Dear Creative Community,
The summer warmth is a celebration. A time to enjoy the fruits of creativity.
A seed of a project that was planted last autumn, hibernated and grew during the winter, showed its early blossoms this spring is now finally ready to bloom in the summer sun. My latest project is Companion Classics: Fine Portraits of Fine Pets. It combines my love of art history with the here and now of adorable, comforting, playful pet companions. Please share this widely. Perhaps you, or someone in your community, would be interested in an original hand-painted portrait of a loved companion.
Mary Cleary, Dos Gatos
I call this one “Who’s a Good Girl with a Pearl Earring?” (Said in your best cutesy, pet-voice).
Other recent illustration adventures include the much anticipate return of the New England Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators conference this May. The city of Stamford, Connecticut and UConn joined forces to welcome hundreds of creatives as we learned, shared and celebrated children’s literature.
This year’s theme was Hope is a Thing with Feathers. Emily Dickinson, you persist.
Highlights of this conference include the wit and wisdom of Deborah Freedman and the engaging energy of Rajani LaRocca. These accomplished women are examples of the modern-day polymath—architect and artist, doctor and author.
We are all many things—creators, companions, caregivers, teachers, students. What are examples of the many, many things that you are?
Enjoy the summer warmth, reflect and celebrate the multitude of things that you are.
Be creative!
Mary