Thinking in Pictures

My collaboration with Nancy Oswald is taking shape. We work back and forth as we revise and tweak the story and illustrations. It's exciting to watch it come together and take the form of an actual creative-nonfiction picture book.

Not only is Nancy a multiple award winning author, she also taught in one and two room schools for over twenty years. She now lives on a family ranch near Cotopaxi, CO. She is a soil enthusiast as well nature lover. I grew up in a family of farmers and ranchers, plus had my very own worm farm. What can I say, I was -a nerd- ahead of my time. As you might guess Wilma's story is close to both of our hearts. 

We plan to start submitting soon, so fingers crossed! Here's three fully colored page spreads from Wilma's Worm. If you're a publisher interested in seeing the full book dummy and manuscript, please email me at cathy@cathymorrison.com or Nancy at nancyos@centurylink.net.

 

Below are some new pitch decks created for Lynnette Novak, my literary agent with the Seymour Agency. I'm honored to be a part of Team Novak! Here's a recent interview, Agent Spotlight showcasing Lynnette. Her email is lynnette.theseymouragency@yahoo.com. We're always interested in new publishing projects.

 

And a huge "Thank You!" to Poudre Libraries for hosting Book Fest 2023, For the Love of Reading for the entire month of February (also National Library Lover's Month and I Love to Read Month). It might be a short month, but it packs a huge heart! This year's new format included children's books and their creators. You can find details about the fun event here: https://www.focobookfest.org/.

Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog. Click on highlighted links for more information and images to see a larger view.

Cathy

https://linktr.ee/CathyMorrisonIllustrates

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue

US Forest Service Poster framed by a Colorado sunrise - I'm an early bird illustrator

In with the Old!

Here's one of the last illustrations completed in 2019 (so last decade!) which goes to press January 2020. This was such a fun project to research and illustrate. I'd love to have more jobs like this come along in this new decade.

The Ribbon, new story in the works

 Something New!

I'm collaborating on a new picture book. The working title is The Ribbon. So far I'm just playing around with different looks and exploring possibilities. The story is in flux as well as the illustrations. I don't feel I'm where I want to be yet, but you have to start someplace. Plus, turtles are fun to draw.

Download, print, color and laugh!

 Something Borrowed!

I borrowed these jokes from the folks who bring us Arbor Day. This fall I have a new book, The Tiny Giant coming out. The premise of the story shows how it takes one small thing to make a huge impact. We get the concept through watching the life cycle of a tiny acorn becoming a giant oak forest. I love to create activities that relate to the book. And kids love jokes, right?

Below is a partial cover reveal. The acquiring publisher, Schiffer Books, has been great to work with and is putting all the bells and whistles on the book cover and interior design and layout. You'll be seeing more throughout the year.

Partial cover reveal with a Colorado sunset in the background - gotta set the mood

Shhhh, Blue Beauty and her animals are trying to sleep!

And finally something Blue!

What's This Tail Saying? by Carolyn Combs, illustrated by Cathy Morrison

And I'm adding one last bittersweet announcement regarding my picture book coming out this Spring with Dawn Publications. I've been a huge fan of Dawn's creative nonfiction nature books long before I started working with them. This is our seventh book together and they have always been amazing to work with. Dawn has been acquired by Sourcebooks based in Chicago and is now part of their eXplore juvenile nonfiction imprint. You can find the acquisition details in this Publishers Weekly article. So on one hand I'm excited that Dawn Publications has found a new home with Sourcebooks. This should bring a wider audience to their books, continuing their mission of connecting children with nature. But on a personal note I'm going to miss working with the original folks who have always been so supportive and put their heart and soul into creating these fun nature titles.

Thanks for taking a look at my blog. You can keep up with new images by following me on my Instagram account, @cathymorrisonillustrates. Also, clicking on an image will enlarge it for a better view and clicking on a link will give you more information.

Happy 2020.
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

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

We all have a story to tell

We all have a story to tell. Where Women Create BUSINESS gives us that opportunity. The magazine focuses on women entrepreneurs who have an arts based business. This is Jo Packham's third magazine in the Where Women Create series for Stampington & Company. It's so nice to have this supportive format to share our successes and failures and talk about what it's like to create a working world that's unique to each of us. Here's my story about being a children's book illustrator passionate about science, nature, and the environment.

Where Women Create Business Summer 2017 • Click on the above image for the full article.

Thank you Jo Packham, Brandy Shay, Kacey Holmstead, and Amber Demien with Where Women Create BUSINESS Magazine. Thanks to Desiree Suchy for the very fun photo shoot! Also, I want to thank the folks at The Fort Collins Museum of Discovery for letting us do part of the photo shoot there. Everybody was wonderful to work with and it's a big honor to be a part of the magazine.

Pocket Science Cover Concept 1

Pocket Science Cover Concept 2

One picture book project, If The Mummy Could Talk, got pushed forward a season which opened up a block of creative space for me. I have a few books in various stages of writing, illustrating and submitting and I wanted to give you a peek at Pocket Science. The story is fluid, revising each day. I go back and forth between writing, editing and storyboarding, but for some reason the cover image keeps popping up in my mind. Above are two possible covers, or maybe end pages - who knows? At this point they can completely change. Concept one is pretty straight forward. Concept two is a cover wrap. We'll see how things evolve as I continue to write. Do you prefer one look over another?

After almost ten years, seventeen illustrated trade picture books, one historical fiction chapter book, numerous book covers, many power point presentations, several educational picture books, around 800 spot illustrations, my original Wacom Cintiq 21UX bit the dust. It's nice to have a new touch screen Cintiq and back to work I go.

Thanks for taking a look! You can click on each image for a more detailed look and further information.
Cathy

Happy New 2017!

Thank you to Lydia Dody, the publisher of Style Magazine and journalist, Elissa J. Tivona for the article featuring "Storytime in the Dome" at the Fort Collins Museum of Discovery. This magazine reflects the heart and soul of life in Northern Colorado and it's an honor to be included.

Style Magazine, January 2017
Click on Style Magazine's cover to get the Flip Book online magazine

Storytime in the Dome at Fort Collins Museum of Discovery
Click on the above logo to go the museum's site.

Everybody at the museum works hard to put this program together - hopefully it's a labor of love. Ben Gondrez, the Digital Dome Manager takes the files from my creative nonfiction picture books, digitizes and animates the page turns to be read and viewed on the gigantic 35 foot dome screen. He adds sound effects, bringing the experience to life. Sarah Kinard, the early childhood and special learning lead makes it all happen. She comes up with the crafts and activities that the kids will create that relate to the book. We head up to the theater escorting a group of cute, literary-loving kids along with their adults where we read the story. Afterwards we head down to the learning lab for art! Both publishers I work with, Arbordale Press and Dawn Publications have generously donated rights to the books since this is an experimental experience. So far it seems like the local families are enjoying it. The article below explains it much better than I do.

Stories Come to Life for the Whole Family

My messy desktop

And I'm making progress on a couple of projects. Here's the "during" and "after" shots for If the Mummy Could Talk.... Below I've placed some type to get a sense of how the cover will look. The book designer will choose the actual font and make it look much nicer. This helps me to visualize if I've left enough room for type, plus it's fun to experiment with various fonts. I'm excited to be working on another book with Rhonda Lucas Donald and Arbordale Publications!

If The Mummy Could Talk... coming Spring 2018

It's a good way to start a new year!
Thanks for taking a look.