the process that he goes through as he works on a project. Plus I love listening to his accent. His blog and YouTube show various other videos by him which you might want to take a peek at also.

Enjoy.

Anne Coe reads at Tempe Center for the Arts

Check out more of Anne's work at www.annecoe.com

Tomorrow morning between 10:00 am and 11:00 am Illustrator Anne Coe will be reading her book “Here Is the Southwestern Desert” during story time at the Tempe Center for the Arts Gallery. She is one of the artists featured in the “Read me a Picture” Arizona Illustrators Exhibition that will be showing there until September 19th. If you would like to meet her and view original artworks from Arizona illustrators stop on by.

The Tempe Center for the Arts is located at:

700 W. Rio Salado Parkway

Tempe, AZ 85281
(480) 350-2829‎

Arizona Republic Article

Last Saturday July 18th, there was a little write up about me in the Gilbert Republic, A second version of the article also appeared in the Tempe Republic. How strange to see one's face in the newpaper. I love that Izzy made it into the article as well. Here's a link to it.

http://www.azcentral.com/community/gilbert/articles/2009/07/17/20090717gr-illustrator0718.html

T.

"Read me a Picture" Exhibition Opening

Finally, here are some photos of the "Read me a Picture" Exhibition opening at the Tempe Center for the Arts last Saturday. It was a wonderful evening and I got such a tickle out of meeting and chtting the other artists. Here are some photos in no particular order:

Seeing that this was a kids friendly opening there were crafts for the kids to do. The kiddos were able to illustrate their own books and tie them together. It was really cute. If you are planning on bringing the kids to the show the crafts are still set up for them to play with.

Here is Chris Gall and I in front of my paintngs. You porbably know Chris from his books "Dear Fish" and "There's Nothing to do On Mars." You can see some of his work from his latest book "Dinotrucks" at the show. Dreamworks of currently working on an animated feature based on "Dinotrucks" but the movie won't be out for a few years yet.

Here is David Christiana, moi and Mikela Prevost. Both are incredible illustrators and it was wonderful to spend some time chatting with them.

These are the four paintings From "The Adventures of Salt and Soap at Grand Canyon" that are on display at the show.

Some of my dearest friends Jennifer and Tanya. Thank you for coming on by to the opening.

Mikela, Moi, Gail Maki Wilson and Megumi Lemons, more of my wonderful illustrator friends. We have such a great illustrator support group here in the valley. Thank you for all the inspiration.

This is the gallery. It is a beautiful facility and everyone was very happy to be exhibiting there. Thank you Michelle for organizing this great show.

More later.

T.

IF - Shaky

Shaky, shaky, shake your bootie.

Storytime at Borders - Chandler Pavilion

Join me at the Chandler Pavilion Borders location for two mornings to enjoy the wonderful story of Salt and Soap and some fun crafts afterwards. This location is right off the I10 and Ray Road. Visit their site for more detailed driving directions:

http://www.borders.com/online/store/StoreDetailView_282

Tuesday, July 14th and 10:30 am

and

Wednesday, July 15th at 10:30 am

I'll read the Salt and Soap book and will then share photos of the actual pups. Afterwards we'll have coloring pages and a word puzzle for those who feel up to it.

Hope to see you there.

T.

"Read me a Picture" Illustrator Show

If you are available on Saturday July 18th, why don't you swing by the Tempe Center for the Arts for the opening of their "Read me a Picture" exhibition? The show highlights nine Arizona children's book illustrators and features original artworks, hands-on art projects and reading centers for families.

The free public opening is called the "Milk and Cookies Reception."

Wear your favorite Pajamas, meet the illustrators and visit the Changing Hands Bookstore booth.

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm

The artists are:

Tanja Bauerle (yup, that's yours truly)

Shonto Begay

David Christiana

Anne Coe

Chris Gall

Molly Schaar Idle

Sylvia Long

Paul Mirocha

Baje Whitethorne

Hope to see you there.

Barnes & Noble Storytime was fun

Friday's storytime and Barnes & Noble at San Tan Village was a success. There were lots of families. I read the story to the kiddos...

... shared some photos of the actual pups, what they looked like then and now...

... and did some drawings for the kids.

It was a great event. J. Paul Deason, the Community Relations Manager for the location, was wonderful to work with.

Thank you J. Paul for all your help.

"Wright On Time" Book 1 Arizona complete

Here is the cover art for the first book in the "Wright On Time" series that I'm working on. Yup, the jacket art and all of the black and white interiors are complete. Very exciting! The series is being published by Do Life Right and the author is Lisa M. Cottrell-Bentley. You can learn more about the series by visiting: http://www.wrightontimebooks.com/ . The book should be out soon. I'll keep you posted. Back to drawing to begin work on book 2.

T.

Check out Urban Sketchers

With my wonderful google reader, I've been following a bunch of really wonderful blogs. One of my favorites is http://www.urbansketchers.com/. I am humbled by the intricate sketches the artists post and it is so wonderful to see the entire world represeted. The above image is by Lynne Chapman who is such an inspiration to me and she also frequently posts images on www.urbansketchers.com. If you need some ispiration, check it out.
T.

Story Time at Barnes & Noble at San Tan Village

If anyone is in the San Tan Village area on

Friday, June 26th, 2009
11:00 am

...stop on by at the Barnes and Noble. I'll be reading my Salt and Soap book and we'll do some fun stuff for the kids afterwards. Here is a link for more detailed info on the location:

http://store-locator.barnesandnoble.com/store/2348?cat=KAT&subtype=detailList

See you there.

T.

Chris Gall at Changing Hands Bookstore

Just a quick note to let you all know that Chris Gall will be at:

Changing Hands Bookstore
Tempe - SW corner of Guadalupe and McClintock
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
11:00 am

He will be presenting and signing his book "DinoTrux" as well as doing a drawing demonstration. He both and illustrated the book which is published by Little Brown & Co. Not only is his book getting rave reviews, the movie rights have been purchased by Dreamworks Animation which is developing it into an animated feature film.

If you are at all familiar with Chris' work you will just love this new book. His previous titles have included, "There is nothing to do on Mars," and "Dear Fish" which were also published by Little Brown & Co. You can ready more about him on his web site, http://www.chrisgall.com/ I'm really looking forward to his presentation.

See you there.

Spot Illustration from Wright on Time Book 1 - Arizona

Here's another Spot Illustration from "Wright on Time - Book 1 - Arizona".

IF - Drifting

These guys are hoping to be drifting. Their raft is about to flip on the Colorado River at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. It's been forever since I posted to IF, but I thought this one fits.

T.

Chapter Illustrations for "Wright On Time - Arizona"

Finally, here is some more new work. It's been ages since I've posted work. I've been busy with lots of things, but mostly, I've been finishing the illustrations for a chapter book that will be out soon. It's been a blast and I've really fallen in love with pen and ink. I'll post some more piece os the book aver the next couple of weeks and will post the cover when I have it all done. Almost there.

Happy drawing to all.
T.

Salt and Soap in Dog Fancy

How fun is this? "Salt and Soap" got a little write up in the June Issue of Dog Fancy. Being a besotted dog person myself, I feel so privileged that we got a little mention in what is regarded as the "world's most widely read dog magazine." Way to go Salt and Soap!

Illustrator Meeting - Tuesday June 30th, 2009, 7:00 pm

Hi everyone,

Just a quick note to let you know of our next illustrator meeting. Our next meeting will be on:

Tuesday, June 30th, 2009
7:00 pm

The location will be the same again at the Tempe Marketplace Barnes & Noble, located on Rio Salado where the 202 and 101 meet. Come on in and meet us at the Cafe in the back of the store.

Bring along any work and questions you might have and we'll have a nice evening of artistic camaraderie. Please do let me know if you are coming so that I can save the right number of seats for everyone.

See you soon,

T.

Drawing Day 2009

Hey there. Did you all participate in Drawing Day 2009? I am excited to say that I painted, actually inked and washed, all day today. I got three pieces done today. Turbo art time for Tanja. Whohoo... Can't post them yet, but I will as soon as this project is complete.

If you don't know about drawing day yet, checkout www.drawingday.org The idea is for artists to complete 1,000,000 drawings in one day and to share them with the world. Exciting, eh? There are even some sites that allow you to draw online. Happy drawing to you all.

T.

REI Book Signings Next Week

Here are a couple of book signings that I have coming up with my Grand Canyon Book next week. I thought you might like to know about them in case you want to swing on by and say hi. Next week Lori and I will be at each of the REI locations signing copies of "The Adventures of Salt and Soap at Grand Canyon." Both Salt and Soap will also be there signing the books with their lovely stamps.

Tue, May 19th
6:30 p.m.
Lori will do a presentation and we'll both be signing afterwards
REI - Phoenix

Wed, May 20th
6:30 p.m.
Lori will do a presentation and we'll both be signing afterwards
REI - Tempe

Also, Lori is going to be on Channel 3 in the morning of Tuesday the 19th, with the pups talking about the book. I don’t know what exact time or what show she’ll be on, so I’ll set my DVR to tape the whole morning. You might want to take a peek.

Hope to see you there.

T.

Salt and Soap book is going into it's second printing already!

I just got the most exciting email. "The Adventures of Salt and Soap at Grand Canyon" has already gone into it's second printing after only 7 weeks. Todd Berger, Director of Publishing - Grand Canyon Association, just wrote the following:

"Congratulations for your wonderful work on this book! This is one of the quickest reprints we’ve ordered since I’ve been here (6 years), as we put things in motion about 7 weeks after we received the initial printing. That’s absolutely amazing given most of the sales came before business starts to pick up here at the park."

I'm so tickled by this news that I had to post this straight away.

If you'd like to order your copy, you can visit:

www.grandcanyon.org

You even get a discount if you are a member of the Grand Canyon Association.

Have a wonderful weekend. I surely will.

T.

"There's a Coqui I My Shoe!" named one of Local bestsellers.

Check this out! How exciting to get a nice little write up in the Morning Call Newspaper, in pA. The Heading of "Local Bestseller" is just so thrilling. To be is such glowing company is even more exciting. Yeah to Marisa and ChiChi!

Fundraiser at Desert Child Development Center

A couple of weekends ago we had our fundraiser at Izzy's preschool. I was there signing books and was able to donate a portion of the proceeds to the school. I sold 15 copies, which I thought was pretty goo. It was a fun day. The kiddos were mainly interested in the face painting, temporary tattoos and colored hair spray though. :)

Salt and Soap is at the Barnes & Nobel in Flagstaff

How exciting is this? Here is Salt and Soap in the local interest section of the Barnes & Nobel in Flagstaff. Doing the Happy Dance!!!!!!!!