Changing The Storyline

Each January, Port City Community Church here in Wilmington, North Carolina encourages those attending to pick a word rather than making a New Year’s resolution. For the past four years I have chosen one word as my focus. (In 2012 it was TRUST, in 2013 it was SOMETHING, in 2014 it was NEXT, in 2015 it was PREPARE). My One Word for 2016 is DISCERN.

As our lead Pastor, Mike Ashcraft says, “My One Word is a lens, by which we can see how God is working in us and through us as the year goes along.” You can read more from Mike in his book or check out MyOneWord.org.

New Years and New Year’s resolutions got me thinking about why they work for some and not for others. Why we follow through or why we fail. This lead me to reading several articles on the topic, and I glazed over numerous snippets about The Top Ten Things to Make 2016 Great.

Don’t get me wrong, I did pay attention to a lot of the suggestions and found some of them helpful, like drinking more water and getting a good night’s rest. One of the things I read that struck me more than anything was by Tony Ripa, who writes many of the devotions for Port City Community Church. Tony writes, “If our character changes, our behavior follows suit.”

Those words jumped out at me because in my little world of trying to write and illustrate my first children’s picture book the same thing happens. A character, usually the protagonist, begins on page one with a certain demeanor and attitude but something happens towards the middle of the 32 pages that transforms him/her and changes the ending.

The reason some resolutions stick for some people and not for others is because some people are transformed into different characters and others stay the same throughout the story.

The behavior change is something we can work on but the character change is about who we are and who we are becoming which happens in our hearts. If we try to reach our resolutions on our own, we are only able to address one aspect of it. We need God to work in us to transform our hearts.

Just like a picture book, we start 2016 on page one as a certain type of character. The transformation in the middle of the story can happen and change the ending. (And FYI, the middle of the book is always the most challenging).

As your story develops this year, I am excited by the page turning transformations that God is waiting to work in you and confident that the ending will look different than the beginning.

Go ahead. Pick a word. It could just change your whole story.

Smiles,

Wendy

My SCBWI Tomie DePaola Award Submission

If you ask anyone in my family, they will tell you, my favorite children’s book author and illustrator is Tomie dePaola. I am a huge fan! We were lucky enough to meet Tomie during a book signing at the Museum of Art in Cedar Rapids, Iowa when he turned 60. My girls (pictured below with Tomie) loved Strega Nona so it was a wonderful opportunity for us to meet the pasta pot creator while he was in town.

It was so fun to hear him speak about his work and bring his books home but the gallery of his picture book illustrations exhibited in the museum changed me. I don’t know how many repeat visits I made to his show or the length of time I spent looking and taking mental notes. It was embarrassing and yet it wasn’t enough.

That was 21 years ago and I still want to be like Tomie, as an artist and a person.

Above is my submission for the 2016 Tomie dePaola Award through the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. The 2016 prompt was to illustrate a moment from Philip Pullman’s version of “Little Red Riding Hood.” Tomie said, “Your task is to make me “FALL IN LOVE” with your illustration and especially with Red Riding Hood. I want to “meet her” for the first time.”

Her grandmother lived in the woods, about half an hour’s walk away. When Little Red Riding Hood had only been walking a few minutes, a wolf came up to her. She didn’t know what a wicked animal he was, so she wasn’t afraid of him.

Thanks for the opportunity Tomie!

Smiles,

Wendy

Thanks Giving

I love Thanksgiving. I love being with family and friends and celebrating our together time. But Thanksgiving is more than a happy celebration. It is our response to that happiness that brings us true joy.

For those of you who remember Johnny Carson on the Tonight Show, you may also remember at Thanksgiving, he would read letters from children on how to cook a turkey. The letters were always fun and reminded me of children’s simple thought processes. Usually, they went something like this:

1. Buy a 40 lb turkey.
2. Stuff him with something.
3. Cook him for 10 minutes.
4. When Dad carves him, make sure his wings aren’t moving.

While your children are learning about Thanksgiving and how to cook a turkey, you might want to incorporate this into your tradition.

Set up a little craft time with the kids prior to your dinner. (You know there is always a kids table). Lay out an assortment of markers, construction paper, crayons and scissors. Draw around each child’s hand to make “the turkey.” Cut out the turkey shape in one continuous cut. Remove the turkey shape but DO NOT throw away the other piece that shows their hand cut out!  It is the most important part!!!!

Let the kids decorate their turkeys and place one next to each guest’s plate. The other piece, the hand cutout, can lay directly on each plate. Tell the kids the turkeys will make wonderful table decorations but the most important part is the cut out of their “praise hands.”

The joy that is ours at Thanksgiving is offering up praise to God and thanking him for the many ways he has blessed us. If you throw away the praise hands, you are only left with turkeys!

Don’t throw away the most meaningful part of the day. Don’t overlook the joy time by jumping right to the turkey and forgetting the praise hands. As you gather around your table, thoroughly enjoy all of God’s blessings as each guest shares then use your praise hands to give him thanks.

Have a great time Thanks Giving!

Smiles,

Wendy

Which Witch Day

When I was little, I thought Halloween revolved around me. Goodness, I thought Halloween was created for me as an extension of my special day. Looking at the photographs of my third birthday party, one can see how I came to that conclusion. My birthday is just a few hours shy of Halloween. Between the parties, candy, gifts, cake and costumes, it was a kid’s dream.

Even though the black and white pictures don’t fully showcase the party rainbow, it was all there. The golden afternoon sun, popcorn balls covered in bright cellophane wrappers, Red Delicious apples ready for bobbing, twisted black and orange crepe paper streamers, balloons tied to the clothesline and smiling Jack-O’-Lanterns dotted the landscape. Those colors were vivid and magical.

The magic continued when my Mom brought out apple cider and her homemade witch cake. She had cleverly used two oblong pans to create the most delicious yellow cake then strategically cut them into just the right amount of rectangles, triangles and squares to restructure them into a cute witch face covered with purple and lime green icing and matching colored coconut. My Uncle Rodney ate the witch’s nose.

When I opened my presents, among them was a new Halloween costume that I would live in for the next week. The other gifts were all my favorites: play dough, puzzles, coloring books, crayons and craft supplies. I was sure I now had enough craft supplies to embellish my costume if needed.

After the excitement was over and the guests said good-bye, I went inside and crawled up in my chair. I could now bask in the glow and prepare for the next 24 hours of fun. I kicked back in my acetate Yogi Bear costume while consuming another piece of cake. My paper bag ready to be filled with candy was secure in my lap as I watched Casper the Friendly Ghost cartoon. The kicker was the name of Casper’s best friend-Wendy, the Witch.

Maybe it really was all about me.

Smiles,

Wendy

In A Nutshell

This most recent feature illustration for my blog post consumed a lot of my time; in hindsight, perhaps too much of my time. The reason was a desire for perfection.

I needed the perfect message to coincide with a perfect illustration to create the perfect blog post that would capture fall and thankfulness. This would all be neatly tied up with a bow to match my business tag line of Simple, Fun, and Meaningful.

You see, next week is the regional conference for SCBWI, The Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. In order to stay connected, I will be handing out lots of business cards. The cards will prompt visits to my site and since this probably will be my last post before the conference, this will be the landing image. Like the opening number to a musical, it needs to be exciting and have visitors looking forward to more.

The problem with trying to attain perfection is you never do.

I recently read Eliza Wheeler’s blog post (BTW, she is one of my favorite children’s book illustrators. Check out her amazing illustrations in Wherever You Go). She wrote the post after returning home from the National SCBWI Conference in LA this summer. In it she recounts emotions of being in a venue and learning from the best but also having that sinking feeling of “I Suck.”

That desire of having the next illustration be better than the one before can be a boulder or a stepping stone depending on what attitude is brought to the drawing table.

The defeatist attitude can become overwhelming with the sea of talent out there.

The comfort comes from knowing that perfection is neither expected nor attainable. Our Creator can even use our messes to help us get over the boulders and on to the next stepping stone. He meets us right where we are with poorly drawn squirrels and all to remind us of just how blessed we are and to be thankful that all we have to do is look to his perfection for daily guidance and share what he has given us in the best way we know how.

That is a good message in a nutshell.

Smiles,

Wendy

One For The Team

Honestly, Steve’s answer may come off as being a little snarky but it is a pretty good response. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend using it on your next job interview but when you think about it, you can’t extend yourself to be more.  If you do try, it’s very likely that your family time, your quiet time or health will start to falter. There is still only ONE of you and only 24 hours in a day.

So what will you add? You will add ONE person to the mix with all the specialness that God gave you and only you.

So make the decision to be the best ONE you can be today. Keep your life balanced and keep going!

Smiles,

Wendy

Your Sketchbook

This morning, I scanned through some of my subscribed YouTube channels and landed on a video of a college art instructor who gives his students the opportunity to share their development of his instruction by showcasing their daily sketchbook exercises. The sketchbooks, were just that, a bound book, approximately one inch thick, originally full of blank pages, now with the front and back of each page fully utilized.

Each book was beautiful and unique, just like each student artist. Some sketchbooks hinted at animation interests, some fine art, a few reminded me of figure drawing classes. The more technical books shared fine architectural drawings and my favorite ones suggested an interest in children’s book illustration. Such a complex variety was presented, yet they had the same instructor.

One thing remained constant. In every presentation, each page slowly showed an increase in skill, knowledge and the ability to carry out the drawings less painstakingly. There were less eraser marks and the faint lines of the early pages gave way to sure, confident marks toward the end. It was as if their skill level started to become more natural. They didn’t have to think about it. It just happened.

Each day we have the opportunity to listen and learn from our heavenly instructor. He allows us to showcase His instructions through our daily exercises. Each one of us unique in our presentations; each day spent with the instructor can result in growth in our hearts which will ultimately determine the kind of marks we make.

Smiles,

Wendy