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Left: Frida Kahlo's "Girl with Death Mask", 1938; right: Samantha Grenier's "Death with Girl Mask", 2005. I was just reading another blog post featuring the art of Stephen Mackey, and it triggered a little nostalgia. I don't know if it was in the lighting of his paintings, or maybe the tone, or my (slightly) morbid appeal, but something brought me back to a Halloween assignment from my graduate studies. My painting was not well received at the time. I think the assignment was something along the lines of making a Halloween or depict a horror scene. Trying to be clever, I created a nod to Frida Kahlo's painting " Niña con Mascara de Muerte". Since this was for an illustration class, something a little more "illustration-y" was probably expected. Probably. I didn't get it at the time, but sometimes it's difficult to separate the "artist" from the "illustrator".  I was always proud of my little...

Library Day tomorrow (if the Library is open... pretty sure it is!) This week's collection includes: Me... Jane , but Patrick McDonnell Ginger , by Charlotte Voake Katy Did It! by Lorianne Siomades The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-To-Be , by Mini Grey The Sticky Doll Trap , by Jessica Souhami Coco the Carrot , by Steven Salerno The King Who Wouldn't Sleep , by Debbie Singleton; illustrated by Holly Swain Sarah's Little Ghosts , by Thierry Robberecht; illustrated by Philippe Goossens First of all, loved   Me... Jane ! I choked up a touch at the end. I most certainly agree the Caldecott Honor is well deserved. I'm very happy that I happened upon The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-to-be , because I'm in the crosshairs of writing my own version of the "Princess and the Pea," and now I'm thinking I want to take my story into another direction. Happy Reading!

This past week I finally discovered how to check books out from the library with my Nook. Yes, it's tougher than it sounds, because Barnes and Nobles doesn't want to you engage in anything that's FREE. There is very little information on library checkouts, except for maybe the Kindle. I finally figured it out through the NH Downloadable Book Consortium  (via the New User blog page). Very helpful (if you're glued to NH library, that is.) My mother surprised me with my Nook for my birthday. (Make a note that my birthday was the end of March - it is now November and I've only had to re-charge the battery once !) I've purchased a few books through B&N, but I've been dying to dabble into the library's system for a cheaper alternative. It does require some extra software with the computer, but with a simple little USB hook-up, the Nook downloads are incredibly easy... and fast. My first library engaged Nook-Book checkout is The Adventures of Tom Sawye...