Inspiration & the SCBWI Houston Conference 2013

I love to go to SCBWI conferences. They're inspiring, educational, offer great networking opportunities, and I feel invigorated when I leave. So, I got myself down to Houston last weekend to attend their annual conference. The drive from Dallas was well worth it. Here was their lineup:

Peter Brown, Author-Illustrator; Paul Rodeen, Rodeen Literary Mgmt; Lucy Cummins, Simon & Schuster Art Director; Dani Young, Simon & Schuster Editor; Stephanie Hedlund, ABDO Publishers Editor; Sara Sargent, Balzar & Bray Editor; Josh Adams, Adams Literary. 

I loved hearing Peter Brown talk about his career. He's very funny. He and his agent, Paul Rodeen, seem to have a great working relationship together. They're like super cool brothers, actually. Peter's illustrations are wonderful. Love his work!

One of the best parts of the conference was the pre-conference assignment from AD Lucy Cummins. She gave us 2 manuscripts to choose from. One was a picture book (Chicks Run Wild) or a middle school manuscript to create a cover design. Unfortunately, I can't remember what the title was because I, of course, chose Chicks Run Wild. We each chose a page from the book to illustrate, sent in our sketches to her, and waited for feedback. When she got back to us, we went to finals and brought them to the conference for the illustrator's breakout session.

Here was my sketch:



 And the final:

I loved seeing everyone's take on this story. So many crazy chicks! Great chance to work with an AD too. That's always a lovely opportunity. Lucy is super nice, and had a lot of constructive things to say to all of us. Very helpful.

I also won a book in the raffle, so I'm going to send some love out to the author who is from the Houston area. Crystal Allen's book The Laura Line doesn't even come out in stores until April 23rd, and I HAVE A COPY! Yay! Can't wait to read it!

Within an hour of arriving back at home, from a really long roadtrip to Houston, I snuck off to the local library to load up on picture books to get my head around where I go next. My goal has always been to have my own picture book published. I'm feeling really close to making that happen!

IF: Edge

Randy didn't enjoy driving along the edge of the twisty mountain roadways. Too scary, even for a bear!!

IF: NEW

New year, and I vow to do more sketching, which lead me to the Illustration Friday prompt "NEW". Here are a few ideas that popped into my noggin. The biggest revelation was that I need a NEW scanner! I had to take a photo of my sketchpad with my phone, and it's pretty dark. :( Hope you're all having a great New Year so far!

Giveaway!!!

The lovely Michelle Allen is having a giveaway over at www.Close2myart.com Don't miss out! She's got a boatload of colorful/wacky/just plain FUN art. (You could win a shopping spree for $50, $75, or $100 - ooooh, ahhhhh!!!) I love all of her creations. So, even though I'm letting you in on the giveaway info, I secretly want it all to myself. :) hee hee hee 

My State Fair Crochet News!

Last fall, I asked my friend, Audrey, to teach me how to crochet. She makes beautiful scarves, afghans & shawls, and really knows what she's doing. So, once I learned the basics, I wanted to learn how to make toys. I pretty much taught myself how with books and youtube videos. I've been enjoying crochet ever since. So, when I saw on FB that July 27th was the deadline to enter The State Fair of Texas with craft items, I decided to enter. At first, I thought I would just wait until next year since I didn't have anything ready that I could enter, but, the 27th was just the deadline to get your paperwork submitted, not to produce the actual entry. I spent the next couple of weeks crocheting every night. I made the little guy up there that looks like a Where's Waldo, Jr. (not my intention, but that's who everyone says he looks like), and I made a scarf (pictured below).

Yesterday, I received a letter from the creative arts department at the state fair. My doll got 4th place (Honorable Mention Ribbon) and will be on display in the creative arts building at The State Fair of Texas  from September 28th - October 21, 2012. My scarf got 10th place. I have no idea how many entries were in each category, but I think I did pretty well considering I haven't even been crocheting for a year yet.

Just a little reminder to take chances and believe anything is possible. :)

Big Tex 2009 State Fair of Texas

See, I told you he was tall!!

IF: Tall

Who do you know that's taller than Big Tex??? He stands 52', wears size 70 boots and wears a 75-gallon hat. He's a big 'un. Now, if you don't know who Big Tex is . . . well, he's the handsome cowboy who happily greets visitors to the State Fair of Texas every year. This year, he'll be celebrating his 60th birthday. Check him out: www.bigtex.com

IF: Space

Here's an illustration I did for an issue of Stories for Children online magazine. There was a lovely poem that went with it about space travel. I had a lot of fun with this. I love all those old rides at the grocery stores for kids. You don't seem them very much anymore. Fun stuff.