"The Sick Bug" has hit the web

To say that I am excited about the launch of one of my new children's books upcoming is to put it lightly. I am actually ecstatic and can't wait for its release in the beginning of Sept. The book titled "The Sick Bug" was a great collaboration with author Susie Bazil and has continued to keep the excitement growing. With this, Susie sent a link over this week of the official "The Sick Bug" website. How cool is this. I have had pages on websites talk about a new book, but never an entire website dedicated to one book. And on top of that, there are free coloring pages for the kiddies to download and try their own hand at coloring in the book.

Please if you have a moment and are curious about the new book, check out "The Sick Bug" website and drop a line of what you think. I will be sure to fill you guys in as we get closer to launching the book and if there are any bookstores near you that you would like to see the book in or even have Susie and I come out for a booksigning, by all means pass the info on and let us know of the stores name! Hope all of you have a great start to your weekend and will be back with some new and fun news soon.

White Bear Lake ArtWatch 2008

Every year there are a few events that I really really look forward to. One of those events is the annual White Bear Arts Center Artwatch. The only thing missing this year was my good friends and bloggers Terry Stanley and Janet Nelson. This years event was a throwback to the first few years where it was a one day event with the artwork being created from 1-8pm and then auctioned off for a gala fundraiser to help supports the arts center and all it does with the community. One of the highlights from the live auction was a new fund that was setup to help support elementary arts education that raised a combined $7500 in a matter of a few minutes. With more donations yet to be counted yet, I am sure it will have a great start to the funds success.

So as usual, I have some fun pics to show you. The first one here is a look at my space that I was given to work in and all of my neighbors. The one to the left was actually not able to be at the event so I kind of spread out a little bit. Other than that, I hope you enjoy the pics and my final picture which was of the watermill at the Como Zoo. You will probably remember it from last weeks trip to the zoo. I thought I would try recreating this one and get some interest from some of the visitors for the auction.




Mike Judy in deep thought!




Michaelin Otis and friends


Nels Femrite and his great painting!



My Final Painting!

Off to ArtWatch

Happy Saturday to everybody. Hope your weekends have gotten off to a great start. Well it is hard to believe but another ArtWatch has come and am going to be leaving this morning to head over to White Bear Lake. It is going to be another great event (even though I will be missing Terry and Janet this year). If you happen to be in the area and are looking for something to do, stop on over and help support a great Art Center! More info can be found at the White Bear Arts Center website

Chalk Mural at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts

What a gorgeous day it was for a chalk mural at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts. Too bad I am sore as all get out from 5.5 hours on the concrete! But it was a successful day at recreating the Joan Miro painting that is in the museums collection titled "The Spanish Playing Cards". Hope you like the pictures of the process!








And now the finished masterpiece! Please note that the image is not as bright as the earlier posts due to the fact it was in the shade when I finished.

Painting at Como Zoo

After an unbearable day of heat and humidity yesterday, we got an absolutely beautiful day to go on our Como Zoo field trip. As a number of people went and looked at the animals and activities that were going on, I was intent on painting the little water mill that I have walked by so many times going to the zoo. It was something that I really wanted to capture and was happy to have finally had the chance to get something going. The only bad thing is I only had a couple of hours to get to the zoo and get something on canvas so I will be having to finish this up in the studio in the coming weeks. Hope you like!



Now on to the chalk mural painting at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts tomorrow for family day. It will be a blast recreating Joan Miro's "The Spanish Playing Cards". Look for images from that event tomorrow and hope everyone is having a great weekend so far.

Calling all MNSCBWI members!

Illustration copyright Christina Rodriguez 2008

For all of you members of the Minnesota Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, I am sending out the call for you to attend this Saturdays Field Trip to Como Zoo. We are going to be spending the day (10-3pm) at the zoo creating art, writing stories or what ever else you are inspired to create. Make sure to bring a lunch and a small donation( not required) for entrance to the zoo. I especially want to thank Christina Rodriguez, the illustration coordinator for MNSCBWI for putting the zoo field trip together. Last year I was bummed because I wasn't able to make it, but am excited to go this year and create some sketches and drawings from the zoo. To download the flyer click here

Hope to see you there!!!!!

Back after a little break!

Hello everyone! Hope you had a great Fourth of July weekend. I surely did as I enjoyed the last few days out at the lake catching fish, swimming and relaxing. It was a much needed break after a couple of months of craziness with numerous book projects all going on at the same time. But don't worry, things are still going to be coming up and am working on a children's book right now that I will look forward to talking about sometime in the near future.

One of the things that I am really excited about is coming up this weekend at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts Target Family Day on Sunday. I will be creating a large chalk mural of Joan Miro's "The Spanish Playing Cards" on the 3rd avenue entrance of the museum. I will be out there 11-5pm and would love to have you stop by and say hi! It should be a great day of fun activities tied to the theme of "Groovy Games" for kids of all ages. Look for images from the event on my blog early next week!



I also recently decided to pick up a new book that I had heard a lot about. It is Alyson B. Stanfield's book "I'd rather be in the studio!". I am looking forward to finally getting the time to get some reading in again. Hope you guys have a great rest of the evening and will be back soon.