I've Moved!

I hauled all of my virtual belongings over to tumblr for the time being, please visit emilylaurelharris.tumblr.com or my new book blog, The Tiny Bookshelf. Hope to see you!

Happy December!

Can you believe it's already December? I created a little virtual advent calendar over on my tumblr if you are interested in following along and counting down to Christmas with me! 

Favorite Picture Books of 2012

Hello, friends! As usual, it's been a while and I am a bad blogger. BUT since it's almost the end of the year (can you believe it?!) and it's Picture Book Month (yay!), I thought I would share some my favorites that were published in 2012. What are yours? I would love to know!

 And Then It's Spring, written by Julie Fogliano and illustrated by Erin E. Stead, published by Roaring Brook Press
-A little boy and his dog, (turtle and rabbit, too!) plant some seeds and eagerly anticipate the arrival of spring. This simple story is made wonderful by the illustrations and muted color palette.

 Sweet Dreams, written by Rose A. Lewis and illustrated by Jen Corace, published by Abrams Books
-Oh, how I love Jen Corace's illustrations! This is just such a lovely rhyming bedtime story.

 Olivia the Fairy Princess, written and illustrated by Ian Faconer, published by Atheneum
-Now you could argue that Olivia has become a bit a franchise, but I still love the books. The latest is one of my favorites, simply because Olivia, like myself, is sick of princesses! She has a bit of an identity crisis in this story because she doesn't want to be ordinary, she wants to stand out! Follow her humorous journey to answer that question in this quirky book.

 More, written by I. C. Springman, illustrated by Brian Lies, published by Houghton Mifflin
-Goodness, I love this book about a magpie who collects too much stuff and his little mice friends show him how less can be more.

 The Insomniacs, written by Karina Wolf, illustrated by The Brothers Hilts, published by Putnam
-A fabulous story of a family that moves twelve time zones away for a new job and has trouble adopting to the time change. They discover a whole new world at night when they are unable to sleep, and eventually find beauty in their new schedule. This book channels Charles Addams and Edward Gorey which is probably why I like it so very much.

The Mastery of Alvin & Elaine Lustig

This afternoon I wandered over to the gallery at the College of Visual Arts in St. Paul to check out a fabulous exhibit filled with the work of Alvin and Elaine Lustig. There were almost 500 book, album and magazine covers designed by the amazing couple.

Alvin Lustig accomplished so much in his short life, he died at the young age of forty due to complications with diabetes. He lost his vision towards the end of his life and his wife basically became his eyes, as he would dictate his design ideas to her and she would execute them.

I need to go back again to fully soak in all of the design goodness, and I must order this book asap. If you like books, design or anything from the mid-century era, I highly recommend this exhibit! 

 

 

New Pattern: Feathers?

It's been quiet around here, this is true. Between starting a new job and trying to enjoy every bit of summer that I can, I haven't had much time for blogging. Yikes. I have been posting some projects over on my tumblr: http://www.emilylaurelharris.tumblr.com/ including this pattern that I recently completed. As I began adding color, the pattern began to look like a group of Blue Jay feathers.

More soon!

On My Bookshelf: A Tree is Nice

The weather has been crazy this week. It has been so hot and steamy, yesterday it got up to 100! We have been spending a lot of time indoors, sketching, reading and watching Netflix. I was scouring my bookshelves trying to find a cool, summery book to share and found this little gem.

A Tree is Nice by Janice May Udry, illustrated by Marc Simont published by Harper & Brothers in 1956. This book won the Caldecott Medal in 1957.

I just love Marc Simont's work, he illustrated the Nate the Great books, and one of my childhood favorites, The Philharmonic Gets Dressed.

 

    

 

 

 

What I Wore & Because I Need More Things To Update...

Yes, it's true. I started a Tumblr because it's a quick and easy way for me to post the bits and pieces of projects that I am working on. Oh my, we will see how long this lasts!

Last week, as a little challenge, I decided to sketch what I wore to work each day. I think I was channeling Anna Wintour while drawing these. Obviously, I wanted to appear intimidating. LOL.