Thumbnails

Whoosh! March is gone and April looks like it's going to be a whirlwind adventure. I've got a LOT in the works and a bunch of upcoming events to note: First up is the April Open Studio at Western Avenue Studios and Lofts : THIS Saturday, April 4th, from noon - 5pm. Please stop by and say hi … and buy some art from me and/or the 150+ other artists on site. ;-) I will be in my studio (#112) working on costumes and more picture book portfolio (more on that shortly). Next up, I have a piece in the Four By Four for Education show over at the Brush Gallery . The show has been up a few weeks. The final day/fundraising reception: Saturday, April 11th, from 2 − 5pm. My piece on display is the Woven Heart ( #141 in the slideshow ). Admission is $25 which benefits a UMASS Lowell (art) scholarship. The admission fee also gets you one of the original pieces from the show. Woven Heart © Samantha Grenier 2015 To cap off my month, the  Society of Children's Book Writers and Il

A bit of color blocking for a 4-page narrative. Book Pacing workshop by Deborah Freedman and Frank Dormer. And *poof* the New England SCBWI Conference is over. Actually it's been over for about two weeks. I'm still working off the inspired energy I picked up from all the workshops. I miss it, but I know it'll always be in my heart… I took copious notes! Other illustrators working-working-working. I still have a small stack of postcards remaining from the portfolio showcase. Those will be mailed out to select Art Directors later this week. I have to admit I still hold my breath a bit when I'm about to send out postcards. It reminds me of the theme of this year's conference: "Be Brave: Make your mark". Though I've become a lot more confident with showing off my work, it's the ceremonial mailings which throw me. It's been a while since I last sent out any promotions and now I'm trying to build it into a seasonal routine. I'

Portfolio - Spring 2014 We're setting out for the SCBWI New England Conference tomorrow. "We" is me,  Sheli Petersen  and Sheli's mother/author, Patricia Petersen. I'm packed, updated , and eager to meet everyone. I can hardly believe it's already time to head down to Springfield again :->; I am really pumped for this conference and I'm ready to let the inspiration vibes strike me. Above are a few bits from my book assembly from the past week. On the left are some finished snippets from one of my spreads, and the right is the black and white study of my mock mini portfolio. I have to tell you the mock-mini folio helped a LOT. it was great to see the impact of my ills in the small scale and to make sure that my values had enough contrast. Highly recommended. I did a similar study last year for the Infirm Pachyderm poster . This year I combed through my full book in black and white format before taking everything to print. I'm very pr

Morning collaging - torn papers and glue. I'm still here. Quietly working on my portfolio… neglecting my blog. The past month was filled with doodling and other paper-cutting activities. On top of that I'm slowly, slowly, slowly building out my studio space to make it viewer-friendly. Priority number one is polishing off my portfolio for the New England chapter Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrator's conference . I've only got one more week left on the timeline, but I'm feeling confident with the book organization as it stands. Though I still have oodles of work to complete by next Friday, I'm close to press and assembly, so the deadline doesn't feel scary-close (this time around). Fingers crossed for my postcards. They should be landing some time Friday or Saturday, so let's keep our eyes on the mailbox for them. ~Samantha

Badge by Denise Ortakales - Source Whew-Hooo! I JUST signed up for the New England chapter SCBWI Conference . I can hardly wait to see everyone again :-)

Zoom-Zoom, NYC - February, 2013. Pleased to be home from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Winter Conference, while still trying to recover from my busy weekend. This year's commute is brought to you via Greyhound bus service... not a sponsored post, but yes I was pleased with the commute. I both recommend the bus as a transporting system from Boston to NYC, and will be using them again in the future. Fingers crossed I can return soon. The light of Central Park upon leaving. I was little hesitant about the visit since I was both nervous and excited about attending the Writer's Roundtable this go-around. In short: It made my trip. I got a LOT of great feedback from fellow Roundtable guests. This was an experience to be had. I only wish I had the opportunity to indulge in both the Writer's Roundtable and Illustration Intensive activities! The story for my picture book is currently in "RE-Draft-Mode," thanks to the love

In a couple days I'll be heading to New York City for the Annual Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Winter Conference, where my portfolio will be on display during the Friday evening showcase. I should be able to exhale at this point... or at least after I've collected my book and any remaining postcards. I feel confident approaching the SCBWI conference than I did last year. I'm not going to lie - it took a lot to get here. It's hard becoming a giraffe! At least it's hard to make one's portfolio into a giraffe, but here's how I did it: Step 1: I planted an Idea seed late in the year 2011. The seed was for marketing materials. Yes. Postcards. Step 2: The idea flourished into "Aww's" and other kudos and encouragements to "turn this  (postcard concept on right) into something. " Step 3: The "Something" became a story. Step 4: The story became a (mild) obsession.  Step 5: