Time Flies!

{Des Moines Women's Club 105th Annual Art Show, 2013}

It's been quite a while since I updated my blog. So many exciting and fun things have happened in the last month or so! I'm just going to make a list of some of the highlights:

• I finished illustrating my third children's book a few weeks ago! "The Southern Twelve Days of Christmas" should be available sometime this fall. I will, of course, share more details as the time approaches. Doing half the illustrations for the book with a newborn was pretty stressful at times, but thanks to the support of my husband and the ability to ignore the state of my house, I got it done! Now I'm on the prowl for new projects!

• I entered the 105th Des Moines Women's Club annual art show and won an Honorable Mention in the Professional Category for "The Sky is Falling" which I had painted for a SCBWI contest last year.  It was a wonderful surprise and it always feels really good to be recognized for hard work. Check out the Women's Club Website HERE. The above picture shows Henry and I standing with my piece above me at the reception.

{Iowa SCBWI Illustrators and Senior Art Director Patti Ann Harris, 2013 Conference}

{Photo Credit: Dorothia Rohner Sketch Blog}

• The Iowa SCBWI Spring conference was April 12-14. I only attended Friday and Saturday, but I still enjoyed every minute I could be there. There was an illustrator's intensive on Friday and I created a piece just for the conference. I will share it in my next post. I'm pretty happy with my final and consider it a nice addition to my portfolio. My portfolio review with Patti Ann was really awesome and I have a bunch of ideas spinning around in my head! Henry and Ken also joined me and they spent some time exploring the Quad Cities during my classes. 

• I've been working in my sketchbook quite a bit and will plan to do a separate post dedicated to those new little drawings! Sketchbooks are a way of life, people!