Happy New Year!
2017 was a very different year for me. My focus and time was devoted almost entirely to family. With the birth of a daughter in July, I spent much of the first half of the year preparing for her arrival and the second half in a sleep deprived time warp. While she is considerably much easier in many ways than my son was at this age, the conflict lies in the dividing of attention required by two children, opposed to one. We had anticipated this tug-of-war, and in preparation we enrolled our son into a Co-Op preschool. This too brought it’s own set of challenges. To say the least, I found it very difficult to find time for my work. Now that it is the new year and our daughter is a little older, I have faith a balance can be upheld that will nurture both my home and career.
With that said, there were still some very exciting projects, releases, and landmarks that occurred in 2017. Two picture books were released. The first was my very own cautionary tale, Wicked Nursery Rhymes III, which is the third installment to the Wicked Nursery Rhymes trilogy published by Baby Tattoo Books. This was accompanied by the reprinting of the first two (long out-of-print) volumes. The second was Old MacDonald Had A Farm published by Scholastic. I consider Old MacDonald the first children’s book that I illustrated for children, inspired by my newborn son. I wrote and illustrated a story for an Over The Garden Wall comic book anthology. This would be my first venture into the professional comic book world. In January, I began working on artwork for The Masque of the Red Death board game, illustrating every component to the game (board, box cover, character designs, clock). MotRD will be released in May of 2018, with sneak peaks scheduled to hit social media between now and then. Be sure to follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for these updates.
Here’s what 2018 shall bring. I started a job illustrating a young adult chapter book and will be starting on the paintings soon. I will be able to announce and share more on this project in the months to come. I’m also contracted with Scholastic to deliver a second picture book. We have all agreed on the book and I’m really elated with the outcome and potential. I will hopefully be able to announce this book soon as well. Other than that, there are a few other things in the hopper which will get announced when the time is right.
I want to thank everyone for their support and enthusiasm. It’s not said enough, but it is because of you that I am able to do what I do. Ring out the old year and may all your devils exit with it. Ring in the new year and may prosperity and happiness follow. Me. I’ll just be grim.