7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #678: Featuring Noa Denmon
February 16th, 2020 by jules
Say hello to illustrator Noa Denmon. (That’s her self-portrait above.)
I read a just-released YA novel last week (which, by the way, I highly recommend) — Echo Brown’s Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard (Henry Holt, January 2020). I was really taken by the book’s cover art, and when I saw that it was by Noa Denmon, I visited her site and then emailed to see if I could secure her permission to share some of her art. Lucky for me, she said yes. So, today I’ve got a bit of her artwork. Here — isn’t it beautiful? — is the dustjacket of the novel I read:
How about that, right?
According to her bio at her site, Noa (who currently lives in Philadelphia) will have a children’s book out this year (July). Excellent news! Her site also says that she “works to bring … bright colors and patterns into stories uplifting the underrepresented; she hopes to create work that displays humanity and all of its differences.”
I thank her for allowing me to share her art today. Here’s some more. …
(Click to enlarge)
(Click to enlarge)
All images reproduced by permission of Noa Denmon.
Note for any new readers: 7-Imp’s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New kickers are always welcome.
1) Did I mention I devoured Black Girl Unlimited in, like, a day and a half? So good.
2) Valentine’s Day gifts from my family.
3) Finding just the right Star Wars mugs for my daughters for Valentine’s Day (i.e. “Yoda Obi-Wan for me.” You’re welcome. I’ll be here all week.)
4) “Unlovely” by the The Ballroom Thieves, particularly the lyrics (“It’s a lie we have to listen to you / You’re out of time / Step out of line”):
5) Re-building my playlist of favorite piano pieces. (Last year, I mysteriously lost the playlist, which I had carefully curated on iTunes, and it took a while for me to grieve. iTunes: Grr. But I’ve recovered and have started re-building. First World Problems, as they say, but duuude, I had built a killer playlist.)
6) Good, good novels.
7) Plans today to play board games and drink wine with Mr. Danielson and our friends.
What are YOUR kicks this week?
Good Morning. Thank you for sharing Noa Demmon with us. I really the Patience art. Excited to see she’ll have a children’s picture book this year.
Jules, how can you go wrong with board games and wine?
My kicks:
1. CYBILs Awards announced. Poetry winner INK Knows No Borders. It’s a gorgeous collection of poems about refugees, immigration.
2. CYBILs Award for Middle Grade Fiction. The book I nominated won! The Incredible Journey of Coyote Sunrise by Dan Gemeinhart
3. Poetry lessons with students.
4. Writing group.
5. The return of student poetry postcards for April.
6. Lengthening days.
7. Watching oldest grand swim.
Hello, Imps! Hello, Noa! Thank you for sharing your work. I particularly like the colors and the shading in the Vixen piece.
Jules: May rebuilding your playlist give you more joy than grief! That sounds very frustrating, but I hope you enjoy revisiting all of those lovely songs as you work!
Jone: Kudos and congrats to all of the Cybils recipients, nominees, readers, and team members.
My kicks from the past week:
1) Opportunities
2) Preparation
3) Acceptance
4) Truthful
5) Arrangements
6) Free time (what a concept!)
7) Good food
Wow. Love Noa’s powerful & beautiful art. especially her self-portrait & the dustjacket for Black Girl Unlimited. I can tell I’ll be getting that book for several friends this year.
Jules – wine & board games sounds very fun. Yay for finding just the right Valentine’s Star Wars mugs gifts & getting gifts in return. Thanks for the new music – now I’ll be looking for The Ballroom Thieves on Spotify.
Jone – Hooray for Coyote Sunrise winning! I loved that book. The lengthening days are definitely improving my mood & as ever, I’d like to get in on the poetry postcards.
Little Willow – I love kicks 6 & 7 the most this week – yay for free time & good food! Hope you fully enjoy both.
My kicks this week:
1) Baking chocolate chunk banana bread for Valentine treats to give out to friends.
2) Making a playlist of love songs & listening to artists I love but who aren’t in my steady rotation was very fun.
3) Watching the sweet fun of P.S. I Still Love You & the great chemistry of the 3 leads.
4) Morning pages.
5) Coffee, Daisy, sunshine, & a perfect egg sandwich.
6) Getting selected to be 1 of 16 letters turned into old letters by graphic designer Annie Atkins, who works on movies with Wes Anderson, including the new one.
7) This letter, (which I wish was my submission, but is not). I aspire to be the middle aged lady sending champagne & advice to young women (& young men) on bad dates: https://twitter.com/AnnieAtkins/status/1228277545617043456
7.5) Anticipating tonight’s watch party for the finale of The Outsider. No cooking, we’ve all agreed to order takeout from a favorite Thai restaurant.
Have a wonderful week Imps!
Jumping back in to add an extra kick I cannot believe I forgot to include, but its been overwhelming me – finally read Ashley Bryan’s book Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace after reading about it here. Such an incredible book.
Jone, congrats on the results of all your hard Cybils work!
Little Willow, enjoy that free time. I don’t imagine you get a lot of it.
Rachel: Wait. That was the finale? I think there is at least one more episode, right? (We are watching that too!) … Congrats on #6! That is so cool. And I loooove that letter you shared. So glad you like Ashley’s book. Isn’t it incredible?
Have a good week, you all.
Jules – we are dingdongs. After watching the previews last week we thought for sure that it as the finale. NOPE. there are 3 more episodes to go – total of 10 episodes for the season.
I can’t wait to see how it ends, Rachel. I have managed to avoid spoilers and have (obviously) never read the book, though my husband has.
I think there should be a watch party for EVERY ep. Why not?