The week my granddaughter was born, I began to draw and paint portraits of her. These records of her growth and transformation over time are placed in a portrait album for her. The first page is a hand-drawn, hand-painted birth certificate. The pages that follow contain pencil drawings done during her first weeks in the world.
A drawn or painted portrait allows me to observe closely and carefully...the shape of an eye, the turn of the mouth, the arch of an eyebrow. When I spend time with each portrait, I spend time with my thoughts of her. I reflect with gratitude on her presence in the world. As each mark touches the page, it is a touch of love and care. I work to not only have the portrait be an accurate portrayal of the way she looks, but I also aspire to convey something of her personality and her inner spirit. I hope that each mark and stroke conveys my love. I work to make each portrait have a presence that represents that unique moment in time. Childhood is fleeting, and a child changes in the blink of an eye.
I drew and painted my own children throughout their childhood. Looking back at those pieces of art transports me right to those cherished moments. I have always felt honored to be a mother, and my art has been a natural expression of that gift to my life.
This watercolor is an example of the start of one of my recent portraits that became a gift for my granddaughter.
I cherish the items that my forebears made by hand that were given to me—embroidery, knitted and crocheted items, decorative tole painting, drawings and paintings. Perhaps the work from my own hand will also have future meaning and charm.
Welcome 2023!
This post shares the cutest way to turn the page to a New Year…the 2023 Norbert Calendar brought to you by Polly Parker Press with beautiful photography by Mark Steines, featuring my daughter’s adorable dog, Norbert. It’s an honor to help Norbert do his work which is to remind everyone that you don’t need to be big to make a BIG difference in the world. Everyone can make someone smile. If you’d like to read more about Norbert’s incredible life as a 3-lb therapy dog, hop over to the Norberthood here.
If you’d like a calendar of your own, they are now currently on sale at 30% off. Visit the Polly Parker Press Shop here, where you’ll also find a deck of Norbert Playing Cards that I designed, cool Norbert socks and collectible pins.
Happy New Year! May your dreams come true.
Santa Norbert Donations
My daughter, Norbert, and I are pleased to announce we have donated hundreds of Santa Norbert ornaments to Toys for Tots. We hope they spread smiles for years to come.
Norbert: Little Me Christmas. Second Edition is now available!
Exciting News! The Second Editions of our previously sold-out book is now available! My daughter, Julie Steines, and I co-authored this keepsake Christmas picture book, Norbert: Little Me Christmas, for the young and young at heart. It was pure delight for me to also create the full-color illustrations, cover, and book design for this 76-page hardcover book. We hope it becomes the perfect holiday gift to cherish and share. Autographed copies are also available! It is available for U.S. domestic shipping.
This book, which has long been a dream of ours, imagines Norbert on a magical Christmas Eve adventure in which he discovers the greatest gift of all. Get your copy here before they are gone: https://www.pollyparkerpress.com/shop
Synopsis:
The day before Christmas, Norbert wants to give the perfect gift to his Momma, but he is at a loss for ideas. Due to unexpected circumstances, he finds himself miles from home in a snowstorm. This plucky little three-pound dog is determined to find his way home by Christmas Day. Against all odds and assisted in surprising ways, Norbert overcomes obstacles, finds hope, shows kindness, and celebrates the importance of home.
Randy and the Art of Friendship
I want to tell you a personal story about Randy Julius, a talented artist, musician, naturalist and friend. This story takes place twenty years ago, in 1999, when Randy did something for me that was especially kind, selfless and generous. Sharing this story with you is my way of paying tribute to him and expressing how deeply saddened I am to learn of his death.
Read moreCultivating Creativity
How do you cultivate and nourish your creative self?
I like to keep my art materials readily available. A set of paints set out on my drawing table invites me to pause and play. Invariably, play leads to ideas and taps into the creative mindset. For many, simply starting a creative project is the hardest part. Then, once involved in the process and flow of making and doing, the hardest thing can be stopping.
Another way I keep my creative mindset fresh is to get out and visit galleries, museums, and shows. Wandering a bookstore, visiting a little town I’ve never seen before, taking a walk, reading a book…there are many things that can prompt an idea. Being open to connections from seemingly unrelated sources can lead to some delightful and insightful surprises.
Recently I visited a gorgeous exhibition at the Portland Museum of Art, Portland, Maine. The exhibition features the work of N.C. Wyeth, an artist whose work I have long admired. An illustrator from the golden age of picture books, and a student of Howard Pyle, his paintings are dynamic with outstanding draughtsmanship and wonderful storytelling capacities. If you live anywhere close, I highly recommend it. The exhibition continues through January 12, 2020. Here is a link for more information: https://www.portlandmuseum.org/exhibitions/nc-wyeth
Magic Moments
Recently I was sorting through old portfolios of my artwork, viewing drawings I has not looked at in decades. It is fascinating to look at work one did many years ago, for it is easy to forget or not comprehend growth over time.
I came across this early pencil self-portrait, done in my teens. It had been a homework assignment, to do a drawing while observing your face in the mirror, carefully explaining the turns of the face and the forms of the features. The point was not to create a likeness, but to create a work that looked believable in its solidity and forms.
I was frustrated as I worked through the assignment, erasing over and over to get the lines and shapes placed properly, and to describe the complexity of the three-dimensionality. After about 20 hours of work, it happened. Or I should say it happened. It was a magical moment I would strive for every time thereafter drawing a portrait: that instant when it felt as though the portrait was looking back at me, as though it had a presence of its own. It was a moment when the drawing transcended the fact that it was pencil marks on a piece of paper. The drawing came to life. It was me looking back at myself.
When I came across this drawing a few weeks ago, I re-lived that magical moment once again, and a flood of emotion came over me as I recalled that subtle turn of perception that changed everything. Drawing would never be the same. From then on, I wanted to feel the amazement and deep satisfaction of sensing that my work had an energy and force all its own.
I would try again and again, and I often did not succeed. And, yet, sometimes I did. That first magical moment was enough to sustain my efforts, always knowing that it was possible albeit elusive, throughout my formal education and then into a professional career. I discovered that with time, effort, knowledge, extreme care, thoughtfulness, and sincerity of intention, the frequency of the sense that my creation could convey a presence increased. People sometimes remark at a person’s talent, but I have come to suspect that perhaps what is an inborn inclination towards a pursuit is greatly nurtured and elevated with a lot of effort and hard work.
More than a likeness, more than a fine or pretty picture, more than technical competency, what continued to interest me was the process of exploration in search of the inner spirit reflected outwardly. As a creator and one sensitive to the observed and the felt, this process has remained endlessly fascinating. Where do you find your own magic moments?
THE TREASURE OF LITTLE CRANBERRY ISLAND
Years ago, when my children, Jeff and Julie, were young, my family had the honor and privilege of spending an afternoon with artist/author/storyteller Ashley Bryan in his home on Little Cranberry Island off the coast of Mount Desert, Maine. That warm summer day, he greeted us at the mailboat dock; and as he leisurely walked along the dirt road toward his house telling my daughter tales in his fabled expressive storyteller voice, we continued ahead to his home where we had time to explore his many collections of toys, puppets, and beach combings set about on tables, shelves, and walls. As if in a grand emporium, every available inch of space was lovingly filled with seemingly endless, whimsical delights.
He took us through his studio, sharing his numerous work stations for the varied projects in process. I will always remember the fascinating illustrations and paintings, and the stained glass window along one wall of his studio, crafted of beach glass and black paper mache. Clearly, his inventiveness, playfulness and childhood wonder were alive and well.
When I learned that a selection of Ashley’s children’s book illustrations were on exhibit at the Portland Museum of Art (Painter and Poet, through November 25, 2018, Portland, Maine), I had to go so that I might yet again feel the amazement, respect and delight I experienced that day long ago. Seeing many of the same puppets created of scavenged materials that so magnificently came to life in his hands felt like greeting old friends.
I have long admired Ashley Bryan’s life work, for the challenges he overcame to become whom he was meant to be, for the interests and beliefs he so deeply explored, and for the enchanting joy and vibrant energy he has brought to all his art, writing and interactions with others—particularly children who came to adore him. As an award-winning “pioneer of African and African American representation in the children’s book medium,” he has published over 50 titles.
This man with the broad smile and good-hearted nature who moved seemingly effortlessly from one medium or creative style to the next, depending on the subject at hand, is now 95 years old. But I suspect he is still quite young at heart.
It was a beautiful exhibit, supplemented with boxes of many of his books that I took my time perusing. I am glad this distinguished museum provided the opportunity for people to come to know the work of this extraordinary creator. I only would have loved to see even more of his illustration work on display! I came away inspired and grateful that my family had the opportunity to meet this incredible man in person at his home. Now, as an author, artist, illustrator and teacher myself, I am forever grateful to Ashley as a role model. Dear Ashley, thank you for continuing to be an inspiration for me, my family, and for so many others. You are a true treasure of Little Cranberry Island and beyond.
A SENSE OF WONDER
Spring, the season of rebirth, is miraculous to me. Without fail, no matter how hard or cold the winter, the sun warms, the song birds return, the branches bud, and all of Nature awakens after its long nap. To celebrate the Spring Equinox, I have created this double portrait of my daughter and her daughter, giving it the title "A Sense of Wonder."
Ecologist and author Rachel Carson wrote, "If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder...he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in."
This painting was created using watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil. It speaks to the discoveries of childhood, and the curiosity, amazement and delight of a youngster who is quite new to this planet. That wide-eyed wonder should serve to refresh our own sense of wonder. It should remind us that we are, after all, surrounded by miracles. Let us never take for granted this amazing experience of life. Let us renew our love for the earth and be the best stewards of this planet for the generations to come, so that our children's children's children may also open their eyes in wonder to this beautiful orb we all call home. May this new season inspire within us the birth of that which can still beautifully grow, flourish and transform. It is the great season of beginning yet again. It is wondrous.
COZY UP WITH YOUR SKETCHBOOK! WINTER 2018 ONLINE ART CLASS
I love to set out my pencils, brushes and paints at this time of year on the little desk in my winter studio. My barn studio always awaits my extended creative work, but on icy New England winter mornings, I love to start my day with tiny watercolor studies in a warm little writing room just off my kitchen. A small wooden desk topped with my tiny travel set of watercolors, a few pencils, and some natural objects is all I need for a quiet start to the day. It gives me a good feeling all day that my inner artist has been honored and that I discovered something delightful and new as a result of studying a bit of Nature.
Perhaps you'd like to cozy up with your sketchbook and maybe some watercolors as well. If so, register now for my Discover Drawing Winter 2018 online course. Begin your course anytime you like after enrolling. Enrollment is limited. Enrollment closes January 31, 2018. E-mail me if you would like a gift certificate.
DISCOVER DRAWING FALL 2017
This is my New England barn studio in fall. At times, the distant smell of a wood-burning stove is in the air as the the days grow shorter and cooler. Flocks of Canadian geese fly overhead, and sometimes a blue heron. Recently, two dappled fawns came out of the woods to nibble on fruit that dropped from our apple trees. They did not hurry away when they saw me at the window. The apples were too good to pass up.
As a lifelong teacher, fall has always meant back to school, back to learning. New beginnings. New possibilities. New hopes. Through years of teaching art, I've found that the need to create always seems to bubble up from within. It's something that can be patiently and quietly insistent, or outright demanding. Fear of failure, fear of being too old, fear of not being good enough, fear of making mistakes, fear of the unknown--there are many fears that keep people from honoring the yearning to create from the original self.
This fall, I'm offering an online basic drawing course. The spring version of this course taught me that people can do amazing work when they give themselves permission to try, when they welcome their learning as a journey of personal growth, when their drawings are visible markers of their courage, their experimentations, and their commitment to their own creativity. It is amazing to see work that can result when people learn to be patient with their efforts and honor their fledgling attempts at something new.
If this is the season you are considering honoring the artist within, perhaps you'll join this season's class and work at your own pace with lifelong online access to course materials. If you've felt gently nudged to begin drawing, click the link below and learn more about how it works. Then start drawing right from the cozy comfort of your own place in the world, any time of the day or night.
Your studio can be as simple as the corner of a table with a little box of supplies. If there is an artist waiting in you, consider what a creative sanctuary means to you so that you can celebrate that which longs to be expressed. Perhaps you will embrace your own time of new creative beginnings. Registration is open through October 1, 2107. The course begins September 30th.
Meet My Museum Friends
In my early teens, I visited the Boston of Museum of Fine Arts to see a huge exhibition of work by Henri Matisse. I had never been to the MFA, and I certainly had never seen a Matisse painting in person, although I had looked at his work many times in books. Nothing could have prepared me for the overwhelming impact of standing in front of his work at my impressionable age.
Having only seen small images in books, the sheer size was amazing. But what stunned me was the brilliance of the color. Some paintings looked as though they were lit from behind by fluorescent lights. I could not believe it was paint alone. The vitality of the brushstrokes gave the work even more energy and presence. This master of color and juxtapositions of patterns understood how to make paintings come to life. I could not have truly appreciated the master's work without standing where he had stood, directly in front of the canvas.
Read moreMy Online Art School Is Now Enrolling!
For quite some time now, I've been working on the creation of an online art school. I've named it WorldClass Art Class since it expands the world of my classroom while inspiring the creative world of my students. It is grounded in my holistic teaching philosophy that I've refined through my 40 years of teaching to all age and experience levels. My first course, "Discover Drawing" is designed for Beginner through Intermediate levels of experience.
To learn more about my online art class click the button below my podcast.
I am a licensed art educator with a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree, a Master of Fine Arts Degree, and a Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a Concentration in Art Education. I am a professional artist whose most recent work is the illustration of the award-winning Norbert picture books. You can view my art portfolio on this website.
Awaken your inner artist and learn to draw or sharpen your drawing skills this summer!
This school is a labor of love for me.
Happy art making! Learn more: Click Here.
Becoming Acquainted with Nature in One Easy Step
“As I grew up I was fervently desirous of becoming acquainted with Nature.”
John James Audubon
In my mind, one of the most beautiful gifts you can give to yourself or to another is the delight of an acquaintance with Nature.
Making Nature’s acquaintance requires just one easy step; you must step into her presence.
You might step outside your door to marvel at a tenacious flowering weed growing in a crack between stones.
Or you might step into an immersed experience of woodland, field, mountain, shore, or sky.
From carefully examining the tiniest blades of grass by your toes to pondering the awe of a star-filled sky, the never-ending surprise of the natural world can quench the spirit thirsting for reminders of the wonders of life.
Read moreMy Outdoors Drawing Essentials
Dip Your Toes in Miracles
When the days are longer and warmer, I fill my backpack with art supplies of the season.
Always ready, my pack reminds me to get out of the house and explore the waiting world, even if it’s my own back yard. I carry a diverse yet portable array of art media in anticipation of Nature's many moods.
I find that the wonders of Nature refresh the spirit and delight the senses.
We must make time to dip our toes in miracles.
Let's Draw This Summer!
Beginning mid-June, I will be offering a self-paced online drawing course full of ideas and technical guidance for a creative and art-filled summer (or longer). It's a great time of year to let your inner artist step out.
This summer, let’s all draw! Click here to Join my e-mail list for online drawing class details!
My Sketchbook
First--the drawing surface. I like a hard cover sketchbook that is at least 70lb. weight.
How to Make a Book of Your Child's Art
Last week on May 12, 2017, I appeared in a segment on Hallmark Channel Home & Family show with my daughter, Julie Steines, along with her husband, Co-host Mark Steines and Co-Host Debbie Matenopoulos. Julie and Mark had commissioned me to create a life size pastel portrait of Debbie's adorable daughter, which was unveiled on the show. Mark is an amazing professional photographer, and I had used one of his photographs as the inspiration for the portrait.
Read moreThe Best Teaching Advice I Ever Received
“What’s the best piece of advice you can give me as a new high school art teacher?” I asked. “Tomorrow is our first day of school.”
I stood before my mentor, the artist who had been my guide and inspiration for 21 years. I had first studied with her when I was 13 years old. When I was in junior high school, my mother had discovered that she lived just down the street from me. I took a class with her each week until I graduated high school. We had remained in touch.
I needed her words of wisdom in preparation for my new position.
Are You Ever Too Old To Learn Something New?
Are you ever too old to learn something new?
To save you reading further, I’ll tell you my answer now.
No.
But if you want to understand the hesitancy, hope, heart, courage, growth, and rewards, I have a story to tell you.
When I answered the phone, the tentative voice of an elderly woman asked, “Do you teach art classes to older people?”
“Yes, I do,” I replied. “I teach art to people of all ages.”
“I’m in my eighties,” she said with a hint of fair warning.
“How nice,” I replied. “What is it you’d like to learn?” I asked.
“I’ve raised a large family of children who are now on their own. I nursed four ill parents until they passed, and I nursed my dear, ill husband until his passing. Now is my time, and there’s one thing I have always wanted to do my entire life, ever since I was a young girl.”
“What’s that?” I asked.
“I’ve always wanted to learn to draw. It’s been a lifelong dream of mine. But now I’m so old. I’m afraid I won’t be able to do it. But it would make me so happy if I knew there was a chance that I could.”
NORBERT: The Face That Launched a Million Smiles
Our lives can be transformed in a myriad of ways.
This is the story of how a little dog and the art inspired by him changed lives, including my own.
As a career-long artist educator, I’ve seen firsthand the gift and magic of the arts firsthand. I built my doctoral dissertation around stories describing the meaning of art in people’s lives. It was a testament to the importance of honoring the human heart. The arts can touch us in deep and powerful ways.
I have also witnessed the life-changing effect of owning a pet—in particular, a little 3-ish lb. mixed-breed dog named Norbert. He came into my daughter’s life 8 years ago. Julie adopted him from an online pet site.
As a first-time dog owner, Julie’s heart embraced this little bundle of unconditional love. She believed he was a special creature, but even she could not know that his was a face that would bring millions of smiles around the world.
It’s a story that eventually took her 3,000 miles away to marry and have a family.
For me, it launched an exciting new career to follow my retirement from public teaching.
Read moreFive Pencils I Have Loved
I have a personal relationship with my art materials. I've got many longtime trusted friends, and I’ve met a few new kids on the block with whom I’ve been hanging out. Oh, the stories I could tell!
It's through my art media that the ideas in my head find their way into the physical world. They’re interpreters, conduits, and playmates of my ideas. Sometimes they have a mind of their own and we struggle a bit. Sometimes they seem to know what to say before I know myself, which is cool. At other times, they become the perfect vehicle of the imagined, which feels miraculous.
The best gifts of my childhood were always a fresh pad of paper, pencils, and occasionally a brand new box of crayons. I could spend hours each day outdoors under a tree, on my front porch, or on the living room couch with paper on my lap and a pencil in my hand. Hours. With my two beloved friends—pencil and paper.
So today I want to talk about pencils I have loved. What's the point? (pun intended) You could make art for a lifetime with nothing other than pencil, paper, eraser, and sharpener. The possibilities are infinite.
Read more