(Photo credit: Kara Gingras. www.kgingrasphotography.com)
WHY PICTURE BOOKS:
Characters, stories, and design have always been my jam. I grew up watching cartoons and fell in love with the entire concept of animated movies. After high school I went to Mass Art in Boston to study animation. I never thought about picture books until after I graduated art school. A picture book project magically landed in my lap and forever changed the game. It's everything I love combined into paper form. And it takes a lot...um...less time.
Characters, stories, and design have always been my jam. I grew up watching cartoons and fell in love with the entire concept of animated movies. After high school I went to Mass Art in Boston to study animation. I never thought about picture books until after I graduated art school. A picture book project magically landed in my lap and forever changed the game. It's everything I love combined into paper form. And it takes a lot...um...less time.
ART:
I've worked on a variety of books and so I've developed a variety of styles. Certain books call for certain art and I love exploring that process with every project. I work in a combination of digital and mixed media. I make my own textures with paint or whatever is on my desk and scan those in. These "swatches" are kept in a very disorganized archive in my computer. Sometimes I digitally cut out pieces to layer together and sometimes I just paint with digital brushes. Sometimes I combine the two.
WRITING:
For me, writing picture books is a way to make the art I want to make and create the characters living in my brain. There are a lot of them! The clearer the personality of the character, the easier it is for me to think of a plot. I like to play with a couple stories at once because I find that when I get stuck on one, I can tinker with the other.
I think I've always liked to write. I've kept journals my entire life and I still have all of them. In fact, here is a riveting journal entry from when I was 10. Get excited.
“Wednesday July 15 1998, TODAY IS MY BIRTHDAY!!! I am so excited because today is the big day and I can’t wait to see what I got for presents. It’s about 10:00 am and I having my party at 12:30 am so I have to wait a couple hours but that’s ok. I realy tern 10 on July 29 but I am selibrating it on the 15 of July. I only have two friends coming to the pool party but only 1 can sleep over.”
As you can see I loved being positive, I loved details, and I loved being honest! Nothing has changed.
And I just told you when my birthday is so DON'T FORGET!
SMALLER ME:
I was a funky little thing. I loved Little Mermaid and Zorro and Power Rangers and orca whales. I was always drawing and making random trinkets for my Mom. And clearly from that left picture I loved working from home.
I also loved backpacks and putting things in them. I have this distinct memory of putting a rotary phone in my TROLL backpack and riding into the sunset with it. Or maybe just to the end of the street. But I liked to think I was going somewhere important. I really liked phones.
I was a funky little thing. I loved Little Mermaid and Zorro and Power Rangers and orca whales. I was always drawing and making random trinkets for my Mom. And clearly from that left picture I loved working from home.
I also loved backpacks and putting things in them. I have this distinct memory of putting a rotary phone in my TROLL backpack and riding into the sunset with it. Or maybe just to the end of the street. But I liked to think I was going somewhere important. I really liked phones.
RANDOM FACTS JUST BECAUSE:
*I'm currently in yoga teacher training and it's pretty great.
*I used to be an elementary, middle school, high school, and adult art teacher. It was the best. But being a professional artist was always my little heart's calling. I heard you LOUD AND CLEAR, Little Heart!
*One time I worked as a hostess at a restaurant and sat Steven Spielberg and George Lucas together at a table. I like to think the way I gracefully handed out the menus inspired their next film.
*My favorite food is potato chips. Any kind. Any flavor. I love them. The end.
*My husband is not related to Robert Frost. Although he does write nice birthday cards.
*My full name is Madison. I was named after the mermaid Daryl Hannah plays in the movie Splash. Yeah, 80's!
*In my next life I know I will be a marine biologist (must be the mermaid thing).
*In this life, I live with my husband and dog outside of Boston, MA.