Category Archives: Books

Dec24

Guest Post: Merry Christmas by Kathy Temean

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Thank you to Kathy Temean and to Writing and Illustrating for these beautiful Christmas images and lovely accompanying music.

Writing and Illustrating

 

CHERYL PILGRIM: Being featured on Illustrator Saturday Janruary 11, 2020.

KATE COSGROVE: FEATURED ON ILLUSTRATOR SATURDAY.

DEBORAH MELMAN: FEATURED ON ILLUSTRATOR SATURDAY.

FRANCE BRASSARD:FEATURED ON ILLUSTRATOR SATURDAY

 Sleigh Ride

Jing, Jing, Jing Jingle,
the bells mix and mingle
with clip-clopping hooves as we glide,
on a sleigh sliding silently,
winding a path
on a shadowy, whispery ride

Toes tap and tingle,
as jingle bells jingle,
a single brave horse leads the way.
We snuggle together
like sleepy snowbirds
at the end of this best Christmas Day.
By Carol Murray

JIM STARR: FEATURED ON ILLUSTRATOR SATURDAY.

RUTH SANDERSON: FEATURED ON ILLUSTRATOR SATURDAY.

RUTH SANDERSON: FEATURED ON ILLUSTRATOR SATURDAY.

RENE GRAEF: FEATURED ON ILLUSTRATOR SATURDAY.

TIEMDOW PHUMIRUK:FEATURED ON ILLUSTRATOR SATURDAY.

HOW BEAUTIFUL CHRISTMAS

By Eileen Spinelli

How beautiful these wintry nights,

scented trees and twinkling lights,

ribboned gifts, stocking hung,

cookies baked and carols sung.

How…

View original post 136 more words

Dec4

Creative Juice #219

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Creative Juice #219

It’s beginning to look a little like Christmas. I put a new Christmas bedspread and pillow shams on our bed.

  • Awesome photographs of nature’s power.
  • For the musicians and the music teachers: young composers get to hear their works performed by the New York Philharmonic.
  • Beautiful zentangles.
  • Ways to beat writer’s block.
  • For the writers: flabby characters? Put them through some exercises.
  • Have you taken your Christmas card picture yet?
  • Ways to use your books to decorate for Christmas. (I am seriously thinking of turning my TBR pile into a tree. The books are already stacked on the floor…)
  • In case you need to laugh, here’s a story about what to do when your husband says you can’t buy any more towels.
  • Some ingenious Christmas tree tools.
  • We all know what we should be doing in order to live our best lives. Read this to get it all in one place.
  • Interview with illustrator Jim Starr.
  • Christmas movies to stream.
Nov6

In the Meme Time: So Many

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So many books

Oct23

Creative Juice #213

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Creative Juice #213

A dozen articles to inspire you this weekend.

Oct16

Creative Juice #212

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Creative Juice #212

I much prefer these uplifting, creative articles to the news these days.

Sep25

Creative Juice #209

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Creative Juice #209

Some interesting stuff; some funny stuff; some deep stuff.

  • This one’s a little hard to look at. A sculptor made prosthetic masks for soldiers disfigured in World War I.
  • Can you stand any more Covid-19 jokes?
  • Many variations on the tangle Printemps.
  • How to machine-quilt a border with an S-curve ruler.
  • A prayer from 1968 that is so timely today.
  • Do you have books you read and reread multiple times? Me, too.
  • What if they had texting in Medieval times?
  • The truth about Meissen porcelain.
  • A professional watercolorist’s life.
  • Spiritual director Marsha Crockett’s journal provides guided meditations and contemplative helps. You can also follow her on Instagram.
  • One of my favorite artists painted a lovely portrait of Ruth Bader Ginsberg and paired it with a poetic tribute.
  • I’ve read some of these books (and they were great) and seen rave reviews of others. Anyway, if you don’t know what to read next, maybe pick something off this list.
Sep11

Creative Juice #207

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Creative Juice #207

Excellence in creativity:

  • A wonderful quilt show from a few years ago.
  • Zentangle meets lettering.
  • More than 40 years ago, my hubby and I used to scuba dive. The most exciting things we ever saw underwater were lobster, which Greg captured and we took home to eat. Click on the link to see some even more awesome sights.
  • Cleaning out Grandpa’s house? Don’t you dare toss those old snapshots without looking at them.
  • I don’t think I’ve ever seen these Picassos before. They are not what I would have expected.
  • The writers will get this.
  • They don’t make cars like this anymore.
  • I enjoy this artist’s Instagram page.
  • I wish I’d sketched my kids when they were small. How precious those pictures would be.
  • If you like a little science or technology with your romance, you might like these books.
  • You’ve never seen insects fly like this.
  • Are tiles low art?
Aug28

Creative Juice #205

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Creative Juice #205

Lots of pretty stuff here.

  • Do you love hamsters? Then you must follow this artist on Instagram.
  • If 100 of you each want to chip in $4 to buy me this dragon, I won’t stop you.
  • Beautiful star quilt.
  • Books have the power to change people; people have the power to change the world. As for me, The Hate U Give woke me up to white privilege, something I thought didn’t apply to me.
  • Super-realistic drawings done in colored pencil.
  • I love every one of these reading nooks, but my favorites are the ones where you can look out the window at a beautiful view.
  • Interesting zentangle project.
  • Award-winning photos people took with their iPhones.
  • This free mandala-drawing class looks like it will be fun.
  • This article is especially for elementary general music teachers, but if you like music, you might find it very enjoyable.
  • I know I should be doing this. But, somehow, I’m not.
  • This watercolor artist was in her fifties before she began taking her art seriously.
Aug21

Creative Juice #204

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Creative Juice #204

 

Interesting stuff this week:

Aug14

Creative Juice #203

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Creative Juice #203

 

Beautiful things to look at, and ideas that will help you boost your own creativity.

  • Sculptures made from discarded metal.
  • Murals that incorporate their surroundings.
  • A clue may shed light on Vincent Van Gogh’s last days.
  • The hundred best books of the last twenty years. I’ve read maybe ten of these; they were all good except for one which I can’t remember. One more is in my TBR pile. Most of these I’ve never even heard of.
  • I love this artist’s Instagram page.
  • Rebellious nuns.
  • Are you living the dream? Why not?
  • A little city of zentangled architecture.
  • Free summer-themed quilt patterns.
  • Wonderful photos of scenes in Saigon—and each one includes at least one motorbike.
  • I have long loved Grant Snider’s Incidental Comics. This article explains his process for a recent book cover he illustrated.
  • Admit it—you’ve been thinking about starting your own podcast. How hard is it, really? Read this article to find out.