kidslit

Several of my pieces have gotten a new boost of promotion recently.

First, the wonderful folks at Literary Lights for Children used the image I provided last year for a bookplate for their “Save The Date” cards, sent out to the honored guests of the kidslit community to join this reception honoring 4 prestigious children’s author/illustrators:

I am so honored to know that my artwork continues to provide the look and inspiration for the Literary Lights for Children project.

Also, a few months back my agent – Kristy King from Writers House – and I put together a sweet little postcard announcing our partnership. I posted the sneak peeks of this piece awhile back, but here are the final images:

I always appreciate the collaborative process of creating artworks that have been crafted with care and thought. Thank you to these fantastic people who help refine my vision, and give my work a place to live and be seen!

character sketches, children's illustration, freelance

Chocolate Chips and Rocket Ships

character sketches, children's illustration, freelance

I am so excited to share some freelance projects! Recently I  created a piece for a prestigious kidslit project bringing together 100 Artists in 99 1/2 days. It’s called Chocolate Chips and Rocket Ships, and was written by dad John O’Marra. He was inspired by his kids and family, which make the poems extra special – they are unique, funny, and inspired! It’s really a book for kids of all ages, and features artwork from artists of many styles, and poems of varying themes as well.

Here are two snapshots from the piece I illustrated. I will post a link to it once it’s up! Until then, check out these previews and view past pages on the book’s website today!

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A Sketch of my Nona

character sketches, children's illustration, grandmas are both italian, happiness, inspiration, italy, kidslit, sketches

I recently came across a really old sketch I had done in preparation for working on some images for my story “My Grandmas are Both Italian”.

This is an image of my Nona – Anita – mixing a bowl of food in the kitchen. She is always cooking us something great, while wearing her famous blue apron. Even though she doesn’t move about the kitchen as fast as she used to, she still has a grin on her face when she’s putting together a meal. There is so much love in her food, and so much love and light in her. She is the epitome of happiness, and I hope one day I can find that sort of contentment in my life.

Her tiramisu and gnocchi are her signature dishes.

This sketch is really light, so I had to play with it in Photoshop a little:

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