February Hedge a gram

Happy February,

It's the depths of winter here, but I think we've found the perfect antidote - Black Indie Ducks! There's nothing like an interesting new pet to liven things up. A Black Indie Duck is very small, and is not really black, but a beautiful iridescent green. Iridescent means the green color is shimmery and changes from green to blue to purple, according to how the light hits it. We have a drake (boy duck) named Pappagano and a hen (girl duck) named Pappagana. Their favorite activity is splashing around in their pool and muddying up their water dish. My hens are shocked and can't figure out what the ducks are all about, except for three of the hens, Dahlia, Iris and Lily, who have lived on farms. They have a live and let live attitude about the ducks.

As you know, I take time every month to write and tell you about my life as an illustrator in case you might be thinking of artist or illustrator as a profession. I'm having interviews for newspapers right now. The interviews are arranged by my publisher. I'll be going to 40 different bookstores in March, and if I'm lucky, the newspaper in each of the bookstore towns will write an article about my new book, Daisy Comes Home. Sometimes when I'm talking to a journalist, I'll say one thing only to contradict myself ten minutes later. For example, I'll say honestly "I love to illustrate because I can get lost in my imagination, it's like a dream world and I am always surprised by what comes next." Then I'll say, totally truthfully, "I have to plan the book, do research, rewrite things and it's very tiring hard work." Well, both are true! The best part of the interviews is I get hints from the reporters about the different parts of our country that I'll be visiting.

The bookstore schedule is posted on my website. If you would like to have me sign your book and if I'm in a town near to you, I hope that you'll come. By the way. if you do come please bring some artwork. Last month, I visited a school in Des Moines, Washington that was the winner of last year's contest. I saw the most amazing painting and drawings. It's exciting to see fantastic creations done so expressively by elementary school kids.

This year's school visit contest starts on February 18th. You can find out all about it on my Home Page. In addition to the grand prize of a visit to the winner's school, I'm giving away 1,000 copies of Daisy Comes Home. I hope that you're one of the winners.

Bye for now,

Your friend,