Story Hour

Snowbot

Rough Landing

Double Secret Mystery Project

This is Steve, he's part of an exciting new project that I'm contributing to. Can't tell you anything else right now, don't even ask. You know you want to.

Road Trip

Rowbot

l'Aquarium

My Favorite Season

Five Little Monkeys

A Polite Request

Radiation City asked me to make a poster for their upcoming show. And they said, "Can it have mice? Living in a city? Under water?"

Crooked Man

I recently got to spend a day in the Portland studio of my son Marc, who is a gifted printmaker. We had a great time and under his tutelage I made my very first woodcut. It's just a toe in the water, but I hope to do more in the future.

And yes. I did just use the word "tutelage."

Floater

Inked

I never wanted a tattoo, they are so permanent and my mind is so not. I knew that I would become tired of whatever art I chose without waiting too long.

Then a few weeks ago I saw a tattoo on the arm of a local artist/carpenter called Floyd Davis. It was a lined spiral-bound notebook with nothing written on it. He uses it to write lists of what he needs to pick up at the hardware store. Wow! How pragmatic! I thought that if I was ever going to get inked, it would have to be something along those lines.

Then I remembered my art school buddy Chuck. Whenever we saw an unusual character walking down the street we would shout "Where's my sketchbook?!" That's it. A blank sketchbook page would be the perfect solution for me. Always present, waiting for those moments when I saw the perfect thing to draw or a light bulb appeared above my head.

The next week Debra and I flew out to Portland to visit our three kids. Deb's daughter Lizzy plays in an amazing band called Radiation City and as luck would have it, they were participating in a benefit while we were there. The show was on a ship that cruised the Willamette River and raised money for a local radio station.

As we boarded we passed a table where they were selling raffle tickets for a dollar apiece. One of the prizes was for one hour at a local tattoo parlor, and Debra's other daughter Christine won it! As I walked up to congratulate her she proudly held out the winning ticket and said, "I want you to have this!"

Bluff called. The universe was telling me to get my sketchpad, and I have found it unwise to argue with the universe. From now on, whenever I have a "Where's my sketchbook?" moment, I will know the answer. Maybe I'll start a new blog and post all of the drawings...

Now where's my pen?

Round-up

"You can tell a true cowboy by the type of horse that he rides."

Have Book Will Travel!

For the last couple of weeks I've been having a great time thinking up spot art for the Illinois Library Association's iREAD® Summer reading project for next year. This time their theme is "Have Book Will Travel."

And they were kind enough to let me throw in a couple of robots just for fun.

Beep Boop

Beep Boop BUY! Music written and performed by Marc Girouard

Bouncebot

Fish Hut

Natureboy

Bakerbot

Prompt, Fresh, Untouched by Human Hands!

Curiosity

"Curiosity is lying in wait for every secret." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tightrope Laundry

cowboy mummy pirate

Like rock scissors paper but not really.

“Conflict is the beginning of consciousness.” - M. Esther Harding

On Schedule

"Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Garden Help

"Garden as though you will live forever." - William Kent

Storyteller

His Little Ford

Earlier this year I was asked to contribute illustrations to a man's wedding vows. Who could pass up an opportunity like that?

Here's a video from the special day!

Rebecca + Ari // The Lakehouse Inn- Perkasie, PA from Glen Elliott on Vimeo.

Reading is so Delicious!

Last year I was invited to create several posters for the Illinois Library Association's summer reading program. Their theme was "Reading is so Delicious!"

One of them was recently used as inspiration for an amazing cake by Celeste Dolan of Celestial Kitchens in Chicago!

I'm only sorry that I wasn't able to enjoy a slice...

Here she is showing the finished product off to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emmanuel and Zina Murray of Logan Square Kitchen.

Take your giraffe to work day.

Best Sketchbook Ever

My friend Maribeth Mercer made this for me. Now I just need to work up the nerve to draw in it.

Springtime.

"You can cut all the flowers but you cannot keep spring from coming." ~ Pablo Neruda