Eric Carle Fun and Awards Won
Recounting the Eric Carle Event and Winning an Award!
Hello Sketchbugs,
December is here, and so is the slightly colder weather winter promised us. I wanted to catch you up on the There’s That Sun Again event me and Mk did at the Eric Carle Museum in Amherst, MA as well as some good news that came after.
On the day of the event, Mk and I met up early to get lunch, catch up, and enjoy the Amherst food. I particularly fell in love with the Black Sheep Deli, where I got a cute mug! After our excursion we drove to the museum and got set up for the event. For those who don’t know, the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art is one of the only museums in the country that focuses specifically on the art of Picture Books, especially children’s books and all the work that goes into them. It was a huge honor to meet the people working there and tour the exhibits after.
The Storytime itself was spectacular, filled with curious children, happy parents, and treasured friends. We read the book together, alternating between pages. The kids were enthralled and then we did a drawing activity, where I demoed drawing the flying cat and flying fish from the book. The kids were free to draw too. Some of them even used the foam cutouts of mine as guides for their drawings and one girl, wearing the cutest cat shirt, showed me a saga of cats shooting out of a cannon. It was so fun. Additionally my good friend, comic artist and professor, Cat Huang showed up with a group of RISD friends including artist Amelia Rozear. They drove all the way from Providence, RI to see the storytime!
We gave out stickers, signed some books, talked to some parents, then took some more photos. Me and my friends stayed behind after to enjoy the museum, taking in work by Eric Carle and the special exhibit on Brazilian artist Roger Mello. We even got to make watercolor paintings in the museums art activity room. I painted Mo because he is my muse. Afterward, we went out for dinner and ice cream. A very good night full of fun and love!
Thank you all for your support of There’s That Sun Again. If you want signed copies with free stickers, order them through Children’s Book World! You can also get a signed copy in store at the Harvard Book Store! Woohoo for Philly and Boston!
And if you have a copy already please give the book a review on GOODREADS or AMAZON! The reviews help the book reach more people. And if you want us to do an event at your local bookstore, please let us know and we’ll try to set something up!
In other news….
I WON A GOLD MEDAL FROM THE SOCIETY OF ILLUSTRATORS FOR MY NEW YORKER ILLUSTRATION!
(SPECIFICALLY, AN ILLUSTRATION FOR THE NEW YORKER BOOK REVIEW ON TAN TWAN ENG’S BOOK THE HOUSE OF DOORS. THANK YOU ADS STEPHANIE WU AND ROSE WONG FOR YOUR GUIDANCE.
Thank you to the Society of Illustrator judges for considering me for this award. I am still in shock from the auspicious news! This is a huge deal in the illustration world and something many illustrators look to as a huge highlight of their career. I had enjoyed making this piece as I loved Tan Twan Eng’s other books but to see how much recognition this piece has garnered has been a true delight.
2 other pieces got into the show as well, one being my turkey queen illustration (the process video of it can be seen by Sketchbuds HERE) and an illustration I made for the Washington Post for Margo Rabb’s stunning article about her mom’s death holiday. Thank you AD Michelle Kondrich for trusting me with this piece.
I will be at the Part 2 Show Reception on March 28th, 2025 to accept the medal so if you’re there, please say hi! I’m sweating just thinking about it. I will also be at the reception for the Part 1 Show as my Turkey queen piece will be on view there.
Ok that’s pretty much it. I’m strangely jubilant despite how rough times have been in the world. Thank you so much for following my work here and please look forward to some more December posts for Sketchbuds!
Art I Enjoyed:
Little Shrew (2024) by Akiko Miyakoshi
A delightful little collection of short stories, marvelously illustrated with a soft charcoal feel. This is better than any self help book I’ve read in that it makes you appreciate the simple pleasures of life.
Loving Ohio (2024) written by Matthew Erman and illustrated by Sam Beck
I saw this graphic novel recommended on Twitter (before I deleted it) and it was the best thing to come out of that horrible site in months. The town of Loving, Ohio serves as a haunting backdrop as a group of teens grapple with their friends’ mysterious death. Beck’s drawings have a crispness to it that makes the serious tone of the story really stand out. If you like suburban horror, graphic novels or critiques of religious fanaticism, this book is for you.
A sitcom written by Brian Jordan Alvarez on Hulu that blew me and my partner away by how witty it was. I had enjoyed Alvarez’s Wondrous Life of Caleb Gallo so this felt like a spiritual continuation of that series but with a boost in writing chops. Highly recommend if you liked Bottoms (2023) or Abbott Elementary (2021 - present)
Ahhhhhh gold medalist, HUGE! Congrats!!!
I'm so happy for you!! Can't wait to celebrate the award-winning Julie Benbassat in person next year at SOI!!