Happenings this Month

The School Visit Front ::   I celebrated Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and Children’s Book Week with the students of Earhart School of Alameda, CA where I appeard for a full day of assemblies, a family evening presentation and some kinder book readings.

Above photo: Teaching the kids a sitting hula. * Special thanks to Principal Joy Dean and Media Center Teachers, Ana Soria-Kevy and Jeni Marr. I had a fantastic time at your school!

The Internet Scene ::  My interview with editor Tarie Sabido of Into The Wardrobe, a delightful children’s and YA literature blog is up now. This month, Tarie highlights kid lit authors and illustrators who have a unique Asian Pacific connection. She posed some excellent questions that I hope I answered well. FYI, I stayed up into the wee hours of the morning, typing out my answers to the best of my ability ** note: bleary eyes but full heart** I am honored to be part of this month’s festivities. Please check out the interview and blog here.

Here’s a picture book written by Vera Arita and illustrated by yours truly. This 24-page PB features a fun romp with animals in the Hawaiian islands. It’s due for release in Fall ‘09.

Oh, happy spring! After a three month break, I’m back. I’ve run with springtime revelers. chomped on chocolate bunnies and now I’m clearing dust bunnies, literally and figuratively.

I’ll bring this blog up to date by interspersing stories from the past few months with current news and happenings. I might post pics from my trip to the Winter SCBWI conference in NYC in the morning, then later in the day post about a booksigning. It’s a random yet goal-oriented game plan. Inspired by soccer, of course!

So, stay tuned for more ramblings cuz I’m springing forward!

About the photo: Wildflower garden bursting with color at Giverny, the home and garden of French Artist, Claude Monet. Photo taken by my son on a French club excursion last month.

My first Illustration Friday for 2009

Here’s how Illustration Friday works: Every Friday, IF members receive a word prompt to illustrate. The above brush-pen image is my interpretation of the word “Contained.”

I sketched this last Friday using a ball-point pen. Today, I re-drew it in brush-pen, scanned it and added shading in Photoshop.

Remember doing Show ‘n Tell back in grade school? That’s essentially what I do when I visit schools and libraries as a visiting author/illustrator. I love sharing with young audiences the process of creating a picture book. Depending on how long I have, I take my audience through the journey of book-making from idea to publication and printing. Often, I’ll share a little bit extra about the culture and food of Hawai’i. If there is time, I’ll even perform a sitting hula like I did at Fairytale Town in Sacramento this fall. The photos above and below show the audience involvement. Fun for all ages!

I’ve performed in classrooms and school assemblies of all sizes since my book, The Sleeping Giant: A Tale From Kaua’i was released in fall 2006. I look forward to doing more school and library performances in 2009. To find out how to book me for a school appearance, please visit this link.

Hau’oli Makahiki Hou! Happy New Year!

Monday, 8 AM.

Yesterday, while walking along Lincoln Avenue, I came upon this worn-out wooden knob. There was no apparent use for it other than it occupying a space atop a post, between two small Victorians. Whatever fence was previously attached to it was now completely gone. Probably torn away decades ago. I find the ratty condition of the wood quite charming–its shape and linear patterns, along with all the knicks and scratches, leading my eye into a richly-textured background.

 This week I’m playing around with my fisheye cam as much as I can. Is it the holidays or is it me? I feel like gobbling up all the eye-candy around me. The images I see today will surely show up in my paintings in one form or other. Perhaps I’ll shoot and post something everyday for five straight days. Then again. Perhaps not.