Ruth Sanderson's Blog, page 2

GOOD MORNING FARM ANIMALS

This playful story, inclusive of children with differing abilities, encourages children to move, moo, and stretch along with the characters in the book as they mimic the movements of farm animal friends in the morning. Can they frolic like a lamb? Balance like a goat? Good Morning, Farm Animals is perfect for home or classroom reading. PURCHASE A SIGNED COPY FROM THE PUBLISHER

New Edition of The Golden Key in 2024

George MacDonald (1824-1925) was a Scottish author and clergyman. He wrote many stories for children, and his work has inspired authors such as C.S. Lewis, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Madeleine L’Engle. In addition to writing The Golden Key, his stories for children include At The Back of the North Wind, The Princess and the Goblin, and The Princess and Curdie. The Golden Key has always been one of my favorite fairy tales, and in 2012 I decided to illustrate it in scratchboard, and break it into chapters for an older-than-picture book audience. I worked on it for years, creating forty-five illustrations for it, and it was finally accepted and published in 2016 by Eerdmans Publishing. It went out of print recently, and I decided to put it back in print on Amazon in their print-on demand service, KDP. Here is the link to Amazon US. Here is the Link to Amazon UK If you are in another country, email ruthsanderson@me.com and I can send you a link to your country’s Amazon. Here are some reviews of the original edition:  “Now with the wonderful illustrations of Ruth Sanderson, I think we can see a real balance between Art and Literature….Ruth’s extraordinarily detailed creations are as multi-layered as the story itself.” — Christopher MacDonald (George MacDonald’s great-grandson) “Sanderson’s illustrations are deeply textured and dramatic, enhancing the vivid imagery of the narrative with many full pages and spreads.” —School Library Journal “Sanderson’s dramatic black and white scratchboard illustrations bring grace and depth to this story.” —The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

SPRING 2024 NEWSLETTER

I’ve finished all the artwork for two board books written by my daughter Whitney, Good Morning Farm Animals and Good Night Farm Animals. The publisher, Crocodile Books, plans to release them in the fall. These were great fun to work on this past winter. (The are my early mock-ups so the text design will be better.) ****************************************** After working on a writing a novel for young adults for TEN years, I’ve finished a draft and am currently working on polishing it to submit to agents and publishers. I was inspired to create a potential cover for it in scratchboard, shown above, which of course may or may not be used depending on the publisher. I’ll update publication news in future newsletters. If you are interested in updates as they occur, I am starting a separate mailing list for this project alone. Email ruthsanderson88@gmail.com. The Mirror of Truth is a retelling of the fairy tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. The premise is this: What if the evil stepmother’s magic mirror were created by the youngest of the seven dwarves, who has no idea of the terrible consequences of his actions. (And as you can see by my cover illustration, my dwarf character is NOT a Disney dwarf. He is half-human and stands a bit under five feet.). better.) ****************************************** If you are an artist interested in developing characters for a children’s book, I’ll be teaching a week-long intensive workshop at Hollins University in Roanoke, VA. 9-5 Mon-Friday from June 24-28. The cost is $750 for the workshop, plus housing and meals. ($675 for Hollins grads.)  CLICK HERE For more information and to register. ************************************************ Those are some of the highlights of what I’ve been up to recently.I’m fortunate to be still working as a creative person in this changing world. Happy Spring! Ruth

SPRING is coming!

Ten years ago this month I created this symbolic painting of the personification of spring. I have versions of summer and fall as well, and some day I will create one for winter. Don’t be fooled by the snow, this is depicting the end of winter, ushering in the new spring growth, which to me seems always to appear like magic at this time of year. I am always amazed to see crocuses popping out of the snow in my garden. I am offering this large limited edition archival print on sale for the month of April for 40% off. Click on the SHOPS link for the Print Shop.

NEW PRINTS and BOOKS added to SHOPS

I’ve added more signed, out of print books, coloring book packages, new original art and prints to my online store. Click SHOPS to browse!

HOLIDAY SALE–20% off through Dec. 10, 2023

I’ve added more signed, out of print books, coloring book packages, new original art and prints to my online store. Click SHOPS to browse! COUPON CODE: 8CFP3UD5

Beautiful Birds!

My new coloring book for 2023 is Beautiful Birds, a grayscale coloring book for adults. The images are from many different picture books I’ve done over the years that have images of birds in them. The Secret Garden, Five Nests, and The Golden Mare, to name just a few. There are 24 images in all, in both lighter and darker grayscale. Available on Amazon and as a PDF on ETSY. Look in FUN STUFF for a FREE PDF to download and color!

Three Amigos

This large scratchboard piece is currently at the International Scratchboard Society’s annual show in Tucson, Arizona. It is close to 20×30 inches and took a month to complete! The reference for this piece was a photo I took of our horses, Diva and Thor, greeting a visitor named Suki.

Scratchboard Plein Air Drawing

In the fall of 2023 I attended Fall Color Week in the Adirondacks, organized by Eric Rhoads and Plein Air Magazine. This is my third time at this fabulous event, one of my favorite weeks of the year where 100 artists draw and paint together for a week and stay at the same location. This year it took place on Saranac Lake in the Adirondacks. Usually I paint in oils for “plein air” (painting outside on location), but this year I decided to try my current favorite medium–scratchboard. At first I did the scene in both oils and scratchboard, and then I did a few where I spent most of the day on just the scratchboard. Here are some photos of locations and the scratchboards I did there. A few are available for sale in my Shops page, and a few will be available at Ceres Gallery in Portsmouth, NH. I will be offering more as I get a chance to do them!

Horses, Horses, Horses: Exhibition News

I have two upcoming library shows in MA featuring my illustrations of horses: from covers for the Black Stallion and the Horse Diaries series, my fairytale illustrations, Hush Little Horsie by author Jane Yolen, and my biography of Rosa Bonheur, A Storm of Horses. (Pictured) See the poster for location and details.