{"id":2212,"date":"2011-10-02T00:01:55","date_gmt":"2011-10-02T06:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2212"},"modified":"2011-10-02T00:03:26","modified_gmt":"2011-10-02T06:03:26","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-239-featuring-shelley-davies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2212","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #239: Featuring Shelley Davies"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>
\n

(Click to enlarge)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

Happy October, one and all. I think this may be my favorite month of all, and I cannot believe October of 2011 is already here. <\/p>\n

Since it’s the first Sunday of the month, I’ve got a beginning illustrator visiting today. Painter and illustrator Shelley Davies<\/a><\/strong> is not new, by any means, to making art, but she’s got her mind set on doing children’s book illustrations and is here today to share some of her artwork. Shelley lives on the western coast of Canada with her family (here’s<\/a><\/strong> her self-portrait)—pictured above is her own Mad Hatter tea party—and I’ll let her tell you all about her background and what she wants to do next: <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“<\/strong><\/font>Having spent many years in the animation industry, making everything from feature-length animated films, <\/em>Sesame Street shorts, and T.V. commercials (yes, I took part in the production of <\/em>Freddie & Eddie, The Dancing Shreddies<\/a><\/strong>…sorry…), progressing to scenic painting for theatre, film and television, I’m now pursuing my abiding love of illustration. Currently, I’m creating editorial illustrations for newspapers and magazines, while working towards a career in children’s illustration, a long-held dream of mine.<\/p>\n

I work in paint, collage, and cut paper — the brighter, the better. I adore the hand-made: the brushstroke, the splodge, the handwritten, the juxtaposition of collage elements that surprise and delight. I use a huge pair of scissors to cut as many tiny details as I can cram into a picture, which readers can discover as they roam around my illustrations, inviting repeat visits. Some of my fondest memories are of spending quiet afternoons with my sons when they were small, pouring over children’s picture books together. The more details, the better; a treasure hunt in a book was the best fun! More discussion, more cuddles, more pleasure in sharing a book. And that is my aim: to make colourful, joyous, and witty picture books that delight both children and adults alike. <\/p>\n

I started an art and illustration blog<\/a><\/strong> this year, where I can share both my own work and that of others. There’s just so much great work being done today, and it’s been a pleasure to come into contact with so many creative, like-minded people who love illustration as much as I do. Please come on over for a visit!“<\/strong><\/font><\/em><\/p>\n

Thanks to Shelley for visiting, and best of luck to her. Below is more artwork. You may click each image to enlarge and see it in more detail. <\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

All images are copyright Shelley Davies and reproduced with her permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

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. <\/p>\n

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
<\/center><\/p>\n

1)<\/strong><\/font> I spoke about picture books and illustration at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody Library this week, and it well. I had a good time anyway, and I hope the students got something out of it. <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> What is not<\/em> a kick is that we lost our cat, Lyra, to cancer this week. Here’s an older pic of her. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But what is<\/em> kick-ish, despite the absence of Lyra around here, is that—long story—we got a new kitten yesterday. Here we are picking her up from our friends Wes and Ritchie, whose cat, Mia, had a litter recently. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Meet Pumpkinfacehead:<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

He’s resting here after a stressful day of being taken away from his mama, getting shots at the vet, and entering a new home with a growly monster (the older cat, Arabelle). <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> Sam Phillips<\/a><\/strong> has been quiet on her Long Play, but this weekend she released a re-working of an older song called “Plastic is Forever,” and it’s kickin’-good. <\/p>\n

4)<\/strong><\/font> I’m very happy to be an advisory board member for Poetry Advocates for Children & Young Adults<\/a><\/strong>. More later on this wonderful group. <\/p>\n

5)<\/strong><\/font> The Autumn weather around here is pretty great. <\/p>\n

That’s about it this week. What about you? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Click to enlarge) Happy October, one and all. I think this may be my favorite month of all, and I cannot believe October of 2011 is already here. Since it’s the first Sunday of the month, I’ve got a beginning illustrator visiting today. Painter and illustrator Shelley Davies is not new, by any means, to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-seven-good-things-before-monday","category-picture-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2212"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2212\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2212"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2212"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}