November Reading

At this point, I only need to read 4 more books to hit my goal of 52 in a year. Small goals, I know. Here's what I got up to last month:

Dark Places by Gillian Flynn

True Believer by Nicholas Sparks

Magic Hour by Kristin Hannah

Mercy by Jodi Picoult

I really shouldn't have read Dark Places. I found it incredibly disturbing and difficult to get through. I've been reading Dean Koontz since I was in junior high or earlier, and even dipped into Stephen King at that age, and I now read a lot of crime novels and others that could be considered "messed up," so I'm not a stranger to disturbing subject matter. But this book...wow. I had to skip parts because it was just too...I don't know. I'd like to read Gone Girl, but I think I'll have to wait a little while before I do, in case it's as dark as this one.

So it's no wonder I needed to lighten up a bit with Nicholas Sparks and Kristin Hannah. (Really enjoyed Magic Hour.) I kinda swerved back onto the darker side with Mercy, but I don't think I'm staying long. I'm loving the book I'm reading now, but, as it belongs to December, you'll just have to wait until the end of the month to find out what it is!

And, speaking of books, the 22nd Annual Children's Book Illustration Art Show & Book Signing is this Saturday!!! I can't believe it's already been a year since the last book show at Chemers Gallery (a year ago today, to be exact). We will be hosting 5 incredibly talented illustrators and 3 fabulous authors at Saturday's show: Michael Hague, Brett Helquist (whom you may recognize as the illustrator of A Series of Unfortunate Events!), Molly Idle, Stacy Innerst and John Parra, plus Kathleen Hague, Kathleen Krull and Paul Brewer. Such amazing talent all gathered under one roof!

This week will be crazy - more news to come after December 7th.

Life is what happens

Seal!

Jellyfish!

Turtle!

James and I celebrated our 5 year anniversary with a day out at the Aquarium of the Pacific. I think we looked at everything there was to see, including a tank of super-awesome nautiluses! (Yes, I like putting "!" after every kind of animal.) Our day out in Long Beach was really restful. On our actual anniversary we went out to dinner and both had kind of weird food combinations. I don't really think the restaurant got it right when they were coming up with their menu. Here's a hint: if you offer a "warm potato salad," most people will assume it's like a German potato salad with vinegar and bacon, NOT potato salad made with mayonaise served hot. (Gross.) At least we both had semi-questionable meals.

Chemers Gallery was honored this week at the Orange County National Philanthropy Day luncheon, which was super exciting! We were chosen as Outstanding Small Business, and were nominated by Chapman University and The Wooden Floor, both of whom have been beneficiaries for our annual children's book illustration show. There were 8 honorees altogether, and over 900 people attended. What an amazing day!

Speaking of the children's book illustration show, this year's happens in less than two weeks...OMG.

September Reading

Hello, October, where did you come from? 

The Lake of Dreams by Kim Edwards

Instructions for a Heatwave by Maggie O'Farrell - I started this while riding on a bus through Stoke Newington in the middle of what for England could be called a heatwave. Imagine my surprise when one of the characters in the book began his walk home through Stoke Newington and my husband's local park in the middle of a heatwave...totally surreal.

You would think right about now that I had chosen my books specifically for the key on the front cover. This would be an incorrect assumption.

The Brave by Nicholas Evans - see? No key.

The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket - call it research

And now begins my favorite time of year at work - the preparations for our annual children's book illustration show! We will be featuring 5 children's book illustrators and their original artwork, plus providing books to pre-order for signing and dedication by these illustrators. This all culminates in a day-long opening reception on December 7th, where about 100 original illustrations are displayed on the walls AND the illustrators (and even a few of the authors!) will be in attendance to sign books, give talks, demonstrations and lectures!

Can you guess how excited I am?

Come See This Show!

Opens this Saturday! Don't miss it!

I have a slightly shameless plug to make: come to this show on Saturday night to support some really talented local artists!! And, come to this show on Saturday to support ME, because it's a show I and my co-workers have spent lots of hours working on for the last couple of months, AND I also happen to be one of the artists included in it!!

Over 130 pieces of art were submitted and our juror, Mary Aslin, accepted close to 80 for exhibition. (She did not know that I had submitted something, she was un-biased.) We now have the gigantic task of arranging and hanging the show before Saturday. Wish us luck.

Here's what you need to know...

Viewpoints Orange County All Media

at Chemers Gallery

17300 17th St, Ste. G, Tustin CA

Opening Reception April 27, 5:30 - 8:00p

Show continues through May 11

See you Saturday!

We Did Not Take the Palm Tree

Saturday was the 21st Annual Children's Book Illustration Show at Chemers Gallery, where I work. We spend 6 months of the year planning, checking in artwork, shooting emails and phone calls back and forth between 5 different children's book illustrators, designing framing, ordering books, labeling books, showing artwork to clients, calling clients, painting the gallery walls, hanging the show, and finally, FINALLY it culminates into a one-day-extravaganza where all 5 illustrators fly in to southern California from around the country, sign hundreds of pre-sold books, meet and greet their fans, give talks and demos throughout the afternoon, sign MORE books, and then go to a dinner with the gallery staff, the children's charity the show is benefitting that year, and clients who have purchased artwork. (I think that's the longest sentence in the history of the world.)

So. Saturday was the big day! We were so busy that this is the only picture I manged to take during the actual event:

OMG, so many books and people!!

After so much excitement, can you blame me for being exhausted? BTW, we sold out of Fartiste. SOLD OUT! Luckily, I pre-ordered mine, and this is how it was dedicated:


Signed by one of the authros, Paul Brewer, who also happens to be an alumni of my high school


Apparently, this hasn't been a big seller for them. Why is absolutely beyond me.

The rest of the weekend was spent watching Parks and Recreation, The Office, and Mean Girls. We also went out to pick out our Christmas tree from the local tree farm. We got rained on. But we got a good tree.



 Despite the many Facebook votes for the palm tree, we went for a small pine tree.

We'll pick it up closer to Christmas.

I have 2 days off this week starting tomorrow, and I plan on spending it on catching up on holiday prep. I'm behind on cards, and I'm going to get out our wooden German Christmas tree to set up, plus find a good place to display my crazy Nutcracker collection. Maybe I'll get super-motivated and put up our outdoor lights, since the ones from last year that we never took down are mighty dark these days.

Children's Book Illustration Show, Plus November Reading

So this time of year, I eat, sleep, and breathe children's book illustration. "Why..." you may ask? It's because Chemers Gallery (where I work) puts on an annual children's book illustration show, featuring the original artwork from 5 different illustrators. (This year we're featuring Boris Kulikov, E.B. Lewis, Sylvia Long, Chris Sheban, and Matt Tavares. All so so talented!!) Plus we sell the books the illustrations are from, which is a huge undertaking. It's a ton of work, but we all love it. Especially me.



Artwork hung, books received

 

Layout - we're pretty technical, you know



Pre-sold books. We sold probably over 600 books. They will all be signed before 1pm on Saturday. OMG!

This year we've made it a family affair - all hands are on deck to help us, including James, who helped to hang the show. (Woot woot!)

James hard at work on the stairs

The illustrators all arrive tomorrow. Then the show kicks off Saturday from 1-5, although we'll all be hard at work from 9am. It's the biggest show of the year, and I'm so excited!

Speaking of books, here's what I've been reading this month, besides children's literature...

Plus I also read "The Girl Who Came Home," but I can't find a picture of the cover. And it's late and I'm tired and I have 2 long days ahead of me. See you on the other side.