Illuminara

I’m smitten with Jane Eyre film-making, and after making the first half of the novel into a kitschy film using dolls, I could not resist making Part 2 and now Part 3 (and yes, there will be many more until the novel-in-film is fully told). If you’re a Brontë fan, you’ll be glad that I [...]

Now that I’ve made the first half of the film adaptation of my favorite novel, JANE EYRE by Charolotte Brontë (wow, that is the FIRST time it worked for me trying to put the dots above the “e”!) I have begun to make shorter ones to finish the story.  These Jane Eyre films using old [...]

I used to read Jane Eyre every summer. Something about the summer thunderstorms, the drama of thunder and rain made me want to get back into Jane Eyre’s world.  She’s a good heroine for anyone, and for me, I loved that she drew sketches (not many characters in novels do) and overcame  all kinds of [...]

My son Alistair and I had fun one afternoon making a film, using one of his action figures:

Being playful is the best way to unlock creative flow. It’s summer time, and I thought of how I felt when I’d play when I was little. The way I felt when I was young glows inside still [...]

This is a page from my first published book, PUP IN SCHOOL (Crown Books for Young Readers). I created this book because when I was teaching at the wonderful Atrium School in Boston, I noticed that when I wanted to talk about ways we could get along better together in class, using animals rather than [...]

At the start of summer, I was at Compo Beach and saw a nice elderly gentleman reading a book. His hat was floppy (I liked that about him). H got up and ran into the water for a dip, and sat back down to read. I wondered then who he was and imagined he was [...]

This is a study of a child rider, one of the many I made before writing and illustrating A BLUE RIBBON FOR SUGAR. There is nothing more wonderful than studying the movements and linear grace of children, but drawing horses in motion is just as hypnotizing.  I probably love no other occupation as much as [...]

Every morning when I was in high school, I felt a certain nervousness. To calm myself, I’d close my eyes, hovering over the open family bible (the Catholic kind with technicolor bishops and color plates of great Italian paintings inside) and pick a psalm at random. These days, I don’t feel that kind of anxiety, [...]

This is an angel I drew with thread.
I think there is an angel who holds a big, red book. The Book of Love. Inside the book is a list of every kind thought, word and action ever done. Love is the energy of abundant life, ever growing. I think for me, in learning about love, [...]

Drawing in books as a kid (on those pristine white end pages) got me wishing to draw and write my own books when I grew up. I have been doing that since I was in my twenties. For a long time, with young children needing attention, I worked part time on writing and illustrating, and [...]