IF: "Winter"

Winter has come to the East Coast and to Europe it seems, but not to Colorado! For the first time  in three years we did not have a White Christmas- instead a wet, brown one, the horses and pastures soggy and on Christmas Day, to make more room for feasting we headed down McElmo to Sand Canyon to do a littel hiking with the dogs.

                     hope you are warm and cozy with the ones you love- no matter where you are!

IF: "Mail"

I just got done mailing off 100 of these postcards to magazine, children's and general  book publishers and AD agencies art directors- wishing them a very Merry Christmas-

and

Merry Christmas to my blog followers- may you have a wonderful, snowy (just enough) holiday season surrounded by the ones you love and the time to remember the Reason for the Season- that a babe was born unto us to become a king that died on the cross to save this world!!

IF:"Phenomenon"

Outside of Salt Lake City,Utah traveling west on Interstate 80 you drive through "Phenomenon"  of the Salt Flats.

Where in July it looks like it there is snow on the ground. But then as you stare out the window-( when someone else is driving) you start to think that little piles of the salt are actually floating in the air- but they are not- there is just a few inches of water covering most of the flats and the sun reflects the mountain range in the distance  and the sky on the puddles of water and where the salt is mounded by the wind- it looks like it is floating above. The whole valley is just weird- and makes one feel like they are in another world. But it inspired this illustration for a sample Young Adult novel about a girl on some kind of a journey.

I had to show a close up of the girl- which is my oldest daughter- I had fun with all the embroidery on the purse and virtual tattoo- yes I virtually tattooed my daughter- and the bead work for her bracelet- this detail demand a huge canvas- think it was like 22 inches wide- but it is necessary to get any likeness in the face or be able to add rich embellishment.

I'm pretty happy with it- the illustration is set for a mailing for AD of chapter and YA books to try and get some cover work- all to go out after the holiday!