Mondays with Mira - Firefighters in the Dark and a little creative heaven

I had an amazing but exhausting weekend in creative heaven. First off was a truly fabulous Society of Children's Picture Book Writers and Illustrators conference on Saturday thanks to our awesome regional advisers Patricia Newman and Erin Dealey who happen to be super talented themselves, super smart and organized assistant RA Catherine Felt, my co-illustration coordinator Kris Aro McLeod, the many lovely volunteers and the fantastic speakers. Kudos to all (especially the leadership). I managed to film two of the editors (who I also fell in love with) asking penetrating and hopefully super helpful questions for my upcoming courses at the Picture Book Academy, and they were both super insightful and very generous : )

Then today I went to San Francisco with one of my students from the last Hero's Art Journey course and we took a class with Maya Gonzalez. Maya contributed to the Hero's Art Journey course and will also be featured in the Picture Book Academy. I did my first Mondays with Mira on her one of her books, My Colors My World, and absolutely adore her and her brilliance. Maya is also putting on what will be a fantastic mini conference on radical self-publishing May 12th in San Francisco and she even has some scholarships. Here are the links www.reflectionpress.com/conference and www.reflectionpress.com/scholarships

I've known and worked with Maya for over 20 years and everything she does is extraordinary.

I also want to give a shout out to folks about our upcoming Northern California Central Society of Children's Picture Book Writers and Illustrators Day in Rancho Cordova (near Sacramento). All I can say for now is it will be incredible and intimate. Here is the link http://events.r20.constantcontact.com/register/event?oeidk=a07e5iax92k36da453f&llr=bvqcu5dab do check it out.

The class Karen and I took with Maya was on Ink and brush as teacher. It was intense and brilliant taking both of us places we didn't expect to go. We spent the day drawing and painting hands but connecting them somatically to the rest of our bodies using inks, which are kind of challenging as are hands. We meditated and painted and discussed and if I have time, I'll post my pictures and tell you about the process later this week. Of course I'm super pooped but I wanted to get this up and out for your viewing and listening pleasure first thing on Monday.

So it's onward and upward to Mondays with Mira, First Seduction then Deconstruction - Pleasurable Picture Book Reviews!!!!
Today we're going to take a quick peek at Postmodernism in Picture Books with the delightful book Firefighters in the Dark, written by Dashka Slater and illustrated by Nicoletta Ceccoli. So settle down and have a watch, learn a little about Postmodernism and be prepared to go where you don't expect to go. You can find out more about Dashka at www.dashkaslater.com



I hope you enjoyed Firefighters in the Dark as much as I did and do check out the Hero's Art Journey half-off special here www.herosartjourney.com and let your friends know : )

Adventures on this Hero's Art Journey

Calling out around the World!

I'm definitely deep in my hero's journey creating my first Hero's Art Journey international e-course. Course starts this Monday the 12th so if any of you folks are interested in learning how to draw and paint or work with collage, deepen your existing art practice or reconnect with it, meet some fabulous fine artists and children's book illustrators and authors AND have an amazing life changing experience, now's the time to sign up.

click on images to enlarge

The people already signed up range from total beginners to phenomenal artists. We'll have tons of instruction for those who want or need it on drawing, watercolors, acrylics, collage, stamp making and more, tons of inspiration, and guest interviews from the likes of incredible children's book illustrator/authors and fine artists like Maya Gonzalez, Elisa Kleven, Claire B. Cotts, Hugh D'Andrade, Elly Simmons, and TBA. You do as much or as little as you like in whatever way works for you using eay tech in the comfort of your home and the safety of our online environment.

I'm really proud of the work I've done creating this course, which is loosely based on Joseph Campbell's seminal work on universal myths where each person receives a call into the unknown and extraordinary things happen for those who heed the call. I hope you'll join us. Here's a sneak peek www.herosartjourney.com  and here's where the discounts are

Join some incredible people for a once-in-a-lifetime experience (truly). Are you up for taking the leap of faith? Do you have an adventurous friend open enough to take the leap with you into a world of creativity, mythology, and creativity? Simply sign up here and then email me at miraguy@gmail.com Family members welcome.

Take a peek at www.herosartjourney.com

Regular price $89

And here are some hopefully intriguing samples from Marge and me (you get to tweak projects so they work for you)

Teaching, Painting Animals, Bebe the Wonder Dog, The Central Valley

From http://www.fieldcam.com/ 

Returned from the Central Valley where I taught classes in kid's books and graphic novels for teens in the afternoon and adults at night. Had a wonderful time and met some delightful talented people. Was pretty pooped afterwards and stayed at a friend's who lives in a fabulous house but in a suburban area with no community. Lovely houses on a lovely street and no-one walking or talking on the street, no nearby cafes or bookstores. Made me think about suburban versus urban alientation and the importance of community. The land was full of golden siennas, ochres, and beiges. A surreal beauty with the occassional swath of green produce in abstract shapes. Came back late Friday and Saturday morning taught the first class of my Transformational Arts Practice course which was about self-portraits, self-knowlede, self-care, and portraits in general. Not many students but the ones that were there were very happy. It was so magical teaching things that they've never done before and watching the beauty and magic of creativity and self-care.
Next week's class is teaching students how to draw and paint realistic and/or stylized animals that are personally significant. I have a whole pantheon of totemic animals that I call upon for different occassions - bears for strength, alligators when I need a thick skin, hummingbirds when I feel like a small miracle and want to give thanks and so on. Because the classes stand alone am making them 3 for $75, 2 for $60 and single classes $35. Kind of an incentive plan. If you know anyone within a 2 hr radius of Sacramento - please let them know. I have a flyer a few postings below with contact info etc.

And now I'd like to introduce Bebe the Wonder Dog. Bebe is a wonder dog because he is so wondrously loving. Up for a cuddle, a belly rub, a walk, anytime. He also loves to kiss, but I draw the line at tongue kissing. I'm housesitting a beautiful house and getting some exquisite solitude just me and Bebe. We love gazing into each other's eyes and plumbing the depths of each other's souls. The only other time I get to do this is when I'm doing portraits and can really look at someone without having to self-consciously avert my gaze. Reminds me of how much I love doing portraits. I had a wonderful time doing my self-portrait sample for class. My old publisher, Harriet Rohmer, used to say that I liked to "reinvent the wheel" by experimenting with different materials and techniques so this one I used charcoal and an acrylic burnt umber glaze, then introduced different subtle glazes on my dolphin, hummingbird, and blossoming flower. It's not finished yet but am loving the process. Am thinking of using this technique in one of the books I'm working on. It has a really nice loose quality, but because the white is the white of the paper (like watercolors) it's not very forgiving. No idea how it's going to end up but will show you when it does.