I was inspired to draw something for this week’s Illustration Friday theme: Your Paradise. I sketched myself as I was doodling on the back of a used billing envelope. Then I scanned the envelope, opened it in Photoshop and changed its color to duotone red.

Whenever I doodle, I enter my paradise~a place to play and let ideas, thoughts and feelings flow. I find doodling relaxing~swimming in shapes, lines, impressions. It feels so natural. I’m doodling nothing in particular. I’m seeing parts of everything.

I especially like how doodles sprout and grow wherever you plant your pen. A little bit of paradise on scraps of paper.

I’m pleased to announce that my book, THE SLEEPING GIANT, A TALE FROM KAUA’I (BeachHouse Publishing), recently earned Honorable Mention in the Ka Palapala Po’okela Awards for Excellence in Children’s Hawaiian Culture. The winning book in this category is LONO AND THE MAGICAL LAND BENEATH THE SEA (Bishop Museum Press) by Caren Loebel-Fried. Congratulations to Caren and all other winners listed here.

The Ka Palapala Po’okela Awards are given each year by the Hawai’i Book Publishers Association. The following excerpt about the awards was from an article, recently featured in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin:

The number of entries continued to reflect the strength of the local book-publishing industry, with a total of 105 nominations from 73 separate book projects entered in a newly shortened slate of 124 categories. These were narrowed down to two certificate awards given in each category, as determined by the votes of the Hawaii Book Academy, a group that includes librarians, booksellers, educators, publishing and media professionals, and other dedicated book lovers.