Gilbert

This week I finished the very last painting in the very last book in the Anne of Green Gables adapted series. It’s bittersweet saying goodbye to Anne Shirley, but she gets a wonderful send off in this final book. It’ll be a year until that title comes out, but this fall Anne Dares hits shelves (here’s a preview on NetGalley). In the meantime, here’s a bit of art from the third book, Anne’s School Days, in which Gilbert helps get Anne out of a pickle. It’s hot and humid here today, so that river is looking mighty fine at the moment…

And the illustration model for Gilbert? My great-grandfather, John.

Mouseboat

It’s release day for Mouseboat!

Here’s some more bits and pieces of the book making process: thumbnails, sketches, reference images and very early character ideas.

As an illustrator, I think there’s a danger in getting too close to a story: a certain amount of objectivity always helps, in my experience. But sometimes that line blurred for me while working on Mouseboat. Over the course of the book, I lost my grandmother, my uncle and attended funerals for other friends and family. While I couldn’t relate to Faye’s untimely loss of her mother, I could relate to the wave of emotions that grief hits you with: anger, guilt and sorrow, crashing over your head.

This past fall, I heard the Polish expression that in a shipwreck, all you need is a plank. Not two. Not three. A plank is all you need to keep afloat and survive. Looking at the illustrations for Mouseboat, I hope that sentiment comes through. It’s impossible to sweep away all the turmoil that grief brings and it can often feel like a storm from which there’s no possibility of relief. But sometimes it just takes one small thing to hold onto, as you stick your head above the waves. One plank.

And if there’s anything that comes through in the art for Mouseboat, I hope it’s that small bit of hope.

Testing, Testing

It’s exactly a month until the release of Mouseboat, written by Larissa Theule. It feel like final artwork was just turned in for this yesterday, but the calendar reminds me that was close to a year (!) ago.

I’ve begun sifting through early sketches and art tests, ahead of the book’s release. It’s always fascinating what remains and what is done away with during this stage. Here’s a few early pieces of art from the book.

And I’m over the moon that Mouseboat has a starred review from both Booklist and The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books.

Anne's Tragical Tea Party

Anne’s Tragical Tea Party, adapted by Kallie George and illustrated by me is out this week! This is the fourth book in this Anne of Green Gables inspired series published by Tundra Books and it’s a delight to illustrate a character as iconic as Anne Shirley. There’s lots of raspberry cordial and wintry adventures in this one, but I wish I had some currant wine with which to celebrate. This recipe, though, looks like it might come in handy…

Staying Warm

It seems like everybody and their brother is sewing a quilted vest at the moment and because it can snow here until April, I didn’t feel like it was too much of a lost cause to be making one myself in March. I’m using prints from Eloise’s Garden, vintage linens, Spoonflower test swatches and a few bits of linoleum block printed fabric. And this quilted vest pattern from Purl Soho is free (!), so that’s what I’m using to put this all together.

Other March things:

• I’m reading An Unsuitable Attachment at the moment.

• Around the World in 80 Days is delightful escapist fare. It’s also making me want to travel. Badly.

• Only a few more days until Anne’s Tragical Tea Party! There’s lots of “raspberry cordial” in this book. Poor Diana…

Anne's School Days

Anne’s School Days is officially out! As you can probably guess by the cover, there’s a whole lot of Gilbert Blythe in this one. The third installment in this Anne of Green Gables inspired series, it was an absolute delight to illustrate. Kallie George’s adaptation is pitch perfect, capturing the spirit of the original in a way that’s wonderfully accessible to younger readers. And it’s such a joy to work with the amazing team at Tundra Books for Young Readers.

Here’s a snapshot of the interior art, as I was painting it last July. That summer, my uncle was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. I dedicated the artwork to him and my aunt, and was able to share the dedication with him before he passed away this spring. Quiet, gentle and incredibly selfless, I’m profoundly grateful to have had him in my life.

Kindred Spirits

Anne’s Kindred Spirits, the followup to Anne Arrives, is out in the world! Illustrating Anne Shirley’s continuing adventures was a real treat. And speaking of adventures, I was over the moon to be able to participate in a book launch for Anne in Prince Edward Island, hosted by the wonderful Bookmark Books and coordinated by Anne’s amazing publisher, Tundra Books.

I first visited Prince Edward Island as a twelve-year-old, back in the 90’s. My tween memories of the island were magical and as I sat in Halifax, waiting for my connecting flight to Charlottetown, I kept hoping that my childhood recollections were true.

They were. No doubt about it.

I had a wonderful, whirlwind couple of days in Prince Edward. Charlottetown is a delight of a city and full of some of the friendliest, most genuine people I’ve met. I may have even brought home a magazine with the local real estate listings. A girl can dream, right?

A couple things I loved:

• Victoria Park was beautiful and the Confederation Centre full of good things.

• I visited Receiver Coffee not once, but twice, because it’s that good. I left desperately wishing they’d open a location stateside, because they serve scones and play Bowie.

• I had wanted to visit Province House, but it was closed for renovations. St. Dunstan’s was open, though, and it’s an absolutely stunning basilica.

• And if you’re on Instagram, I have a bunch of photos over there.

Photo Credit: Michele Lawlor

But the real highlight of the visit was getting to meet author Kallie George, who’s adapted L.M. Montgomery’s words so perfectly. Kallie’s The Melancholic Mermaid was one of the first books I illustrated and when I heard she was going to be writing the Anne books, I knew I absolutely wanted to be involved. It was so much fun to be able to connect and in talking to Kallie, I felt like I’d known her forever; to quote Anne Shirley, she’s truly a kindred spirit.

I showed a few people a photo I brought with me, snapped decades ago. In it, my siblings and I are sitting with my sister’s penpal (who’d won an Anne of Green Gables lookalike contest) and her sister, all of us in front of a giant Anne of Green Gables figure in Cavendish. It’s a very Anne-centric photo. And looking at that snapshot, I can’t help but smile at how returning to the island felt like coming full-circle. It’s fascinating the twists and turns life takes, and how the seemingly unrelated bits intersect. So for that, thank you Anne Shirley.