Shadows

     Hello all.  I have been in the shadows of too much going on. But no excuses,  it has been a very long time since I last posted.  I  created this blog for Illustration Friday and to create sort of a portfolio for  illustrations.  Since then I have created a website for the illustration part of my life. www.maritagentry.com   That being said, I am going to change the focus of the blog.  It will more of a reflection of the title, IN THE STUDIO.  

     I am a fine artist, teacher, and an illustrator.  I group all those job titles under one heading of Artist.  So the blog will be a weekly(hopefully), if not more frequent reflection on what I am doing In the Studio; painting, illustrating, creating lessons plans, student's work, ideas running rampant in my mind, bad ideas, sitting and staring into space, you get the picture.  I enjoy all the aspects of my artist life and hope to share them with you.  I am still posting this picture today to match the Illustration Friday word for this week.

Shadows

Dewey the dragon lurked in the shadow of the shelves waiting for Max to visit the library.

     
The illustration is the title page to There's a Dragon in the Library written by Dianne de Las Casas.  It is my most recent book.  It was released earlier this spring. 
     I love this page.  This page grew from a childhood memory of the library in Springfield MO.  I was an avid reader and by the time I was eight or nine years old the books in the children section no longer held my interest.  So, I began to sneak away after my mom would deposit me in the children section and see what other books were in other parts of the library. If ever I had seen a dragon looking back at me all my fears would have come true. I might have melted on the spot without him even blasting me with his temper.
    In There's a Dragon in the Library, Max (the little boy in the book) discovers the dragon, but also discover the dragon has a penchant for eating books.  It is a fun tale that brings back many memories of trips to the library.  What was lurking beyond the next set of shelves?  Was it a dragon eating all my favorite stories, the librarian that knew I was in the wrong section, or just a really great story that would hold my interest for the afternoon?