(This post is “stickied” to remain at the top of the blog; newer blog posts may appear below.)
(Click image to visit Anne Marie’s website)
It’s fun to see my work used with different disciplines of art!
Music
On Thursday, April 25, 2024, this concert by the Iowa City Youth Choir will include the song “When I See Through My Eyes,” with music written by Anne Marie Kraus to complement the poetic text of her book of the same name.
While the children are singing, my illustrations for Anne Marie’s “story in verse” will appear on a screen.
A close-up from the set
Theater
Earlier this month, the Iowa City Community Theatre used my work on the set for the play “Significant Other.”
They needed paintings for the grandmother Helene, a classy retiree, giving advice to her grandson about the future.
My thanks to the Theatre for these photos!
Some views of the set for the play “Significant Other”
presented by the Iowa City Community Theatre
(Click image to visit
Anne Marie’s website)
Anne Marie Kraus and I gave a talk at the Iowa City Senior Center about collaborating on her book When I See Through My Eyes, and I learned to make a PowerPoint presentation for the event! Anne Marie read the story aloud and I showed the PowerPoint sketchbook, demonstrating how I used illustration to develop the characters in her story, and the research that went into it.
The talk went well, there was a book signing, and we had fun and met interesting people. Anne Marie and I both have an interest in storytelling about diversity for children. We think if we can teach tolerance and understanding through our work, we can make a difference.
Some slides from my PowerPoint presentation
Storyboard: I added figures in
lines to develop the characters
Pages from the updated book
As I mentioned in my earlier post, creating the first version of Carol Jo’s Daydreaming Tree made me realize I needed to put more planning into placing the script on each page.
I usually sketch with pencil and then
paint with black watercolor, finding
the values (I even added a little salt).
Painting with one color helps me
find the best composition.
To update the book, I started drawing small black and white sketches, planning where the images and words would go before I started painting. Then I began to revise the story, bringing clarity and new perspectives. It took about a year, while I was working on other illustration projects for other authors. The new version tells the story from a Franciscan perspective about reconciliation.
Students have asked me how to illustrate a story and it is much like what we do as we paint, a story evolves. Some books don’t have scripts, it is all in the illustration. If you bring in a character in your story we can illustrate it from several points of view.
The opening of IN Tandem Arts & Authors was exciting for me because of its combination of the written and visual arts. I enjoyed a workshop taught there by Mary Helen Stefaniak of Iowa City, author of The Six-Minute Memoir: Fifty-Five Short Essays on Life. She pointed out that if you write or paint, you are not sleepwalking through your life; you are recording in detail those moments you want to remember. I keep a sketchbook with me to sketch those moments, now maybe I’ll use more words!
Also: Other books I’ve illustrated!
(Contact me at jomyerswalker@gmail.com if you’re interested in any of the books.)
Organizing for things to come
It is so cold out so I sit at my window on the 11th floor and watch the plows and brave people work with our 14″ of snow. So thankful I am warm and cozy. While I’m here I can see lots of organizing needs to be done in my apartment. It is a good time to straighten things up!
I am using my library card catalog drawers that I got at ISU Surplus about 50 years ago (and often put to use as a large-scale easel!). Like then I am still looking things up. This time the drawers support boxes that are helping me organize my sketches and ideas for 2024. It feels really good and brings back memories.
Illustration trio
Update: Thank you to everyone who stopped by!
I’ll have these books I illustrated at the Eastside Artists Show and Sale this weekend, December 1 –3, along with my other artwork.
On the left is an updated version of Carol Jo’s Daydreaming Tree, which I wrote and illustrated. The first version I made just a few copies to show other writers and one publisher. I was excited about the watercolors and not thinking so much about where to put the script when it was added. That is when I knew I needed to learn the craft and plan where to put the script ahead of time. More about this process in a future post!
In the middle is Rufus Rutabaga Flicktail Finds His House, written by Mary Pepper, and on the right is When I See Through My Eyes, written by Anne Marie Kraus. Stop by the Show and Sale to see the books, and all of the creations from the members and guest artists of the Eastside Artists!
See also (later blog post):
Our booth on Main Street in downtown Ames
A photo of Jeanette and me at this year’s Octagon Art Festival in late September as we were dancing to the music (or at least I was!). On the left are some of Jeanette’s paintings; you can see more of her work at ArtWorksJC.com.
It was a beautiful day weatherwise for an outdoor festival, but with fall and winter weather ahead, galleries are looking more appealing. Stay tuned for indoor events on the way!
I’m excited to have my work in the newly-opened IN Tandem Arts & Authors Gallery Store, on the first floor of The Plaza building at 3rd & Walnut in downtown Des Moines (“300 Walnut Street, Suite 6 — Just inside the 3rd Street doors”). The Gallery Store is now open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
I first met Polly of Tandem Publishing Group (and now IN Tandem Arts & Authors) at the Iowa State Fair back when I had a booth in the Cultural Center. The new gallery store features a variety of artists and media, and I’m also excited about plans for classes and author readings! Keep an eye on social media (and this blog!) to find out about upcoming events.
(Click image to see the
full poster on Facebook)
My work in the new space
Discussing painting tools with pawprint
collaborator Mungo Jerrie (at left)
Two views of Joanne’s tranquil gardens
I stayed with my friend Joanne and her spontaneous cats while I was in Muscatine for a tribute to artist Carol Steinmetz, a long-time member and teacher at the Muscatine Art Center and member of Iowa Watercolor Society who passed away earlier this year. Carol was known for her floral paintings and landscapes, and we used flowers from Joanne’s abundant gardens for a still-life watercolor workshop in Carol’s honor.
When I was at Joanne’s house getting ready for class her cats would walk across my paper making pansy-like footprints. I really enjoyed being around cats again.
• Carol Boehl Steinmetz: Nov. 27, 1925 – Feb. 9, 2023
Jeanette and Steve secure the new system
Adding artwork to the new display
I found some “little gems” for the show
Earlier this month fellow artist Jeanette Carson and I teamed up to share a booth at this year’s Garden Art Fair (Reiman Gardens, Ames, IA), using the new display system shown here. Jeanette and her husband Steve have been going to the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, picking up hollow doors and painting them white. We have enough to fill a 10′ x 10′ booth space.
Jeanette helps me with the practicalities of art shows (we plan to have a booth at the Octagon Art Festival September 24, and we both currently have artwork at the Octagon Shop in Ames). Steve helps us load the van and builds whatever we need.
At the Reiman show I sold watercolors and fabric artwork and saw many old friends who remembered when The Left Bank Studio lived in the bank building in Gilbert (now home to The Vault, “casual coffee stop and eatery”).
My new glasses! The colors spoke
to me. They match all my clothes.
A photo of my peepers that I wore for
many years. It seemed like a good
idea to continue the tradition!
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