Punk Farm on Tour - Cover!

The Punk Farm on Tour cover has debuted on the Random House Kids' web site.

http://www.randomhouse.com/kids/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780375833434


It's due out on October 9th, but you can pre-order it on Amazon now!

Baby Shower Cake

Wow, the PF love is just coming in today. The same readers from Chicago who sent pics of the baby room, also sent pics of the cake from their baby shower.

I want a cake like this!

a Punk Farm themed kid's room!

This just came in through Punk Farm's MySpace page.....

Some very creative parents in Chicago painted their baby's room with a Punk Farm theme!
I'm completely blown away. This is a huge honor!

UPCOMING EXHIBITS!

If you live near Newton, MA or Groton, MA, my original art will be coming to a gallery near you! I have two exhibits coming up.

One is at the Groton Public Library Gallery. I will be giving a gallery talk there on March 22 @ 7 PM. There will be work from Good Night, Monkey Boy; Bubble Bath Pirates; Annie Was Warned; Max for President; and Giddy Up, Cowgirl

The other exhibit is at the New Art Center in Newton. There will be an opening reception on March 23 from 5-8 PM. I will be exhibiting work from Baghead, Punk Farm and My Buddy, Slug. This is a group show and there will be work from about a dozen great artists from all over the country, including my pals Timothy Basil Ering and Grace Lin.

Hope to see you there!

THE GREAT BIG BOOK BASH!!!

If you live in or near Huntsville, Alabama - come out to say "hi" next Saturday at the "Great Big Book Bash"!

They have a load of cool events lined up. My favorite is the "Punk out Your Bag" contest. I hear they have quite a few entries already. I can't wait to see them!

"Thank You, Indiana!!!" ?

Gov. Mitch Daniels could quite possibly be the highest elected official to read Punk Farm.

This is from The Courier-Journal:

Seated in a rocking chair, Gov. Mitch Daniels helped Hilda Kendrick's kindergarten class at Utica Elementary School read a book called "Punk Farm" yesterday.

It's about an animal band, and every time Daniels asked a question about the story, one of the 25 or so kids had an immediate answer.

"You know this book pretty well," Daniels said at one point, and one of the students nodded and said, "We already took a quiz on it."

A few pages later the band members say, "Thank you, Indiana" to their audience. "I like that," Daniels said.

"It used to be 'Wisconsin,' " a couple of the youngsters replied.

They were right. A strip of paper with "Indiana" written on it had been temporarily taped over "Wisconsin," just for the governor's visit to the Clark County school.

Check out the full article!

The "Get This Book" Series

I first found an Oliver Jeffers book a few years back. I love all of his books, but I think that my favorite is Lost and Found. It's a story about a penguin who turns up at a boy's doorstep and their journey to the South Pole. Though, it runs much deeper than that on an emotional level. Lost and Found, like Jeffers' other titles are of another world. They are like modern-day folk tales and the pacing of the story juxtaposed to the pictures is pitch perfect.

If you're not familiar with Jeffers' work, hop on it. He's a bit of an international superstar. Make sure you stop by his website - www.oliverjeffers.com to check out all of his artwork, not just his stuff for picture books.





PS - A special thanks to the '7 Impossible Things' Blog for encouraging my occasional recommendations!

Baghead?

A friend in Providence sent this picture.

Could it be someone out there is creating guerrilla style Bagheads? If so - it wasn't me.

Ms. Pac-Man

I saw this on Alvina's blog and it's too good-

random paintings from over the years

See a small sampling of some non-book art at my FLICKR page. I found these when I cleaned out my studio.

car w/ Punk Farm stickers

Random!!!

goodbye, studio......

I've finished packing up my studio! It's an odd feeling because I've worked in this space for 5 years now. I've created 7 out of my 9 books here. While it's the end of an era, it's the start of a new, more exciting one for me.

When the last of my things were gone, I noticed that I had made my mark on the space. The hardwood floor where I sat and stood for all those years had gotten worn down. *tear*

And I had another sad goodbye - to my chair. Yes, my trusty chair that I bought at Staples straight out of school had served me well over the years, but it was time to part ways. I placed it out with the other weekly trash. When I awoke today, it was gone. It's my hope that maybe some neighborhood kids came by and taken it for a joy ride. Maybe it's sitting in someone's living room now? I'd just like to think that it's in a better place now...

Goodbye, studio.





Now the new work begins - renovating and winterizing the garage/barn behind my new house. It's going to be amazing!

early attempt at painting

As I cleaned my studio, I kept finding old paintings I hadn't seen or thought of in a awhile. Including this one, which was one of my first attempts at painting my characters.

This is circa December 1996, sophomore year.