ALL our Prints are Stories!

Did you know that every time you buy one of our limited edition prints, there is a certificate of limited edition included that let's you know which number out of the edition your print is, AND there's also an activity suggestion that comes along with your print.

It's a simple but very effective and fun activity. Here is the gist of it:

Looking at your Draw Me A Lion limited edition print, pretend that the image was the cover of a picture book. What do you think the story might be about? Who might be in it? What might happen next and ...how might the story end? Write down the answers and draw a picture to go along with them. The result will be a fun story that you will have created yourself...with a little inspiration from Draw Me A Lion. 

Here is a little bit of my inspiration. Always a fan of picture books of any kind!

AND, more excellent news: 

This suggested activity is now included in ALL of the Draw Me A Lion prints, limited edition AND ongoing edition! So no matter what print you get, you'll always have a fun and easy way to create a story out of it! 

That's why our motto is: We need Your Imagination!

Inspiration: Alexander Calder

                               

We all know Alexander Calder for his amazingly beautiful mobiles, but I did not know until some years back that he was also the creator and ringmaster of a very magical circus that he made and also performed with as a 'one-man-circus-art show'so to say. This is something I would have really loved to see live. However, not to fret, there is a great video of him performing his charming circus on hand.

I had the chance to see this video and others on Calder along with several rooms full of his amazing mobiles and the inhabitants of his circus when I went to Seattle with a good friend of mine back in 2009 at the Art Gallery there. It was most likely my favorite art exhibit I had ever seen. Which really means a lot, because I have been to quite a few in my life time. :) 

 Alexander Calder's mobiles are so full of life, and move so elegantly that they seem actually alive, organic and it is as if you can watch them breath, each in it's own strange rhythm. If I will ever get my hands on tons of money in life I'll be sure to be the proud owner of a living and breathing Calder mobile. So inspired by this man's creations and so in agreement with his philosophy on life and art. 

Eric Carle's Father

I have recently read the fantastic book "The Art of Eric Carle" in which Carle not only talks about his art, but also about his life, his upbringing and inspiration. Carle loved his father who was also artistically inclined but was unable to realize this goal himself because his family did not allow it. So while his father could not be an artist himself he installed and fostered Eric's artistic side, encouraging him to paint and look closely at the world around him. Eric and his father were very close and if you look at any interview with Eric Carle he will always talk about his father as his main inspiration and the person responsible for giving him the gift of love.


When Eric Carle lists "some of the basic ingredients to a few of his books" in "The Art of Eric Carle" the following quote is one of them.

" My father's love and his sense for passing on existing knowledge"


I also found this cute video of Eric Carle's book "Papa Please Get Me The Moon" and which of course is dedicated to Carle's Father.




Here is another post about Eric Carle I recently wrote for my I Heart Picture Books blog. Enjoy.

A Card for Dad

I didn't have a dad growing up myself that I could dedicate this entry in the honor of father's day to. It's no big deal, my mom and dad split up before I was even a couple months old. We never saw him again and I don't bear any grudges, it was probably for the best. Today when I think of the word 'Dad' I don't think of my own dad, but I think of all of my awesome friends that are now dad's themselves. I think of how great they are and how proud they are of their kids and how they are trying to do everything they can to make their children have a safe, interesting, exciting and fun childhood. 

My friend Justin is one of my oldest friends who now has a son of his own and I'd like to dedicate this fathers day card to him and his super cute son Jude.  

I'm pretty happy with how colourful and happy this card turned out and I'm even more happy to let you know that it comes with this -brand new to the shop- 100% recycled kraft envelope. Yay for dads and yay for recycling! Grab one and get ready for that special dad in your life! 

NEW Music Themed Colouring Postcard Booklet

Hurrah! The new colouring postcard booklets have arrived!

 The animal themed postcard booklet was such a huge hit that I decided I had to make a new one in time for summer. The booklets are made so that they're super fun to colour for both young and old and are a great alternative to just a regular colouring book, where you don't really know what to do with it after you're done colouring all the pages. Well, when you're done colouring these guys here, you can write the address of someone special on the back, and mail it to them. The booklets are so small and light that they're perfect for Summer traveling. Take one along on all your vacation travels. Tuck it in your purse, slip it in your little ones activity bag along with some markers and you're all set to go.

Each spring I start to feel very musical and so I decided to make this the theme for the new colouring booklet.... Music! Of course there are also kids and animals involved, but really when aren't there kids and animals in my drawings? I also made the suggestion on the back of the booklet that instead of writing a message on the postcard, you could draw a brand new drawing on the back of either you with your favorite instrument or your friend with theirs. Wouldn't you like to get a card in the mail that has two drawings on it? One on the front, AND one on the back? I know... me tooo!

The Flowers Are Here!

This is the most I've ever loved flowers in my life. I used to like them ok, but now I really really love them. I've been taking pictures of flowers almost every time I take my funny dog out for a walk and they are inspiring me tons. I think there might be even more flower inspired new items on the way!

How neat would it be, to be tiny and in a field of flowers? I seem to be thinking about this a lot because I keep on drawing kids that are either microscopic next to regular flowers, or even better yet, regular sized kids next to huge magical flowers. While we're at it lets just pretend that the flowers can talk too. 

Maurice Sendak - Truly a Lion

 One week ago was the day Maurice Sendak died. It's already been a whole week that has gone by since then, and that seems crazy. It was really very strange for me to hear about this. It made me realize something quite sad which is that a lot of the great illustrators or writers of children's books that I love and admire so much are either already dead, or are getting older and older, just like everyone else.
The beautiful stories they have created however won't be leaving us along with them. They will always remain with us, and for those of us who really loved them they will actually become part of us. Part of what we are made out of. Part of what we believe in and part of what we will want to pass onto those new generations to come.

I know that Maurice Sendak's stories will continue to make an impact on those that read them for years and years to come and will be responsible for many new ideas and creative projects. Thank you Maurice Sendak for your trust in yourself to tell stories that were so often the centre of controversy. You stuck with your gut and with what you knew was important to children and that takes a whole heap of courage.

I also wrote a blog entry on Maurice Sendak on the "I Heart Picture Book" blog here, and made this illustration in his honor which you can view here on my Sketchblog.