List of Available Prints & Books

My PayPal account is making things more difficult than they need to be. So, until I have some free time to assess the situation and fix it on my shop page on my website, here is a list of items and prices, for your shopping pleasure!

Please contact me by email to place an order, or with any questions. Special orders of other images from both books available upon request.

Books:

(Be sure to include in your order any names you would like the books specifically signed for!)

"Down East in the Ocean" Hardcover $16.95 +tax
Click HERE for description!

"Down East in the Ocean" Hardcover $16.95 +tax
Click HERE for description!

Wood Mounted Prints:

(Hand made, printed on watercolor paper, signed and ready to hang. Prints made from pen & ink and watercolor originals)

Laughing Gulls; 5"x7"; $20

Crawling Crabs; 5"x7"; $20

Spouting Whales; 5"x7"; $20

Floating Jellies; 5"x7"; $20

Island Sunrise; 5"x5"; $20

Chickadee (High Branch); 5"x5"; $20

Chickadee (Flying); 5"x5"; $20

Chickadee (Low Branch); 5"x5"; $20

Moose on Green; 5"x5"; $20

Moose on Purple; 5"x5"; $20

Matted or Unmatted Prints:
(Signed,  printed on archival photo paprer. Option of matted ($35) to 11"x14" frame, or 8"x10
 unmatted and backed ($25). 

Prints made from pen & ink and watercolor originals

 )

Puffin Watch; 8"x10"; $25/$35

Shooting Stars; 8"x10"; $25/$35

Lighthouse; 8"x10"; $25/$35

Island Stroll; 8"x10"; $25/$35

Book signing at Maine Audubon

Got plans this Saturday morning?

 It's the 6th annual Museum Shopper’s Day at Gilsland Farm.

Participating museums are Maine Historical Society, Maine Audubon Society, Portland Headlight Museum, Tate House, Greater Portland Landmarks, Maine Wildlife Park, Falmouth Historical Society, and Scarborough Historical Society. And Suzanne and I will be there with My Maine, too!

Come pick up a copy of "My Maine" 

at the 

Maine Audubon (Falmouth*) 

this Saturday, Nov. 19th,

where the author and I will be there signing books 

from 

9am-4pm

As always, I'll have freebie coloring activities for any kids who stop by. We'd love to meet you!

The holidays are just around the corner, and there's no such thing as too many books!

This is such a beautiful place and Saturday is looking sunny. Make an afternoon of it, do some shopping, and take a little walk through the nature paths...before it snows! 
(Actually, I just found out that you can rent showshoes there in the winter to explore the paths for only $5! Fun!) 

 Hope to see you this Saturday!

*20 Gilsland Farm Road

 Falmouth, Maine 04105

(207) 781-2330 

info@maineaudubon.org

Fabulous Friends Friday-Christina!

Oops! I'm a day late. I'm sure I'm not the only one who November snuck up upon!

This month I'd like to introduce you to my fabulous friend, Christina Rodriguez! 

We were roommates at the University of Hartford, and studio-mates in the illustration studio. We were always among the last to leave in the wee hours of the morning senior year, working hard and motivating each other to stay and paint paint paint! She's one of the hardest working people I know, and she has a really unique style that's always full of life, texture, and vibrant colors. She works with oil paints, primarily, and has a clear love of painting animals. This woman will literally want to paint each strand of hair on a ferret, and every feather on an owl. She's got patience, that's for sure, and it shows!

All her distinctive techniques can be seen in her brand new children's book, ¡A Bailar! (Let's Dance!). 

I'm so excited for her new book, and I can't wait to get my hands on a copy of my own! Not long ago, she was faced with a terrible hardship, when her apartment (in New Jersey) caught fire and burnt down. Thank god she and everyone in the building were okay, though she lost just about everything, including almost all of her artwork, which as an artist, we all have certain attachments to after spending countless hours on our work. But in classic Christina style, she didn't let it destroy her. She got right back up, and got right back to work. She's a strong and wonderful lady, and I'm so proud of her! 

Visit her website here to see more of her work: http://www.crodillustration.com

And be sure to "Like" my Facebook page for the full list of posts. 

Busy October

I spent a good part of October in the studio working out the sketches and layout for my new picture book. But when I wasn't sitting and sketching and wracking my brain for ideas, I was busy prepping for a few events!

•

A couple of weeks ago I took part in a group Down East book signing with several wonderfully talented and kind authors and illustrators. The event took place at the Portland Public Library on a Saturday afternoon. We all had activities for kids to participate in, from decorating cookies with Katie Clark, to tail shaking and froggy hopping games from Pond Babies, with Cathryl Falwell, and making books about their own 7 Days, like in 7 Days of Daisy, with Jamie Hogan. I brought some coloring pages from Down East in the Ocean, that you can download here, and some freebie pins with images from Down East in the Ocean on them! All the kids who came also participated in a scavenger hunt, thanks to Kirsten Cappy of Curious City. I had a great time chatting with the other illustrators and authors. I enjoy the group events because I get the opportunity to pick the minds of wonderfully talented folks who have been in the business and can offer me advice. I always leave with new bits of information, which I appreciate. My camera wasn't working well, but I caught a few...

The kids loved Cathryn Falwell's games and crafts!

We did a drawing and gave away one of each of the books for the kids.
A lucky little girl named Truly won mine!

•••••••••••

The next day, I drove down to Kittery where I had a table at an outdoor fall bazaar/flea market type sale near the outlet shops on Rt.1.  The turnout was a bit dismal, unfortunately, but at least it was a good excuse to prepare all my prints, so now I have a good stock for future sales...and I had Riley with me for good company!

Even though she was a little bored, she kept me company and kept me warm

•••••••••••

Then, my last little project in October was more on the crafty side! My good friend, Toni, is in the process of launching and marketing her own business. She is a chef, and is available for private catering, cooking lessons/demonstrations, private chef, and special occasion baking! Mmm. So, Toni cooked up a wonderful meal and we invited some good friends over to have a photo shoot/dinner party, to get some good shots for her website--coming soon! I played photographer for the evening, and I put together the centerpiece and table, to accompany her beautiful meal. It was a fun excuse to get crafty in the cozy fall, and we did it all on the cheap, which was great! The centerpiece was put together primarily with items we already had around the house, and only spent about $25 on the rest (mainly the fabric for the table runner and some candles). We had a blast and will definitely be doing more. Stay tuned for info on Chefette Toni, as well!

Mason jars, flowers, candles, pretty fabric, Chinese Lanters...so warm and lovely!

Delicious fig and goat cheese spread. And I mean deeeelicious.

The wonderful chef(ette)!

I got lots of the ideas for the party on Pinterest.com, be sure to check it out...if you feel like killing some time. It's easy to get lost in there!

Phew, very full October!

Current Book Project

I thought I'd share a little bit of the cover from the newest children's book that I'm working on at the moment. Just a little taste, since the cover hasn't been finished by the publisher's designer at this point, and I want to share that when it's in full effect. But, since we still don't even have a title, I'm thinking it may be a while on that one! So here's a little sliver of my latest work!

(Stippled in Sepia ink with watercolor.)

And a BIG thanks to my beautiful long distance model, Lily, 

and her talented--and patient--photographer for the day, Julie, for helping me capture the lovely reference shots for this piece!

Side note: Technology is a wonderful thing. I was able to watch the "photo shoot" via Skype on their iPhone, while Julie snapped the photos on another camera and showed me the images on the phone as they went. Directing a shoot in a back yard in California from my desk in Maine. Good stuff.

 Thank you, Steve Jobs.

Stamp Love

(To see samples of the block mounted images, hop over to this recent post)

Looking pretty legit with my snazzy new custom rubber stamp! Now the back of all my prints are stamped with my name, website, and Portland, Maine (where they were hand made) in permanent, archival, waterproof, ink. This'll save me lots of time, so I don't have to label each one by hand...and it looks much nicer! Great for gifts, and Made in Maine souvenirs!

Start thinking about the holidays, folks!

It's the little things that are so fun :)

For anyone interested in making their own custom stamp, I used SimonStamp and highly recommend it. Arrived within a week of ordering it, and for all the time it's saving me, definitely worth the cost, which start around $10.

This weekend's events!

Full weekend of book selling and activities! I hope to see you at one (or both!) of these events!

 Contact me if you need directions or more information.

Saturday, Oct. 22

11am-2pm

Portland Public Library

&

Sunday, Oct. 23

10am-3pm

240 Rt. One, Kittery, Maine

You may have seen me post this a few weeks ago, but the rain date was put into action, so here it is for this weekend!

It's never too early to start holiday shopping ;)

Post a Review!

"Just a friendly reminder from your PR department to encourage all your friends, relatives, business contacts, even people who remotely like you to leave a review of your book on Amazon…it often helps in the placement of your book within the search lists. And, because the buying public is easily swayed by others' opinions, it could sell a few extra books!"


This was a good reminder, and I'd like to take a moment to ask you for your help! If you have either of my books, or have seen them, please take a minute or two to write a quick review and give them some some good ratings! I appreciate any kind words, no matter how short or long the write up may be. Thanks for your support! 

Click here to review Down East in the Ocean on Amazon.

also on Barnes & Noble

also on Down East Enterprises

Click here to review My Maine on Amazon.

Thanks, everyone!

Sunday, Oct. 8 My Maine signing

I know it's last minute, but there will be a book signing by the author of "My Maine" at Portland Head Light (right outside the gift shop) on Sunday, October 8th from 10:30-1:30! Such warm weather for this weekend, why not take a little stroll around the lighthouse and say hi to Suzanne! (And congratulate her, too--she recently had a baby boy!!)

I won't be able to attend this one, but I'll have a couple events next weekend in Portland and Kittery, so stay tuned for more fall signings!

Fabulous Friends Friday, October!

October edition!  And O is for....

OLGA!

"Island Friends" © Olga Levitskiy 2011

Olga Levitskiy is an incredible illustrator whose work I simply adore. Based in New Jersey, and another fellow Hartford Art School Alumni, Olga's drawings and paintings are always so full of character, warmth and charm. She has two published children's books, "Mr. Groundhog Wants the Day Off" and "Team Dawg: Trevor's Bully Problem". She covers a wide range of subject matter and styles, from cozy and comical little characters, to perfected figure and anatomy studies. You may even recognize her work from the winning image for a recent Strathmore drawing paper pad competition!

I went out and bought three of them!

© Olga Levitskiy 2011

Yup. I'm a big Olga fan.

Be sure to check out her website here, as well as her latest endeavor, LLC Events (party planning, invitations, decoration, etc)!

Visit her website here to see more of her work: http://www.illustrationsbyolga.com

And be sure to "Like" my Facebook page for the full list of posts.