Feeling the Butterflies A-fluttering

The Society of Illustrators posted the list of artists for the Original Art Show opening in October.  I discovered a bevy of respected artists I have admired from afar, and now I am in their company.  Before reading the list I felt confident, and now my heart's a-flutter and the nerves are going.  I hope many of them will be there so I can exchange words of gratitude and gush. I've posted the same list below.  The one's highlighted are medal winners. Go to the links above for images and more information.

Barroux My Dog Thinks I'm a Genius The Brothers Hilts The Insomniacs Jim Arnosky Creep and Flutter Patrick Arrasmith The Last Apprentice: Grimalkin the Witch Assassin Amy June Bates Minette's Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat Carin Berger A Perfect Day Holly Berry Colorful Dreamer: The Story of Artist Henri Matisse Brian Biggs The Boy Who Cried Alien! and Everything Goes, In the Air Sophie Blackall Mr. and Mrs. Bunny– Detectives Extraordinaire! and Are You Awake? Freya Blackwood Maudie and Bear Barry Blitt George Washington's Birthday: A Mostly True Tale Serge Bloch My Snake Blake and Snowed Under and Other Christmas Confusions Calef Brown Pirateria Scott Campbell East Dragon, West Dragon Nancy Carpenter Heroes of the Surf Tad Carpenter Sad Santa Lauren Castillo The Reader and Happy Like Soccer Nicoletta Ceccoli Cinderella Joey Chou It's a Small World Bonnie Christensen Fabulous! A Portrait of Andy Warhol R. Gregory Christie It Je's Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw Bryan Collier I, Too, Am America and Fifty Cents and a Dream: Young Booker T. Washington  Raúl Colón Annie and Helen and Don't Forget, God Bless Our Troops Matthew Cordell If You Were a Chocolate Mustache Laëtitia Devernay The Conductor Tony DiTerlizzi A Hero for Wondla Gérard DuBois Monsieur Marceau: Actor Without Words Olivier Dunrea Little Cub Chris Van Dusen If I Built a House John S. Dykes F is for Fenway Kirstie Edmunds The Monster Who Lost His Mean Lois Ehlert Mice Carson Ellis Under Wildwood Brian Floca Marty McGuire Digs Worms! Douglas Florian Poem Runs and unBEElievables Edwin Fotheringham Those Rebels, John & Tom Marla Frazee Boot & Shoe Susan Gal Day By Day Michael Garland Grandpa's Tractor Arthur Geisert The Giant Seed Sara Gillingham Now I am Big! Andrew Glass Moby Dick: Chasing the Great White Whale Domenica More Gordon Archie Keith Graves The Orphan of Awkward Falls Emily Gravett Wolf Won't Bite! Melissa Guion Baby Penguins Everywhere! Amanda Hall The Fantastic Jungles of Henri Rousseau Jessie Hartland Bon Appétit! The Delicious Life of Julia Child and How the Dinosaur Got to the Museum Julian Hector C. R. Mudgeon Edward Hemingway Bad Apple: A Tale of Friendship John Hendrix A Boy Called Dickens Yumi Heo Lady Hahn and Her Seven Friends Will Hillenbrand Bear in Love Holly Hobbie GEM Hadley Hooper Here Come the Girl Scouts! Stacy Innerst Levi Strauss Gets A Bright Idea: A Fairly Fabricated Story of a Pair of Pants Alison Jay Song of the Stars Oliver Jeffers This Moose Belongs to Me Steve Jenkins The Beetle Book D.B. Johnson Magritte's Marvelous Hat William Joyce and Joe Bluhm The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore               William Joyce The Sandman: The Story of Sanderson Mansnoozy

Maira Kalman Looking at Lincoln G. Brian Karas Lemonade in Winter: A Book About Two Kids Counting Money Jon Klassen This is Not My Hat and House Held Up By Trees Jim LaMarche The Carpenter's Gift Giles Laroche If You Lived Here: Houses of the World Huy Voun Lee Red, White and Boom! Gwen Hendrickson Under the Baobab Tree E.B. Lewis Each Kindness Brian Lies MORE Renata Liwska The Christmas Quiet Book Beth Lo Auntie Yang's Great Soybean Picnic Ethan Long Scribbles and Ink William Low Machines Go to Work in the City Gianna Marino Meet Me at the Moon  Peter McCarty Chloe Barbara McClintock Twelve Kinds of Ice and Leave Your Sleep  Nikki McClure Apple Patrick McDonnell The Monster's Monster Jill McElmurry Mario Makes a Move Joe McKendry One Time Square, A Century of Change at the Crossroads of the World     Holly Meade In the Sea Wendell Minor Night Flight: Amelia Earhart Crosses the Atlantic and If You Spent A Day with Thoreau at Walden Pond Kelly Murphy Secrets at Sea Jon J. Muth Blowin' in the Wind Matthew Myers Bartholomew Biddle and the Very Big Wind Scott Nash The High Skies Adventures of Blue Jay the Pirate Kadir Nelson I Have a Dream Tao Nyeu Squid and Octopus: Friends for Always Ryan O'Rourke Eight Days Gone John Obrien Look...Look Again  C.F. Payne Mousetronaut: Based on a (Partially) True Story LeUyen Pham Vampirina Ballerina Giselle Potter Cecil the Pet Glacier Majorie Priceman Cold Snap Chris Rashka Otter and Odder: A Love Story Adam Rex Chloe and the Lion Christian Robinson Harlem's Little Blackbird Eric Rohmann Oh, No! Marc Rosenthal Making a Friend Roger Roth The Roller Coaster Kid Steven Salerno Brothers at Bat:  The True Story of an Amazing All-Brother Baseball Team Dan Santat Oh No! Not Again! and Bawk & Roll Brian Selznick Wonderstruck David Small One Cool Friend Betsy Snyder Tons of Trucks Meilo So Alex the Parrot and Water Signs Blue David Soman Ladybug Girl and Bingo Kristin Sorra No Dogs Allowed! Bob Staake Don't Squish the Sasquatch!  and Look! Another Book! Naoko Stoop Red Knit Cap Girl Simms Taback Simms Taback's Dinosaurs Matt Tavares There Goes Ted Williams  the Greatest Hitter Who Ever Lived  Chris Van Dusen Randy Riley's Really Big Hit  Mike Wimmer George Jeanette Winter Kali's Song Ashley Wolff Baby Bear Sees Blue Wong Herbert Yee Summer Days and Nights Eugene Yelchin Breaking Stalin's Nose Taeeun Yoo You Are a Lion! And Other Fun Yoga Poses and Tua and the Elephant Hyewon Yum Mom, It's My First Day of Kindergarten! Pamela Zagarenski Sleep Like a Tiger Paul O. Zelinsky Earwig and the Witch

The Show to See

After a summer slumber in blogland, I thought I'd wake things up a bit with a happy announcement. The Society of Illustrators in New York will be hosting their 32nd Annual Original Art Show this October. For those who do not know, here's a bit about the juried show from the SI website:

"Founded by Dilys Evans in 1980, the show celebrates the fine art of children’s book illustration. It has been sponsored by the Society of Illustrators for the past twenty-two years.  The selection process will be by a jury of outstanding illustrators, art directors, editors, and experts in the field of children’s publishing."

With that, I'm pleased to announce that my latest picture book, No Dogs Allowed, by Linda Ashman (2011, Sterling Children's Books), made the cut! After years of submissions, this has become the title that brings a whole other level of validation to my work.

...pat on the back to me...

I am so proud of it, and still I strive to want to do better. For now, I will bask in its success, show you a few pieces from its interior pages, and let you know that the Original Art Show opens Oct. 24 and runs through Dec. 22, 2012.  I'll post more news about it as the date approaches!