ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY ~ HOMAGE

There are many ways to pay homage to a friend
or even to a queen.

With all due respects to Her Majesty, this is the queen who always carries a couple of sugar cubes in that ever present bag. She also hopes you like the hat!
©Ginger Nielson 2008

Website update

I finally succeeded in an update to my portfolio. After migrating from Go Live CS2 to Dreamweaver CS3 my brain was on hold for a few days. Actually it was FULL!
But with a little perseverence I managed to create some neat rollovers on my new Portfolio Page.

It isn't as hard as I thought it would be to migrate from the older GoLive (which will no longer receive support or updates) and still keep a lot of content as well as change the portfolio images into disjointed rollovers, but I had a lot of help along the way.

With my purchase of Dreamweaver CS3 I also received a complimentary month of lessons at Lynda.com. Garrick Chow is the versitile instructor who explains all one needs to know about Dreamweaver CS3 and in such a way that even with my limited web skills I was able to understand the lessons and recreate a meaningful and informative Portfolio site.

Nap time ~ Just a couple of "Heavies"

Let's face it. If you are a tiny rodent, you had better have some good friends. Or at least one.

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY ~ MY PET "PEEVES"

This is my pet, "PEEVES"... he hates flies!

©Ginger Nielson 2008

All About the Books ~ What about YOURS!

Have you illustrated ( or written and illustrated) some books you would like to share?
My Bookpage has grown over the past four years. I have been fortunate to work with some wonderful authors and small press publishers as well as some fantastic educational publishers.

Since most of the marketing and press is done by the publishers I need to check in once in a while to see what is happening with the books. Some have received awards, good reviews and wonderful articles in newspapers. But what I am most proud of is the way children react to them. I love seeing their faces as they look at my illustrations and read the charming stories or listen to me read the stories.

It must be the same for so many illustrators that are devoted to creating for children. Do you have a story to tell? Do children inspire and encourage your art? Post your response, and let others know how your illustrations can bring a smile or a tear to those who view them.

If you are a blogger, the link to your name will bring people to your site so they can view your work. Once there they can follow other links you may have to your personal website and beyond.

Circus creatures from the floor

Have you ever noticed that in some textured floor tiles there are creatures waiting to be found out?
These two popped out to me from our kitchen floor several times during the past week. They nagged and nagged at me until I was compelled to recreate them in full color.

And there are many more waiting to be 'hatched' out, but some are so scary I think I will have to leave them in their prison under our feet.

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY ` HEAVY

From an older version I added more of the 'HEAVY' 

to the load these 

elephants are carrying to market.

©Ginger Nielson

The Open Door

At one point in our children's lives we had an OPEN DOOR policy. That meant, to them at least, that the neighborhood cats were welcome at our home. They managed to convince us that 8 cats was not too many and three were just not enough. One came to our house nestled in the inside of our car engine... (we named him Lucky). One liked to climb trees and then as soon as she saw a person she would jump down expecting to be caught. Another had no tail and was most likely more like a dog than a cat.... I am sure if your children or you have cats or even one cat, you know how diversified they all are!

STUDIO TOUR

The Picture Bookies are having a studio tour. Visit their blog and enjoy the view and the various workplaces they inhabit.   You might find a surprise or two along the way.

The Replacement for Snow...

Ah, but those arms looked a little too long to me, so with the assistance of Painter I was able to make them shorter. A lot better.

ILLUSTRATION FRIDAY ~ GARDEN

Coming soon... spring!

©Ginger Nielson 2008

Guess What? More Snow

We had a few more inches (aobut 6) to add to our accumulation. You can get an idea of how much there is if you look through our dining room window at the deck beyond, or see how high the snow banks are on the front steps. It is hard to get the shovel up high enough to throw the snow on top of the pile! Use the rails on the porch or the chair up there for a reference point as to the ratio of humans to snow.

A SWEET SURPRISE

I had the good fortune to illustrate a lovely book about a boy, a caterpillar, their journey and bond of friendship. The Adventures of Cali written by Michele Lallouz Fisher is now available.The book was enhanced by a recording device that allows anyone to record the story, place the recorder on the book with a little clip and as the book is opened the recording plays the story so they can HEAR it in the voice of a parent or grandparent or even in their own voice. The publisher was kind enough to send enough copies of the book and recorder for me to share with children who might be inspired to read. One box of these units was sent to my good friend Julia Kelly. Julia teaches art to Kindergarten through second grade rural ranch children at the Battle Rock Charter School in McElmo Canyon, CO. The students include many Native American children. You can read Julia's post on the Picture Bookies Blog An extremely talented fabric artist and novelist, Julia generously shares her time with these children and has done so for the past five years. The photo here shows some of the children with THANK YOU cards they have created. Aren't they just the best! And so is Julia. You can visit Julia at:Moonflower Musings, her blogsite.