Fall Sketch Book Event

Saturday, October 25, @ 10:00 AMAt the beautiful Atlanta Botanical Gardens1345 Piedmont Avenue, Atlanta, GA, 30309  http://atlantabotanicalgarden.org/

Scarecrows, ogres, giant cobras and monumental sculptures await you at the next Sketch-Book Event.  Nearly 100 scarecrows fill the Atlanta Botanical Garden, as well as the Imaginary Worlds Worlds mosaiculture show and The Four Seasons sculpture exhibition.  So, Join us as we find inspiration in the Atlanta Botanical Garden on Saturday, October 25th at 10:00 am. Authors, illustrators and photographers are welcome. 

And to set the tone for this visit, the theme book is THE SCARECROW’S DANCE by Jane Yolen and Bagram Ibatoulline. 

“Jane Yolen introduces us to the fickle scarecrow, who decides to leave his station and dance away the fall night. He leaps through the fields until he reaches the farmhouse, where he sees a small light in the window. Inside, a boy is saying his prayers, and he offers up a special prayer for the corn that will be harvested in the morning. Humbled, the scarecrow knows what he has to do: He returns to the field and watches over the corn as only he can.” (from Amazon.com)

As always, we have planned several optional challenges, which are designed to have you approach your sketches and stories from a new perspective.

There is an $18.95 admission fee to the garden and $4.00 parking fee. 

We also will be going for lunch afterwards.

Please RSVP at michael@austinillustration.com.

The 2011 SCBWI Southern Breeze Gallery Show

Friday evening marked the opening of the 2011 SCBWI Southern Breeze Gallery Show at Little Shop of Stories, during the Decatur (GA) Arts Festival's opening night ArtWalk celebration. Six of our published members showed work representing 13 currently available picture books. The represented artists were: Laura Freeman, Mark Braught, Laura Knorr, Michael Austin, Shadra Strickland, and Yours Truly. The number made for a lovely presentation in the store:

Click to see a larger image.
     Hanging out for much of opening night were:

Laura Freeman, Michael Austin, Mark Braught, Yours Truly, and former Southern Breeze Regional Advisor Donna Bowman.
     Rather than demonstration drawings, we ended up each adding a line to a drawing in progress, which ended up creating some crazy images and was lots of fun. Bada Bing once again came through on the catering. And, of course, our friends at Little Shop of Stories were incredibly accommodating and supportive - thanks guys!
     The show will be up through Memorial Day weekend and the week following, so stop by!
Here are the attending illustrators with their work...
Shadra Strickland with work from her new title WHITE WATER. She also shared work from A PLACE WHERE HURRICANES HAPPEN.

Michael Austin with work from MARTINA THE BEAUTIFUL COCKROACH and RAILROAD JOHN AND THE RED ROCK RUN

Mark Braught shared work from P IS FOR PEACH, COSMO'S MOON, and, DEAR BABY I'M WATCHING OVER YOU . He also represented his wife's work (who couldn't attend). To his left are works by Laura Knorr from the books A ISN'T FOR FOX and THE LEGEND OF PAPA NOEL.

Laura Freeman shared work from NIKKI AND DEJA: ELECTION MADNESS, HERE WE GO LOOBY LOO, and IF YOU'RE HAPPY AND YOU KNOW IT.

And finally, Elizabeth Dulemba shared works from THE 12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS IN GEORGIA and SOAP, SOAP, SOAP ~ JABON, JABON, JABON.