7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #295: Featuring
Up-and-Coming Illustrator, Susan Sorrell Hill
September 2nd, 2012 by jules
“She traveled with only a bird for company.”
It’s a pleasure to be featuring illustrator Susan Sorrell Hill this morning on the first Sunday of September. FIRST SUNDAY OF SEPTEMBER? Yes, I’m doing a double-take. Are you? How did this shifty month sneak up on us so quickly? I blame the ringleader on the right. (More on him below.)
Well, it’s not that September is inherently shifty. It’s that it’s gotten here so quickly, it seems. It’s even almost officially Fall, y’all. (Here I am saying that which is kinda silly and pointless. Those “where does the time go?” mutterings we all do at one point or another are rather inevitable and unanswerable, but 2012’s really flown by. Don’t you think?)
Where was I? On the first Sunday of each month, as many of my imp readers know, I like to feature the work of student illustrators, debut illustrators, or those otherwise seeking out that elusive thing called publication.
Having studied both textile design and children’s book illustration, Susan—who lives in northern California with her husband, sculptor Ernest Caballero—has for many years now worked in both illustration and the fine arts. She has worked in printmaking, pen and ink, oil painting, silversmithing, ceramics, silk painting, and more. However, watercolor and pencils on fine papers are still her favorites, as she notes at her Etsy site. She has also started writing and creating picture book manuscripts.
As she notes at her site, she can be found most days painting — or thinking about painting. “Lizards, deer, blue jays, jack rabbits and very tall trees (plus the occasional mountain lion, bear or skunk) are my neighbors,” she writes at Etsy. These creatures, she further writes, remind her of the inscrutable mysteries of life.
And one can see in her artwork that she’s trying to capture those mysteries, those fleeting graces.
As you’ll see below, Susan’s work has an imaginative, ethereal quality to it. Her fairy-tale pieces, in particular, are lovingly, elegantly visualized. I thank her for visiting today, and I’ll let her tell us more about herself and her work.
Susan: I love telling a story with pictures and have been doing it in one form or another for most of my artistic life. I suspect it was that first box of fat crayons that hooked me.
[Ed. Note: Pictured below is A New Life (watercolor).]
My studio is a tiny room in the house I share with my sculptor husband, in a small town tucked away in the foothills of Northern California. My grown-up stepson is also an artist, but I don’t have any children myself. I do try to keep my child-like sense of wonder and curiosity alive, though — and temper it with a dash of humor whenever I can.
I have come to the world of books a bit later than many illustrators, and there have been many artistic adventures along my way. Larger-scale oil paintings was my focus for many years, but watercolor with pen & ink has become my favorite painting medium by far — perfect for the mysterious, subtle, and evocative stories I like to tell.
Artists of the Golden Age of Illustration (Rackham, Dulac, Charles and W. Heath Robinson, Beatrix Potter, and others) make me sigh with pleasure and envy, but I have contemporary heroes and heroines as well: Maurice Sendak, Angela Barrett, Lisbeth Zwerger, Edward Gorey, Chris Van Allsburg, Margot Tomes, Leo and Diane Dillon, and John Jude Palencar, to name just a few. Many of these artists have illustrated timeless stories that have complexity, mystery, magic, and themes of journeys, quests, and change, often in fairy-tale or folktale format. These are my favorite themes, too.
I get my best picture ideas while doing something entirely different: taking a shower, going for a walk, driving, doing yoga, or chopping vegetables for dinner.
Susan: “Even when I painted in oil, stories were my focus.
I mostly work in watercolor now, but my style is still very similar.”
Susan: “Inspired by the Brothers Grimm fairytale of the same name,
which is also known as ‘The Handless Maiden.'”
Susan: “Occasionally, I add a lot of pencil to my watercolors.
I like to play with the balance between drawing and painting.”
Susan: “That alarming scene from The Wizard of Oz…”
“They had no idea who he was, but he seemed harmless enough.”
“What would it be like? he wondered.”
“The trees watched them pass silently by.”
“They followed him willingly.”
I’ve written and illustrated a children’s picture book recently, The Emperor’s Pear Tree, which is looking for its publisher. My second book, The Teapot’s Tale, is my work-in-progress, along with the paintings I make for sale.
The following two illustrations are double spreads from The Emperor’s Pear Tree, a re-telling of a Korean folktale. It’s one of those quest stories that I’m so fond of.
“Reaching the mountaintop at midday, she left the first bundle of dried fish,
crisp and salty, within sight of the sleeping Dragon King.”
“Without warning, the air was filled with a blue-green whirring and flashing.”
These last three are not-so-scary demon sketches (watercolor pen & ink) from my work-in-progress, The Teapot’s Tale, inspired by the life of legendary Tibetan yogi and poet, Milarepa. The one in the cape is the ringleader.
As a reminder, Susan’s work can be seen here, and at her Etsy shop, AuntSoup, you can find even more of her paintings. Don’t miss her wonderful blog, too.
All images used with permission of Susan Sorrell Hill.
Note for any new readers: 7-Imp’s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New kickers are always welcome.
I know I’m supposed to list kicks here, dear imps. And I apologize in advance that I won’t be. But honestly? Can I be honest? I’m always honest here at 7-Imp, so why stop now?
I’m not one to get political here. Not at all. This is, plain and simple, not a political blog. But I was bummed out this week by speeches made at the GOP convention in Tampa. Of all the hateful and ridiculous things that can sometimes come out of the mouths of some to the radical Right, I was really bothered by the following from Mitt Romney:
“President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family.”
I am very much not a member of the radical Right. Or even the Right. They are, of course, entitled to their opinions.
But, really? “President Obama promised to begin to slow the rise of the oceans and heal the planet. My promise is to help you and your family.” Those very utterances nearly sent me into a rage, and they definitely put me in a funk. They terrify me, in fact. I already worry that my daughters will live in a world one day where, say, we have land wars over clean water, and here is a POTENTIAL LEADER pretty much mocking the need to take care of our planet. Call it what you want, but the audience laughed—derisively, contemptuously—and he smirked.
How are taking care of our beleaguered planet and taking care of our families mutually exclusive acts? I would really like to know.
Grrr. Just GRRR.
I know this isn’t kick-like at all, and I apologize. For that reason I am now pasting the image here of an obscenely, ridiculously, HORRIFYINGLY cute kitten to lighten the mood. But I found it so bothersome that—I realize now as I’m sitting down to type—that it left me all befuddled as to what my kicks for the week of 8/26/12 actually were.
I’ll try harder next week. Promise.
So, I’ll say this. Two things:
1) Susan’s art makes me happy today. Please do tell me what you think of her artwork. That is the primary purpose of this post — to give her illustrations the spotlight, not my political griping.
2) And perhaps if you share your wonderful kicks with me, I’ll forget about my rage. How does that sound?
Oh, and here’s one non-gripey thing from me today, a little story.
3) Every time I hear “September,” I remember a game of Pictionary with my mother and my aunt.
I should add here that both women can get downright silly and have very delightful, rowdy, bawdy senses of humor. Even before the wine is opened.
For this particular game, my mother had to draw the word “September.” She broke the word up into “sip,” “ten,” and “bear.” (Come to think of it, I’m not actually sure if this was a game of Pictionary or Charades. AND I can’t remember which was one drawing, actually, and which one was guessing. Anyway. It was a long time ago. Onwards and upwards…)
So, this was a clever strategy, I thought, on the part of my mother. Indeed, my aunt got each word: sip, ten, and bear. And my mother kept nodding and pointing, as if to say YES! And she kept gesturing wildly for her to just smoosh those three words together already and then voilà! she’d have it! But my aunt just kept screaming, “SIP TEN BEAR! SIP TEN BEAR?? SIP … TEN … WHAT THE *&$%^!”
Aaaaaand…she kept yelling SIP? TEN? BEAR? (with some creative curses thrown in for good measure) until her time ran out. (In the meantime, I was in the fetal position on the floor, laughing so hard that I thought I’d soil my pants.)
And so I always think of that when September comes ’round the bend. And I laugh.
The End. (Maybe you had to be there?)
Oh, wait!
Kick #4) THAT KITTEN.
See? I almost made it to seven.
p.s. I think I can safely speak for all kickers when I write that our thoughts go out to those folks who live in the Isaac-ravaged areas of the Gulf Coast.
I just found your site for the first time. I like it. I will return. Best wishes.
Susan, I hope your picture books get published! I’m a big fan of Asian-inspired/influenced stories heeheehee.
Jules, it’s your blog and you can get political if you want to! *hug*
Kicks:
1. Finally watched Prime, the 2005 movie starring Uma Thurman.
2. One of the songs on Prime’s soundtrack: “I Wish You Love” sung by Rachael Yamagata. Beautiful.
3. My first meeting as a member of the Philippine Board on Books for Young People.
4. Other members of the board joking that they will make me chair next year. Very flattering joke. :o)
5. Learning more about poetry from my friends.
6. Making new friends.
7. Musical geniuses.
Love Susan’s work. The pieces are very dream like.
ooooooooooooooohhhh I like Susan’s work a lot. THanks for pointing her out. All those creatures! and the submarines. Zwerger-like. Dillon-esque. Heironymous Bosch-ish. But unique from all of those too.
thanks, Jules.
and grrrrs of solidarity.
Julie, I remember “Sip Ten Bear” so well! It was a game of Charades. I took a “sip” of an imaginary drink, held up 10 fingers, and said “This is going to be easy.” Then she got “bear” when I growled and crawled, but she could NOT put them together! I think I DID wet my pants over that one. (Mom)
Love those images and the stories they evoke, especially the first one. It’s very peaceful to me.
1/Listening to Regina Spektor’s “Firewood” and noodling on the piano and fiddle.
2/Exploring the beautiful grounds of Cheekwood and visiting the Tree Houses exhibit with my kids.
3/Having dinner with some fantastic old and new friends and sharing wonderful stories and food.
4/Serving tea and cucumber sandwiches at a friend’s book launch.
5/Getting a taste of fall wind, even if just for a moment.
6/Getting my kids new shoes and seeing their excitement.
7/Being inspired by authors and illustrators just doing their thing, and feeling the camaraderie and parallel play as I do mine, even though we’re not sitting side-by-side.
(And, just cause I can’t help it, those statements you cited make me worry, not only for my family, but also for that horrifyingly cute kitten. S/he looks worried, too. I’m glad you voice your opinion about things. And I’d like to think that rage can be useful at times.)
Susan’s work is wow. Can’t wait to see the book.
Jules, I understand. Your rage and am glad you could make it to 4 kicks. Love sip- ten-bear!
Tarie, love you are learning more about poetry.
My kicks:
1. Late summer sunshine
2. Dahlia fields early morning.
3. Lunch and shopping w/ a friend.
4. Baby spinach and kale sprouting.
5. Back to school friends.
6. My camera.
7. Going to state fair today.
Have a gret week.
Susan:
I have bookmarked your blog and Etsy site. Will be spending some time there today. I love your work; the angel, chair, flower and open bird cage, the Wizard of Oz and the sleeping dragon king. Ooo-la-la
Jules: One of my favorite things about this blog beside all the lovely artwork and interviews is the open feeling and honesty. The Sip Ten Bear story is now firmly in my brain. What a great story! And after all, that’s what this (life) is all about—great stories.
Tarie: One can never have enough friends
Jone: I love, love, love dahlia fields. In the morning…wow
My kicks:
1. Having a rabbit run down the boardwalk in front of me for several blocks on my morning stroll (until I convinced him to turn around to safety)
2. My friend with the garden untouched by deer (like my own) left me a bag of goodies on my doorstep.
3. Having four cord of really good wood delivered yesterday
4. All the new picture, middle grade and young adult books being released this fall
5. Continue to love walking out my front door to see the tree toad sleeping on my light box (His name is Theo)
6. Having authors and illustrators take the time to reply to tweets and blog posts (I am in awe of them all.)
7. Enjoying the end of summer in the sun hauling hoses due to no rain in weeks.
Hey everybody — quiet! behave yourselves! Jules’s mom just showed up! SSSSHHH — don’t let her know what really goes on here!
Ahem. Back shortly for some well-behaved kicks. Etc.
Love Susan Sorrell’s work. Imaginative and Memorable. Her images stay in my mind and draw me back again and again.
Thanks for the wonderful dose of art. And for that detour into rage. How could a healthier planet not help you and your family? What’s really scary is that it reflects the views of the tens of millions of people he’s trying to woo. I might feel my usual Canadian sense of detachment, except that we have a right-wing prime minister who seems to get away with the same BS.
Long overdue kickage:
1) Cooking and eating out of the garden
2) Daily swims in the lake
3) Inline skating with my little guy
4) The last cherries of the season, perfect peaches, and the very first sunrise apples
5) New beginnings and opportunities, even when the changes are really hard
6) Realizing that car trouble isn’t necessarily the universe trying to kick your ass…it’s just car trouble.
7) Passage by Exitmusic — this woman’s voice broods, yowls with abandon, growls and whispers, always surrounded by just the right sounds, sometimes hushed, sometimes violent. http://youtu.be/fmtcrv2ImF4
Hi, Peter. I don’t usually—actually, never—rage about politics here, but oh well …. First time for everything.
Tarie: Your first meeting as a member of the Philippine Board on Books for Young People! I am cheering. I could be your agent, I swear.
Hi, Erin. Aren’t they, though?
Amy: So glad you like it, too.
Mom: Aha! Charades. Thanks for clearing up that mystery.
Jone: Have fun at the state fair. Take pics and write poems about it! Has the weather cooled down for you all up there? I imagine it already being Fall-like there.
Margie: The tree toad is still there. Cool. I like his name. I just decided we need to get a, say, gerbil or guinea pig and name him Ron. My girls are OBSESSED with Harry Potter and are constantly playing it. The six-year-old is smitten with Hermione and walks around saying “RON!” a lot in her best faux British accent. … I like your rabbit kick. I love rabbit sightings.
John: HA.
Hi, Alice. Happy to feature Susan’s work today.
Jeremy: If we get leaders in office who want to ignore the welfare of the planet, I might get so frustrated, I’ll come be your neighbor. … I love your good, rich kicks. Good, fresh food. Veggies. Movement. Smart, beautiful children. Swimming in the lake. Kick #6 makes me laugh. And thanks for the music tip. Gonna go listen now.
Oh, and kick #5 is now this: That Susan Sorrell Hill isn’t annoyed with me for hijacking the post with political ravings. She’s not annoyed at all. Whew. Thanks, Susan.
Jessica, my spam tried to eat your kicks for breakfast! ACK! My site apologizes. More in a second.
Hi (again) all!
WOW — can I just say WOW again? (I can? Okay: WOW.) To Susan Sorrell Hill’s art, I mean… but maybe even more, to the mind’s-eye behind it. Very, very difficult to imagine she’ll be publisher-hunting for long: the work is just so danged polished, y’know? From the very outset in your post, Jules — that Journey piece… What sort of surface, exactly, can that boat be sailing on? (It must be liquid of some kind, right?) But I especially like how the way forward is clearly into a strong headwind. Everything behind streams to a point: her hair, the bird’s tail and wings, the trees… even the “back” of the boat (okay, the stern, whatever), which is normally the blunt end, seems to have been streeeetched out. I mean, seriously. And don’t even get me started on her blog and Etsy shop. (Check this: ha!) I am officially slain.
With you 100% on the politics, Jules. I take heart in things like this Dostoyevsky quote, which I ripped off from whiskey river and included in Friday’s post:
That seems so inarguably true and reassuring to me, for some reason, even (oddly, but especially) on the political front.
And I LOVE the sip-ten-bear memory. I’d say that even if your mom weren’t eavesdropping.
Hi, Peter, and welcome!
Tarie: you are always one of the most relentlessly upbeat of Sunday kickers here, and that’s saying something. I love that.
amy — yeah! the trees among the cypress (mangrove?) roots!
Beverly: how do you do, Ms. Walker? I had no idea Jules’s mother was so beautiful! [Yours Very Sincerely, Eddie Haskell]
Jone: jealous of your having a state fair already! (We watched Water for Elephants last night and it got me all wistful for sawdust and big tops and animal smells and sounds and cotton candy and sideshows.)
Margie, your kicks sound like the Disney Snow White’s. “Well, I admonished a rabbit, and I observed deer in the garden, and I curtsied to Mr. Theo Toad…” In awe here.
Kicks from here:
1. Erin Morgenstern’s The Night Circus. OMG, Jules — I bet the girls will really love that, maybe Piper even now. (But I haven’t finished it yet, so reserve the right to alter the recommendation.)
2. Got some great early bonanzas this week from a Kickstarter project I supported.
3. Excellent meal out on Tuesday night, a “wine-and-dine” sampler with a celebrity chef at a local restaurant.
4. Started a new story, or something, which seems to be about a group of four girls who play a fantasy game called “Barking Tree.” It’s named after the town where the game’s (and presumably the story’s?) action takes place. I really like that name, and I like the back story of how the town got it.
5. We got some rain from Isaac but luckily not much. Speaking of hurricanes, though, I thought this was cool: a researcher plotted the paths of all recorded hurricanes since the 1850s, and then — just for convenience to show them all at once — laid them out on a map of the globe viewed from the South Pole, looking up. And guess what? They look like one big hurricane.
6. Waytooveryverybrief trip to the Atlantic coast last weekend. But still.
7. Afraid to link to it directly ’cause it may put me over the too-many-links-not-to-be-spam limit, but… saw Cave of Forgotten Dreams on streaming Netflix yesterday. A documentary on a cave in France, discovered in 1994, which contains the oldest paintings (cave or otherwise) ever discovered — around twice as old (around 35,000 years) as the next oldest. Haunting, haunting, all too haunting.
Have a great week, everyone!
JEREMY! So good to see you again!
Okay, Jess, I’m back. I read them and apologized to them, on behalf of my spam filter, for their kidnapping.
Jess: One of the many great things about you is that you are THERE, all supportive and positive and wonderful, serving tea and cucumber sandwiches at your friends’ book launches. And you always have a good listening ear, good advice, and something wonderful to contribute. AND that you then turn around and list helping-someone-else as a kick.
And, yes, HA, that kitten is very skeeert. Poor thing.
John, that is a wonderful Dostoyevsky excerpt, and it reminds me how much I miss your Friday posts and how I MUST MUST MUST readjust my schedule so that I take 30 minutes to go read them weekly. And, generally, keep up better with your kick-ass blog.
Anyway. Thanks for that.
Thanks for linking to the karma piece. Hadn’t seen that one.
I will look for Morgenstern’s book, definitely. Thanks! And wow, that one giant, creepy hurricane gave me goosebumps. Also, I watched Cave of Forgotten Dreams very recently, too. Absolutely fascinating.
Good morning, Imps, and welcome to September!
My kicks will be wordy and detailed this week. Sorry about that. 🙂
1) I auditioned for The Beauty Inside, a series which stars Topher Grace and Mary Elizabeth Winstead. The more views and “Likes” the video gets, the better her chances of being featured on the series. If you’ve got a second – rather, 45 seconds, because that’s how long – how short – the videos are, please click here to watch the video, then click the LIKE button BELOW the video. (If you hit Like above the video, that’s for the series page in general; you have to click Like BELOW the video for it to count for that specific audition.) It’s been VERY strange for me, having to self-promote, putting this in Facebook and Twitter and the like, asking people to watch and vote and “Like” and “Share” and “RT” (retweet). I’d much rather promote other people’s accomplishments and projects than my own. I feel weird doing this. I hope something comes of it! 🙂
2) I entered one of my screenplays into a contest, and it advanced to the next round. There are a few more rounds still to go, and ultimately, three finalists receive funding to produce their films. Finalists are selected by audience votes – an audience is present for all of the subsequent rounds, the readings are open to the public, and the audience votes every night. Hope they like what they hear!
3) I sat on a box marked TNT. This was actually two weeks ago, but it’s worth mentioning.
4) Catching up with friends
5) Synchronicity levels have been high for the past two weeks.
6) Auditioning
7) Reviewing
Jules: Yes, this year has flown by. Yes, pictures of kittens are helpful when one needs to cheer up. Thank you for sharing your September story. That’s hilarious!
Hi, mom of Jules! 🙂
Susan: Three cheers for having a sense of wonder, always.
Tarie: Congrats, member of the board!
Jessica: I love this lyric in Firewood: “The heart beats in threes / Just like a waltz / And nothing can stop you from dancing.”
Jone: I have yet to try kale. Enjoy the fair!
Margie: Sweet little bunny. Woodland creatures surround you!
Jeremy: May the new beginnings and opportunities be fantastic.
JES: Glad that you all are safe.
Hi Imps! Happy September!
Wow, really loving the artwork this week, especially the painting Parlor Persona, and that sleeping dragon king…can’t wait to read that story! oh, and the demon on wheels.
Jules – I grrr with you as well. Harumph. Glad you found other things to be happy about in the midst of such mindboggling blockheadedness.
Oh, and LOVE Sip Ten Bear! Cracked. Me. Up. Those kinds of stories are the best.
Tarie – you are sooo busy – congrats on being on the board and thank you for being such a swirling happy person! (That’s how you always seem to me in your posts.)
Jone – dahlias! I haven’t been to see them yet this year, thanks for the reminder.
Jessica – hooray for treehouse exhibits and tea and cucumber sandwiches!
Margie – love the image of the bunny on the boardwalk. Glad Theo is still around.
Jeremy – sounds like you’ve been having an awesome summer. Cooking and eating out of the garden and swimming in the lake sounds incredible. Sorry about the car trouble.
Hi Jules’ Mom!
JES – LOVE your Dostoyevsky quote! How (and when) someone laughs is so important! (And so very telling.) How was Like Water for Elephants? I’ve been waiting to see if I want to see it. Glad Isaac only rained on you. And that documentary sounds pretty cool.
My kicks:
1) Last week’s visit from out of town friends. SO. FUN. They had a great time and so did I.
2) Taking my visitors and a friend who just moved here with her husband and kids to a Timbers game last Sunday. None of them had been to a soccer game ever and they really got into it.
3) Planting 3 lilac bushes in the backyard yesterday.
4) Planning more projects for my house.
5) More craigslist goodies – this time 2 bar stools.
6) Reading a biography of Tina Modotti – she had such a fascinating life.
7) Sunshine, and that crisp edge to the air that signifies fall. I am not ready for summer to be over, but it IS a nice feeling just the same.
Have a great rest of the week everyone!
I love reading your blog! I enjoy all that I learn and can’t wait to pass it on to friends. Your assumption about Mitt Romney’s comment makes me sad. You are assuming two ideas are mutually exclusive? For me, the idea that someone in government is willing to be concerned about families is refreshing. And…wouldn’t it be amazing if that was done while being conscious of our planet?!? Rage? Mmmm, personally I’d settle for a little more kindness toward each other and the earth we live in.
Little Willow: As you know, I’ve already seen and loved and “liked” your audition. It’s good stuff. And a screenplay! A SCREENPLAY. I am very excited about this. Please keep us informed about the contest (if you’re so inclined). Congrats on advancing to the next round! I know kickers are all the time telling you this, but in case I’ve never said it aloud: You’re a true inspiration in this world.
Rachel: “Swirling happy person” is a great description for Tarie. … So glad you had a good time with your visiting friends. I am not sure who Tina Modotti is, but I’ll have to look her up now. Is it already Fall-like where you are? We have a bit of a breeze today, mostly ’cause of Hurricane Isaac creeping near us (or having crept near us).
For the record, I’m also glad John and The Missus and The Pooch were not harmed by Isaac.
Kathy, glad you enjoy the blog. I enjoy doing it.
A great big thank you for the nice comment from Eddie Haskell. 🙂
Oh, my. My, my, my. I just LOVE Susan Sorrell Hill’s artwork. Those submarines stealthily passing under the tree roots conjure up such chilling wonder. I mean, what is the story behind that visual? I’m hooked. And I ditto JES on boat gliding backward in the trees. AND the fish-herder! It makes me smile just writing “fish herder”. Susan’s art’s vibe reminds me a bit of director Guillermo Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hell Boy and—in the works—a new dark vision of Pinocchio) whose fantasy visions have both a grand whimsy and an eeriness about them. Thank you so much for sharing this artist. (I’m definitely off to Etsy to peruse…)
Jules – I couldn’t watch; the sound bites with gales of derisive laughter shown everywhere were enough to launch me into dangerous stress levels. I, too, usually wouldn’t mention political stuff here. But somehow this seems appropriate to share—given your grrr-ing kitten and my own pressure-cooker need to do something positive or explode.
There is a group I support called Authors and Illustrator for Children (for Obama) which is currently asking for like-minded authors and illustrators to join their roster. Published folk can add your name. SEE: http://www.aiforc.org/authors_illustrators.html
Others can send a donation or buy a coffee cup.
Regulars and newcomers are kicking up a storm today!
Peter – isn’t 7-Imp a find!
Tarie – Learning more about poetry; me too. (How do you do so much stuff?)
Erin – yes, dreamy in a vaguely nightmarish way.
amy – love term “Herionymous Bosch-ish”. Agree,
Beverly – Sip Ten Bear; very good. I think I would have guessed; I’m sure I would have laughed.
Jessica – a Tree House exhibit? Too cool.
Jone – Yea for you and your camera! I have enjoyed the results.
Margie – hello to rabbit and deer and tree toad. Yea to diving into fall releases.
JES – you crack me up.
Alice – I agree, memorable. I’ll be haunted (in a good way) by those submarines.
Jeremy – Thank you for that car trouble epiphany! (And I thought the universe was cross with me…)
JES (again) – I love your title, “Barking Tree”. Evocative. Curious now about the backstory. My sons and I saw “Cave of Forgotten Dreams” at local arthouse theater two nights ago. Thought it was a particularly great use of 3-D. That horse mural! And that old guy throwing the ‘augmented lance’ and then Herzog commenting: “Of course, ancient man would have done thrown it more forcefully.” Ha!
Little Willow – “Liked” your audition. : – ) Congrats on screenplays’ advancement. Beware of boxes marked TNT, dear one, especially if wires are attached.
Rachel – Your projects sound enjoyable: lilac bushes and bar stools.
Kathy – Agree about the kindness part.
My own kicks:
1- 5. Got my cast off! I can eat, brush my hair and TYPE wth my right hand again! (I’m celebrating a bit with a lengthier post.) Cannot tell you how “released” I feel.
6. Another cool building wall to share:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/andrevanbortel/3745527869/in/photostream/
7. This 2008 video from Authors & Illustrators for Children. We will be shooting the new 2012 spot in two weeks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCGOcIxSqUA
Have a great week Kickers!
Happy Labor Day, Imps!
Jules, Thanks for sharing Susan’s work. My favorites are “Make Believe” and “Fish Herder” -beautiful.
I love seeing a fellow painter/illustrator over here.
Hello to Peter, Amy, Mom, Alice and Kathy
Tarie- I’m so glad your meeting went well, sounds like a great group.
Jessica-Glad to hear kick #7 book maker harmony
…
Jone- I was in love with the late summer sun this week, beautiful.
Margie- Fresh garden gifts are sooo good.
Jeremy- I am jealous of your daily swims. Makes me want to go swimming right now.
JES- I’m glad you got in a quick trip to the Atlantic Coast. Did you swim?
L.W.- Lovely job on the video.
Rachel- I hate to see summer fading but I am looking forward to the next few months of getting more studio time.
Denise-Cast Away! Hooray!
September (omg how is it September already?) kicks:
1. Saw Ingrid Michaelson at a small venue right here in town where I took this picture of the ceiling. http://atlanticmo.tumblr.com/post/30283150207/ceiling-art-taken-with-instagram-at-cape-cinema
2. Survived a week of no formal daycare thanks to family and friends.
3.Watched season two of Sherlock instead of the RNC. Sounds like I made the right choice.
4. Went thrift shopping with Mother-in-Law. Got a cool new purse.
5. Wrote a blog post that kind of explained the magazine feature.
6. Took out all five of the books on marketing that the library had.
7. Saw the blue moon rise over the beach moments after watching the most beautiful orangy rose sun set.
Here’s hoping I get a September swim in this week.
Denise: Now you’ve made me want to see Pan’s Labyrinth again! And many thanks for the link to aiforc.org. I have already gone to explore and learn more.
CONGRATS on getting your cast off! And thanks for sharing the video.
How’s your son? Is he still traveling?
Moira: That’s a great picture, and how was the show? She’s opening for Rufus when I see him in 46, 22 hours, and 43 minutes.
I missed that blue moon. Bummer.
She’s the opener!? She is so good, so genuine. You know this means they’ll do a song together! OMG It’s going to be epic.
Yep, she is. As well as Lucy Wainwright Roche, his half-sister (I think).
LW – we missed each other in cyberspace – audition watched and liked! Go you, as usual!
Denise – hooray for the cast being off! Woohoo!
Moira – that sunset and moonrise sounds like an amazing end to the day. I saw the blue moon here in the Pacific NW but not near a beach. Still super cool though nowhere near as awesome as your viewing. : )
Oh, and Moira and Jules – love Ingrid Michaelson, though have not seen her perform. I fell in love with from this dance on last season’s So You Think You Can Dance:
http://youtu.be/PgZHbhszGrU
The female half of the duo went on to win last season. Just beautiful music, choreography, and dancing – sublime.
Jules, Tina Modotti was a photographer who was involved with Edward Weston and when she moved from San Francisco to Mexico, became friends with Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera. I am a sucker for artists with intense lives…and its not cold here in Portland yet, sunny and 70’s, but the light has changed and fall is in the air.
Of the illustrations above, I especially like Journey, The Girl With the Silver Hands and Fish Herder. Pandora keeps telling me that I should like Ingrid Michaelson.
Kicks:
1. My daughter deciding to live in her Supergirl Halloween costume for the next 2 months.
2. Biking with Supergirl.
3. A harvest moon or, more likely, a beautiful orange moon impersonating a harvest moon.
4. Whooping cough. (I could just have a common cold.)
5. 5 friends and 4 strangers coming to our aid when the rear axel of our car fell off.
6. Potty training progress.
7. The prospect of getting to hand off 2 out of 3 of my kids to public school teachers in less than a week!
Hope you all have a wonderful week!
Wait! It was a blue moon I saw? Was it as spectacular where you were?
I’m glad I’m not the only one who was enraged about Romney’s callous attitude about the environment. I suspect he doesn’t care about anybody except his personal family, and that doesn’t even include the dog. But I also agree with you about Susan. Her art makes me happy too. Nice post!
Rachel, that dance performance is beautiful. Thanks for sending.
Amy, I love kick #1. Good luck to her with that. And you! And I missed that blue moon. I know: Pathetic of me.
Linda: Glad you like the art, too. Susan really graced the site with her presence.
I can’t resist…here are my own 7-Kicks for this past week–
1. Being featured here on 7-Imp, and SO many lovely and thoughtful comments. Thank you so much, Jules.
2. Selling paintings as a result of this feature.
3. Buying–and eating–as many locally grown, perfectly ripe tomatoes as I can hold. Feels sinful somehow…
4. Discovering that my library has a copy of Northern Exposure, Season 4, episode 18, “Northern Lights,” with the finale soundtrack by Enya. Chokes me up every time.
5. A few clear days here *without* forest fire smoke.
6. Admiring the huge pile of perfectly split, perfectly dry oak firewood in my side yard–way ahead of the cold weather season.
7. Finding a copy of Maria Tatar’s “Annotated Classic Fairy Tales” at the Library Book Sale, good condition and only five dollars.
And Thank You!! to all of you who left those lovely and thoughtful comments…they made my day. 🙂
Oh, I love Tatar’s books, and that one that you found for only five dollars? That is a FIND.
So glad you visited 7-Imp, Susan. Thank you.
Hi all!
Susan, I love your work. You have a beautiful color sense and design sense which is lovely with your unique images.
Love everyones kicks.
Here are mine:
1) Hearing both Gregory Christie and Peter Brown speak about their work at the SCBWI illustrator intensive in Atlanta.
2) Visiting with family
3) Visiting with old friends
4) napping during the rain this weekend
Ok, that’s all for now. Thanks for posting Jules.
Lori
Lori: Kick #1. Whoa. That’ll be hard to beat in life’s future kicks. Except rain-napping is pretty great, too.
Rachel: Glad that you had a fun visit! I can hear the enthusiasm and smiles in your capital letters there. Smile at that sun!
Jules: Thank you! You are cool. I can’t wait to see what happens next!
Denise: Hurrah and hurray for being freed from your cast! How are you feeling? Hope the answer is, “Strong and healed.” Thank you on all counts. I’m excited. I didn’t see the TNT label until after I moved off of the box.
Thanks, Moira! Congrats on the research, the finds, and the fun times.
Rachel: Thank you. Melanie is an amazing dancer. Travis is a ridiculously great dancer and choreographer.
Amy: Three cheers for Supergirl! I hope that you feel better soon, and that the kids enjoy the start of a new school year.
Susan: Congratulations on the sales! High-five for your fairy tale find! Thanks for buying locally. Tomatoes = YUM.
Hi Lori!
[…] when Susan Sorrell Hill visited back in September? Soon after that visit, she created a Mad Tea Party image, which I’ll be posting some time […]
[…] And artist Susan Sorrell Hill created this in […]
[…] one of the headers of this blog is the Mad Tea Party image created specifically for 7-Imp by artist Susan Sorrell Hill. It’s here. Doesn’t it look lovely? Thanks again to Susan for that special […]