2014 SCBWI Southern Breeze Gallery Show Wrap-Up!

It couldn't have gone better! That's the bottom line. This year our show was on the Decatur Arts Alliance map for opening night ArtWalk and the Decatur Arts Festival, and wow, did it show! We had a steady crowd of folks milling through the entire time.

I love the way this show works - each piece of framed artwork is accompanied by the book from which it came. So kids and adults read the books and look up to see the actual artwork hanging above.


But of course, it's really about the kids. THIS is what the show is all about:




Here's this year's gang of illustrators and folks who made it happen. From the left is Laura Freeman, Prescott Hill, Joe Davich (Georgia Center for the Book), Amy Schimler, Mark Braught, Lee Mayer - wife to Bill Mayer, Yours Truly, and Zach Steele (also of the GCB). And my hubbie, Stan, is behind the camera:

Illustrators who weren't able to join us were Jill Dubin, R. Gregory Christie, Susan Nees, Mike Lowery, Sarah Frances Hardy, and Lori Nichols. Although their work was greatly enjoyed, we missed partying with our buds. Because we had fun!



Especially when we headed out for our annual post gallery show meltdown (this year at Colbeh)...

The show will run for two weeks at the Decatur Library in Decatur, Georgia. I hope you get a chance to see it in person!

Children's Book Week!

Today kicks of the 94th annual Children's Book Week, May 13-19, hosted by the Children's Book Council. The lovely poster is illustrated by Brian Selznick and is free to schools and libraries. CLICK HERE for more information!

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.

2011 Gallery Show

Hi All,
The Decatur Art Festival is nigh - Memorial Day weekend to be exact. If you'd like to participate in the 4th Annual Gallery show this year, I need to hear from you! Here's the low-down:

The 4th Annual
Children's Book Illustrator's Show
hosted by Little Shop of Stories
and the
SCBWI Southern Breeze

Who: Open to all PAL (traditionally published) members of the SCBWI Southern Breeze region (AL, GA & MS).
If you are not yet a member of SCBWI, you can join at: http://www.scbwi.org.

What: Deliver one piece of fully framed, ready-to-hang (with wire - important!) art from an accompanying
traditionally published, currently available for purchase, picture book.
Please include an index-sized card to accompany art with the following information:
Book Title:
Illustrator:
Author, Publisher:
ISBN#:
Website, illustration medium or other information
Price if available for sale, or details about available prints.
(25% of any sales made during the event will go to the gallery
at Little Shop of Stories and to Southern Breeze total.)

When: ArtWalk Reception, Friday, May 27, 2011, 5 to 9 PM.
http://www.decaturartsfestival.com/artwalk.php
Please feel free to invite guests and be available for
book signings during opening night - it's usually a big crowd.
Decatur Arts Festival, May 27th - 29th
Memorial Day Weekend
http://www.decaturartsfestival.com/
Show, May 27th - June 5th

Where: Little Shop of Stories
133 East Court Square
Decatur, GA 30030
(404) 373-6300
http://littleshopofstories.com

How: Artwork must be delivered to Little Shop of Stories between
May 22nd and May 27th, 2008, 10am - 8pm,
and picked up June 6th, 10am - 8pm.
Mailed artwork must arrive in the same time period and include
proper pre-paid packaging for its return shipping.

NOW: If you intend to participate, email Elizabeth Dulemba, SCBWI
Southern Breeze Illustration Coordinator, at elizabeth at dulemba dot com
by April 25th with the following information:
Name:
Address:
Phone:
Email:
Size of framed illustration:
Name of accompanying book (must be available for ordering
by Little Shop of Stories):
ISBN#

VOLUNTEERS will be needed to help set up and take down the show.
Friday, May 27 from 1:00 - 3:00 pm and again
Sunday, June 5th from 12:00 - 2:00 pm.
It's a big job, so please don't make us ladies work alone!

Thanks y'all!
e
Elizabeth O. Dulemba: http://dulemba.com
SCBWI Southern Breeze Illustration Coordinator:
http://www.southern-breeze.org/

One Illustrator's Take...

One Illustrator's Take n the SCBWI Southern Breeze Springmingle Conference 2011 in Atlanta
by Shanda McCloskey

Before last weekend I merely called myself a mommy who was trying to be an illustrator. By the last day of the conference, I left for home calling myself an illustrator and believing it too.

It especially resonated with me when author Lindsey Leavitt spoke on writing and illustrating as one of your jobs. She spoke about respecting the time spent with your art even though there may be no money coming from it, and you may have many other responsibilities. But only when you respect your art as your job will you be moving forward, growing, and putting yourself in opportunity’s path.

Meeting E.B. Lewis was an experience I will not forget! This award-winning illustrator was funny, personal, and an excellent teacher. He explained the structure of a killer portfolio as a “post and rail” fence and preached the importance of having a distinct voice in our work. My brain was overflowing with his many tips by the end of the group critique!

I was also lucky enough to have a formal portfolio review with E. B. Lewis. This was my very first formal critique, and I was amazed at how he just glanced at my work and had specific things to say about improving my craft and finding my voice.

I must say that the jelly on my toast was the friendships I made with other illustrators and writers! I felt I belonged to an entire family of storytellers.

The conference continued with insight from Sarah Davies, Katie Carella, and Erin Clark about agents, work-for-hire opportunities, and again… voice. E. B. Lewis said it beautifully: “You become an artist when you have something to say.”

Shanda's portfolio (photograph by Sandy Fry, used with permission):

Springmingle is coming!

This year's annual Springmingle conference is February 25 - 27th. CLICK HERE for more information and to register.

Illustrators' Day 2010 recap: Something to Sing About

On Friday, September 3rd was a workshop I had been looking forward to for a while-- the annual Illustrators' Day in Decatur, GA held at the Decatur Public Library and hosted by the regional chapter of SCBWI, Southern Breeze. I attended last year and got a lot out of the event, but I was really excited to learn that this year's event was extended to include a whole day's worth of activities centered around the craft and business of illustrating for kids!

The event kicked off with a discussion with two amazing, award-winning illustrators, Rick Lovell (a professor of mine at SCAD!) and Bill Mayer. They spoke about their experiences working within the children's book market, tips for navigating freelance business, pros and cons of working with an agent, tips for promotion, and copyright issues. These illustrators have so much experience between them, and every time I hear them speak I gain some new piece of knowledge about the illustration business.

Loraine Joyner, Art Director for Peachtree Publishers, spoke next about the grabbing an Art Director's attention with promotional material. She brought in a flood of mailers she had received over the past month, which ranged from the amazing to the not so amazing. It was interesting to hear about what grabbed her eye. She also gave some suggestions for resources to help develop our craft. Lastly, she went through a manuscript and discussed how an illustrator could interpret text and turn it into intriguing and memorable pictures.

New South Books' Brian Seidman spoke about book cover design and the opportunities for artists within that avenue. They hire both a designer and an illustrator to work on their books. New South had some really outstanding cover illustrations, and it was interesting to hear about the process of how they are developed.

Published illustrator Shandra Stickland, whose new picture book A Place Where Hurricanes Happen was recently released attended the event and reviewed portfolios and spoke a little about her work. Elizabeth Dulemba, organized the event, and also had some great tips about putting together a print portfolio.

Mark Braught was awesome enough to help the first 25 people who signed up for the workshop, and act as an Art Director/mentor while developing an image for the topic "Something to Sing About". This assignment was great fun -- I thoroughly enjoyed playing (and singing along to) my favorite musicals while I worked in the studio. Mark was extremely generous with his time in reviewing my work every step of the way. He had some great tips that will help when developing my work in the future. Below are some of my developmental sketches that Mark helped me with (final illo at the top of this post).

Sketch #2/Color Comp

Sketch #1

Initial thumbnail

All of these illustrators in one place was very inspiring, and it is always wonderful meeting new artists and see their amazing work. It also set a great tone for the Decatur Book Festival the next day! I feel refreshed going forward with some new work, and now I can't wait for the Wik '10 conference in Birmingham, AL next month...

Illustrations by Renee Rivas

2010 SB Illustrator's DAY!

Click the logo to learn about this year's Southern Breeze Illustrator's DAY. No longer just a workshop, this year we offer an incredible line-up of speakers and workshops for our illustrators. Hope you'll join us Friday, September 3rd at the Decatur Library from 10:00 am to 3:00 pm, the Friday before the Decatur Book Festival, Labor Day Weekend! Wahoo!

2010 SCBWI Southern Breeze Gallery Show

Opening Night for our 2010 SCBWI Southern Breeze Illustrators' Gallery Show was an enormous
success!!! We tie this event in with the Decatur (Georgia, USA) Arts Festival's opening night, ArtWalk, every year to guarantee crowds, and this year was bigger than ever!
     We have several newly published members and award winners who have recently move to our area, so it is an exceptionally good show.
     Featured illustrators (some in the photos below) are: Ami Blackford, Mark Braught, Sarah C. Campbell, Elizabeth O. Dulemba, Laura Freeman, Tom Gonzalez, Laura Knorr, Nancy S. Miller, Daniel Powers, and Shadra Strickland.
     So, if you happen to be in the area, the show will be up through June 6th, 2010 at Little Shop of Stories in downtown Decatur, Georgia. More information is available at the Southern Breeze Illustrators' Corner.
Cheers!
e
Elizabeth O. Dulemba:
SCBWI Southern Breeze Illustration Coordinator
http://www.southern-breeze.org/

I'll post more photos as they come in!

You Are Invited to the SCBWI Southern Breeze Gallery Show!

You are Invited to
The 3rd Annual
Children's Book Illustrator's Show
hosted by
Little Shop of Stories
and the
Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Southern Breeze region during ArtWalk
Opening Night for the
Decatur Arts Festival.
Friday, May 28, 2009, 5 to 9 PM
at
Little Shop of Stories
133 East Court Square
Decatur, Georgia, USA
(404) 373-6300

Featured Illustrators will be: Ami Blackford, Mark Braught, Sarah C. Campbell, Elizabeth O. Dulemba, Laura Freeman, Tom Gonzalez, Laura Knorr, Nancy S. Miller, Daniel Powers, and Shadra Strickland - woosie!

Galleries all over Decatur will stay open late and serve wine and munchies - so come stroll! And don't worry, if you miss opening night the show will run May 28th - June 6th.

Hope to See You!
e
Elizabeth O. Dulemba: http://dulemba.com
SCBWI Southern Breeze Illustration Coordinator:
http://www.southern-breeze.org/

Portfolio Workshop Wrap-Up

...was this past Saturday and it was a HIT! We had two speakers, Donna German of Sylvan Dell Publishing as our Publisher/Art Director and Mark Braught as our Pro-Illustrator.
     Mark assigned a homework project to those who signed up early and they dove in and took it very seriously. Mark was so generous with his time, I received rave comments on how much people learned from him.
     Donna gave an impressive power point presentation on how Sylvan Dell works, what she looks for, and her relationship with illustrators. Sylvan Dell is one of the more forward thinking publishing houses when it comes to technology. They are almost entirely paperless, accept submissions electronically, and their new eBooks are becoming enormously popular in schools. (Here I am showing off one of their eBooks.)
     We held the event at the Decatur library and it was absolutely perfect. Joe Davich of the Georgia Center for the Book stuck around to be tech guru during the presentation - thank you Joe!!! Donna Bowman worked her magic and made the otherwise bare room come alive. (she's the one who makes Southern Breeze look GOOD!)
     So, between our two speakers and all the background support we had quite the line-up! Each speaker gave informative talks and then homework assignments were shown.

     Donna G. did a quick overview of the artwork and portfolios on hand. (We do this quickly on purpose to give an idea of how little time illustrators have to make an impression.)
     Many of the illustrators balked at adding their work to the tables when they saw some of the more professional portfolios but we all said "That's why you're here!" (Including Donna G. who was extremely supportive.)

     We didn't have anything like this when I was starting out. I had to go make my mistakes in person during interviews - gads. So it is a pleasure to make this opportunity available to others through Southern Breeze!

     The illustrators left with a better idea of how to prepare and present their portfolios, how to advertise themselves, and how to fine tune their own work for their desired market. In other words, they left smarter than they came in. The feedback has been outstanding and heartfelt and I couldn't be more pleased.