Aloha!

It's been quite a few weeks here at Victoria Jamieson Illustration! Not only did the entire East Coast branch (me, Herm, Sharon) up and relocate to Portland, Oregon, we also had a trip to Hawaii to get ready for! (cue sympathetic music).

Part romantic honeymoon:

...and part work!:

That's right- it exists: the legendary Honolulu chapter of SCBWI, and I was fortunate and honored (as I always am) to be invited to speak! Along with Greenwillow editor & friend Martha Mihalick (who also has a wonderful blog). This was an updated version of a talk I've given once before- updated because this time I was addressing both writers and illustrators, and I wanted to make sure it was relevant to both groups. I showed this beaut of a slide (below), as I kind of see this schematic as the cornerstone of making picture books. Kind of like the Reading, 'Riting, and 'Rithmatic of teaching, or the Location, Location, Location of real estate, or any other "first thing" you commit to memory in any chosen profession.

I can't tell you how many little rectangles I have scribbled in my sketchbooks. Ok, I can tell you- lots.

I also looked at a few models of picture book narratives, and applied them to some of my faves (in this case, of course, Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!)

Another new addition to this talk- I talked a bit about my own process in creating Bea Rocks the Flock, and brought in all of my dummies- numbers 1 through... 6 or 7? And those were just the ones I could find! I kept all of the comments in there- from friends & co-workers in number 1, through comments from my editors in number 7. I left these on a table in the back for people to peruse throughout the day- hopefully it was helpful!

There's lots to report on the Portland front: I got my Portland library card! My cat Sharon is now a famous plus-sized model! Unfortunately, both my camera download cord & my scanner are packed away in a warehouse in Jersey somewhere, and it is almost impossible for me to imagine writing a blog post with no pictures! I will try to use some creative problem-solving to get around this.

Ok, ok, twist my arm: here's Sharon's headshot:

One week in Portland and she's already a star! Take that, Big Apple.