Time to close out the year with yet another dance and music theme! The above is cover art for a children’s music cd “At the Boogie Villa” by Ginny Halstead and Michelle Phelps aka Found a Penny. Two California singer/songwriter musicians who found me on the web, attracted to my color palette and quirky angles. They had a wonderful design sense themselves and this project was truly a collaboration. Ginny sent me demos of songs to get a sense of their musical style and to kick-start my imagination. With original compositions and crystal clear voices that could compete on any stage, Ginny and Michelle offer up catchy songs that kids will love and adults won’t tire of. It’s not pablum! I can’t wait to hear the final cd.
I had a book launch party for the release of the picture book Dance Y’all Dance. A little nervous...the remote mike kept throwing me off. Had some olde timey country dance music playing...the soundtrack from the movie O Brother Where Art Thou?. Prizes for any spontaneous dancing (glass boot mugs filled with M&Ms) were offered and we had some takers! A PowerPoint presentation included a Where’s-Waldo-type search of Texas symbols I planted in the book with more prizes for that.
I talked about inspiration, about how much of the time an artist’s head is in the clouds, searching, while the deadline looms nearer, and the design planning, character fleshing and topical research that goes on before pencil hits paper. There was a little Cinderella story segue about me riding off with cowboy Russell Crowe as he showed me the ropes in an old Old West Dance Hall. What? You just go with the flow when then muse hits! One of the best compliments I got was from a man who said “I never realized it before... you’ve built a whole story in pictures but you start out with just words.”
Reminds me of a favorite quote by the author of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest ... See with your ears and hear with your eyes. ~Ken Kesey
Working on: promotional material for a new venture
experimenting with a new art technique!
