Welcome to my world!

The view from my home studio with a work-in-progress from What's This Tail Saying?

 Welcome to my world. Winter in Colorado is a great time to be inside all warm and toasty working on new projects. Below are illustrations from a creative nonfiction picture book with Dawn Publications. The working title is What's This Tail Saying? and it's a Spring 2020 release. The author, Carolyn Combs is a super smart scientist as well as author who knows precisely what animals' tails are saying. When you read our book you'll know too!

Flip! Zip! What's baby Elephant's tail saying?

Uh, oh! Skink doesn't see the raccoon in time to run away.

Two page spread showing copyright page and beginning of the story: Animal tails are talking. Can you guess what they are saying?

Stranger danger! Hearing the alarm all family dives into the pond.

And finally, If A Mummy Could Talk by Rhonda Lucas Donald unwraps at a bookstore near you very soon. To commemorate the book release here's the vintage 1978 King Tut performance by Steve Martin for SNL. And yes, we have an entire spread dedicated to King Tut in the book.

Cover, title page and interior spread from If A Mummy Could Talk...

Arbordale Publishing sent a book ARC (advanced reading copy) and I'm very happy with it. Also, the first review by Kirkus hit this December and they seem happy with it too!

Kirkus Review for If A Mummy Could Talk...

There's more books and projects in the works. I'll catch up with you in 2019 about those!
Thanks for taking a look. Be sure to click on the images for a more detailed view or a link for further information.
Cathy

Good bye Summer, Hello Fall

My Studio With A View's South Facing View of the Mummy Range

Summertime is said to be "dead" in the publishing world. So many publishers are on vacation and the ones keeping up the pace might have their minds elsewhere, maybe on the beach or the mountains. This summer was anything but dead. However it can be hard to focus with nature calling to get out and explore. Here's a view from my desk to give you an idea of how enticing it can be working in the foothills northwest of Fort Collins.

Shortgrass Prairie

This mandala artwork, "Shortgrass Prairie" is part of a series I'm illustrating for my licensing representative.

Gardener Girl end page artwork

Seems one mandala leads to another. Here's art for front and back end pages for another book that I'm writing and illustrating. You'll be seeing more of this in the coming months. I've got a few books I'm working on and one just SOLD (after three years of writing, researching, drawing, designing, editing, submitting query after query and more revisions) so I'm stoked!

And below are some sweet peas for Seed Packets. If you're sensing a "nature theme" here you would be right.

Sweet Peas

Marianne Berkes and Over on the Farm

 Marianne Berkes is one of my favorite authors and from what I know she never rests. Here she is on her latest book tour. Over on the Farm is one of the books we did together and it's featured in Learning Magazine for the month of September. We've included lots of fun activities for kids too.

Sedona Trolley's New Logo and Badge Artwork

Sedona Arizona

And finally above is the new logo and badge artwork for Sedona Trolley. Collaborating with their marketing director was so much fun. She shared lots of beautiful scenery of the amazing Sedona mountains.

Thanks for taking a look. Please click on each image for more information or a larger view.
Cathy

It Takes A Village

Nothing's normal this summer. "Normal" is sitting in my little cabin researching and illustrating picture books. And while that is happening this year there's more. 

I got to participate in a stage production for Tales and Tune Live!, the brainchild of Kristen Olsen. She produces a radio program featuring children's book creators. This was part of a larger program, SummerFest 2018 and Off The Hook Arts which inspires a love of the performing arts through public concerts, education and collaboration among the arts and sciences.

Here's images from the show at the Carnegie Center for Creativity in Fort Collins. I met so many wonderful volunteers, entertainers, technicians, not to mention kids and their families! I never realized all that went on behind the scenes to put together a half hour show.

Off the Hook Arts and Tales and Tunes Live!

That's Jesse G. Shepherd performing on stage. Jesse produces a regional radio program, plus writes songs for children's picture books. He wrote three songs to tie in with my books as part of the program and the kids absolutely loved it. Hopefully I'll get some better photos to post because you need to see the super cute wood nymph along with her bear who live in that hollow log to the left of Jesse. I can't think of when I've had such a fun time.

I have to give a special shout out to thank the folks at Second Star to the Right Books in Denver. They drove up to Fort Collins for these events and set up a pop-up bookstore to sell our books after each show. They do so much to support kids in our community.  

Thank you Marc and Dea, owners of Second Star to the Right Books for all you do

And finally, some new art. Even though illustrating children's books is my passion, I've been picking up more commercial/editorial work lately. Here's a tomato illustration as part of a series of seed packet labels. 

I combined three of the images into a spread and worked up an illustration featuring a vole. It must the children's book illustrator/gardener side of me, I just couldn't help myself. Maybe it'll find itself in a kid book one day, you never know. I love stories about kids and food.

Tomatoes

Children's book illustrators are usually creative gardeners too. Just think about the amazing fairy tale gardens Tasha Tudor used to create!

Gardener Girl, working title

Writing and drawing

Revising, redrawing, rewriting, again and again and one more time

And one last bit of news that I'm excited about... I've long admired the organization, ILCW, International League of Conservation Writers. This is a forum that brings creatives together from around the world to promote wilderness, nature and conservation as a means to protect and restore natural areas, habitats, animals, and plants for our planet. This year I applied and was accepted as a fellow. I'm looking forward to getting involved with all they have going on.

Thank you for taking a look at my blog. Please consider me for an upcoming project. You can click on each image and link for more information and a larger view.
Cathy

By the Light of the Moon

Looking out at White Pine Mountain, the Mummy Range and Poudre Canyon

I'm an early bird. One reason is the majority of my clients are on Eastern time, two hours ahead, so I feel a need to get on with my day. The other reason is that it's such a peaceful, solitary start of the day, just me and my fifth cup of coffee around this time of the morning.

To quote darling, "Life is Gouda!"

Above is a new and very fun project that I just completed for darling in NYC. This illustration was a little different for me. The art director and her team were actually darling to work with. I did the illustration and the agency handled the design.

Watch how a cheese label gets attached to a gouda wheel.

Below are illustrations from a variety of books in the works...

Gardener Girl (working title)

I Spy Blackberry Pie

The Tiny Giant (above and below images)

 

Mission Earth's SummerFest coming to Fort Collins this summer!

SummerFest 2018 focuses on climate change and it's impact on our planet by bringing together music, the visual arts and science for a month of concerts, lectures, film, art exhibits and STEAM-based educational events. Hope to see you there!

Thanks for taking a look. Tap on the images for a larger view or to follow a link with more information. And if you're an art director/editor, please send work!
Cathy

Back to work, reading, writing and drawing

Off The Hook Arts presents Tunes and Tales

Off The Hook Arts provides free and low-cost performance education for kids and their families throughout Northern Colorado. This summer they will sponsor SummerFest 2018 Mission Earth in Fort Collins. This program provides a host of fun events including a STEAM science fair, a day camp with CSU's Little Shop of Physics, FORTCAST's WeatherFest, along with Tunes and Tales Live storybook and art classes. I'm honored to be included in the program along with Colorado children's book creators, Dow Phumiruk and Brooke Boynton. My program is on July 10 and I hope to see you there.

Kristen Olsen, mom, writer, art instructor, radio producer, community organizer!

Here's the amazing Kristen Olson - the force behind Tunes and Tales Radio Program on 88.9KRFC. I get to work with Kristen on the upcoming Mission Earth Story time and Art Class.

Text in the City is featured in Where Women Create Magazine 

Ok, everybody who knows me knows that I'm an enthusiastic member of Text in the City, a Colorado book club made up of a dozen women artists. Our book group's been going strong for fifteen years now and I'm super stoked that we're featured in Where Women Create Magazine's premier 2018 issue. Thank you Jo Packham for being such an advocate for women in the arts! You can click on the magazine's cover to pull up our story.

 

Colorado Country Life Magazine commissioned me to illustrate four seasonal themed illustrations for "Thank You" Cards  - Here's SPRING!

Interior spread from I Spy Blackberry Pie, a work in progress

Above are a couple of new images from recent projects.

So far 2018 is shaping up to be a busy and creative year. I'm working on a few manuscripts as writer/illustrator. They're in various stages from doodles whirling around my mind to storyboards to book dummies going out into the world as submissions to agents and publishers. Wish me luck!

Studio With A View

And here's one last image and a reminder of why I named my blog, Studio With A View. Thanks as always for taking a look. You can click on the links for more information and the images for a more detailed view.

Cathy

One Thing Leads To Another

March 16, 17, and 18 welcomes the first annual Children's Festival of Stories at McNichols Civic Center! This has been a long time coming. 

Children's Festival of Stories

Just to back up and give you a little history, I've lived in Colorado since 1980. After moving to Denver I set up shop as Big Chief Graphics in the WestArt Building (formerly the Colorado Institute of Art in the Golden Triangle on 7th and Broadway). We had a mix of photographers, designers, animators and fine artists. Here I reconnected with Hallie Roberts from our days as art majors at East Texas State University and she repped me, Peter Hoey, David Uhl, Kirk Worden and Randy Nelsen.

That's me on the far left, I know because I can still remember that sweater

Some of our art teachers at ETSU

Lee Baxter Davis's printmaking class, mid 70's

Here are a couple of photos from our days together at ETSU. Top photo includes a handful of our instructors. The second shows one of Lee Davis' printmaking classes. The kid holding another kid on his shoulders is Gary Panter. Yes, I'm totally name dropping here.

So what I'm trying to explain is that I've lived in Denver a long time, through boom and bust years. I've been to amazing book festivals in other states and always wondered why not here? Denver is such a creative, book loving community able to support many independent book stores. I believe the time has come and hope to see lots of family and friends, old and new, turn out to support this effort! 

Here's a list of the local authors and illustrators who will be presenting. Please drop by and say hello. 

One of my "works in progress"...

Thank you Sarah Azibo and all the wonderful, hard working folks at Second Star from the Right Bookstore for creating this festival and making it a reality.
Thanks to all the community partners and sponsors!

And thanks to you for taking a look.
You can click on the images for more information or a larger view.
Back to work I go.

Cathy