Erik Brooks's Blog, page 99
February 27, 2012
Mid-winter School Visits
Thank you to Nooksack, Everson, Machais, and Lakes Elementary schools for four excellent days of school visits last week. I am home again in my studio -- fueled by your enthusiasm -- and ready to work! I've said it before, but I love these trips -- in large part because the interaction boils books and storytelling down to their most basic and fundamental charge: books (stories, words, and pictures) are a medium of expression. An Art. A communication. A shared experience between the creator and the audience, the reader and the listener. A gift to both.
We all tell stories, and in some fashion or another, we should. It's fun. It's hard. It's worth it. It makes us better people. A community of reader, writers, and artists. We laugh, cry, cringe, inspire... K-6, 7-12, infinity and beyond. Stories are the original social network. Keep it simple. Tell one. Listen to many. Live and in person best of all.
I only remembered my camera on a few occasions during the week, but here you go:
A tiger-shark-panda. Ferocious! Remember to read Everson!
The beautiful silk banners at Everson. Designed and painted by kids during another artist's workshop last year (not me!).
My sweet artistic digs at the Kale House B&B. Art on the walls. A comfy bed. Excellent food and company at breakfast!
Daughter/Mother artists (and Kale House owners) Cori and Bonnie Litorja.
And finally, some fine hallway decor at the Machias "Day of the Arts!"
February 23, 2012
Congratulations!
My comic tribute to Liberty Bell High Schools excellent showing at the Washington State High School Wrestling Tournament :)
February 14, 2012
Sweetheart Sleepdog says...
Happy Valentine's Day!
February 8, 2012
Nonsense words -- and then some!
In the print edition of my latest Harts Pass strip, I try out the word winnummer -- a combination of winter and summer. Aware that I needed the extra consonant in order to keep the right 'i' sound, I added an 'n'. For some reason it totally slipped my mind to just simply keep the 't' -- and wintummer (as seen in this newly edited edition of the strip) is better all around.Just to keep the readership thinking that I'm completely crazy, our forecast flipped a switch today and the glories of wintummer have given way to plain old winter. What I wouldn't give for another wintummery afternoon :)
February 5, 2012
Super Bowl (XLVI) Sleepdog
Sleepdog is tiny. Go Giants!
February 2, 2012
January Sketches
In no particular order, a few of my January sketches :)
January 30, 2012
Backyard "StorySki" Day with MVSTA
Even pint-sized polar bears are enough to frighten the local canines!
Near sighted penguins...
... and skate-skiing polar bears...
... who are willing pose for pictures!
TOO. MUCH. FUN!I hosted a couple of StorySki readings for MVSTA's 1st Annual Backyard Ski Day last weekend. Three or four of the Polar Opposites signs were buried by our recent 20+ inches of snow, but I happened to have an easily readable copy of the book on hand... and the most patient and helpful skate-skiing polar bear assistant in the valley!
January 23, 2012
The fine art of shoveling!
Suffice it to say that I'm sort of a snow shovel perfectionist. I mean sure, there are days when I throw and go. Days with too much work and too little time to do it right. But then there are other days... Bluebird days when the sun is shining and your back is sore and your spirit broken from the writing/drawing slouch of a morning... On those days - days with a backlog of snow-fallen inches from a busy weekend - you get outside and make some art! :)
January 19, 2012
Bliss
Ahhh... The snow was piling up outside the studio window yesterday afternoon. Magic stuff! Good for work and good for play. Further, and perhaps more tangible evidence of the "piling" can be found in the kitchen window/picnic table shot below. More on the way tomorrow!
January 13, 2012
Steampunk Sleepdog!
December's sketch gets some January color...
