Lyne Linkup

Let us introduce ourselves. We are SCBWI Mid-South members who either have or very much want to illustrate children's literature. By definition the illustration business is a solitary one, but one that is very rewarding. We, as freelance illustrators, need varying amounts of networking time. Some of us do just fine with emails and phone calls. Others enjoy more, the various group meetings, conferences and get togethers that an organizaiton like SCBWI can arrange. If you would like to suggest an event you can contact the SCBWI Midsouth regional advisor, Tracy Barrett.

This web page is intended to be one way for the SCBWI Mid-South illustrator members who live and work in Tennessee and Kentucky to connect. To start this "LINK-UP" off, we are going to introduce ourselves to you, our readers. A proper introduction (for an artist) should consist of your name, a short bio, and a sample of your work. If our networking is to grow into a conversation, then a sample of our work seems a great place to start.

If you would like to "introduce" yourself, just send me either an email or snail mail with a short bio. You can either send me a small .jpg image of your work, or a photo that I can scan into my computer to insert beside your information. Susan Eaddy's picture came from a self promo, which was digitally photographed by my husband, then cropped for insertion into this page. My picture came from a scan of a completed page for an upcoming picture book published by Pelican Publishing Company. If you send us some information, please do include your email or website, so we can make a link.

As with many other websites, this will be a "work in progress". We plan to update this page whenever we get some new member information. Since this idea came from talks with SCBWI members, we are asking for bio and picture to post on this page, only from SCBWI members. But even if you aren't currently a member, we would like to hear from you. This is all about connecting. We would also like to invite any of you SCBWI members, to submit a short article on the trials and tribulations of the illustrator's life. We think that you can say more in a short article posted here, about your ideas, life, career goals etc. than on a post to a artist's forum, but not be as formal as a published article, for a newsletter. This is meant to be a site to link up illustration professionals (and thoses who are about to be) who physically live many miles apart, but who share an interest in our common career paths.

Visual ART Techniques and ArtViews

(note: My previous verbal version of Art Tips now appears as a bi-monthly column in the SCBWI Bulletin, for and by members of SCBWI. If you are a SCBWI member and would like to submit an Art Tip to the SCBWI Bulletin, please email arttips@scbwi.org)

This portion of the page consists of links, one to my VISUAL Version of ART TIPS, where I highlight different art techniques, using both words and pictures. If you would like to submit an Visual Art Technique tip, please contact me at alison@lyneart.com

I am also starting a new section called ArtViews, an occasional posting of children's picture book reviews, but from the artist's view. Most picture book reviews have six sentences about the writing, and maybe one portion of a sentence about the illustrations. Well.....I want to reverse that and have an in depth review of the artwork,and style, and techniques used in the illustrations. I would also welcome submissions about picture books you just LOVE for their artwork, visual wit or puns, or you just plain LOVE the colours. If you would like to submit an ArtView, just let me know at alison@lyneart.com

Frank, has also started a Carving Tip page with a introduction to holding blocks and vises necessary to securing wood for sculpting

The 2008 SCBWI Midsouth Conference began with a rousing keynote address by writer Bruce Coville. With a title like :"Saving the World, One story at a Time: Why What We Do Matters", you just had to open up your eyes......no matter how little coffee you'd had. Bruce Coville has such an engaging speaking voice, much like his writing. He switches on a dime from a "voice over" explaining his writing theory of "HA", "Waaaahhh", and "Yikes!" to the attitude and story of a conflicted 10 year old boy.....all at the drop of a hat. And just when you think you've got your wits back.....he launches into a haunting tale of butterflies and a young boy's wonder.....and left not a dry eye in the audience. It was a tour de force preformance.....and left us all in awe of a "Master Story teller".

Bruce Coville is the author of 90 books for children and young adults, including the international bestseller My Teacher is an Alien(Aladdin), and the wildly popular Unicorn Chronicles (Scholastic) series. He has been, at various times, a teacher, toymaker, a magazine editor, a gravedigger, and a cookware salesman. He is also the founder of Full Cast Audio , an audiobook publishing company devoted to producing fullcast, unabridged recordings of material for family listening. Mr. Coville lives in Syracuse, New York, with his wife, illustrator Katherine Coville.

After the first session it was onto the Illustrator's side of things, with the first breakout session with GreenWillow's Victoria Jamieson and her "Art Department: Confidential: An Illustrator's View from the Inside". She showed us a view of her office with tons of folders all over the desk, and assured us that the forelorn plant at the side of her computer, near a looming stack of folders, did make a complete recovery....'tho it was touch and go for a while. The next image was her Promo Card Basket....where a months worth of cards sat waiting for her review. She says she much prefers cards over envelopes that must be opened (Ooopsies...paper cut!), and likes to see images of children and animals. She keeps the ones she likes and refers to the illustrators' websites, and prints out images she keeps to remind herself about that person's style.

My next session was also with Victoria Jamieson, "Picture Books, From Start to Finish". This session was a primer for those who have the desire to both write and illustrate their book. This session was particularily close to Ms. Jamieson's heart as her forthcoming book "Bea Rocks the Flock" which she both wrote and illustrated is due out in 2009. She showed us a wealth of materials that she put together during the making of her book. She had original ideas sketches she used to pictch the idea, all the way thru the finalized dummy that was very helpful in planning where the various panels, pages and spreads would be most effective, in keeping the reader turning the page.

Victoria Jamieson designs YA, middle grade, and picturebook jackets and interiors for Greenwillow Books, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. She is always looking for new illustrators and fresh talent for various projects. Additionally, she works as a children's book illustrator herself. Her first picture book will be published by Bloomsbury in 2009. You can see her work at http:// www.VictoriaJamieson.com and on her blog at http://www.victoriajamieson-illustration.blogspot.com

After this session it was time for lunch and the Illustrator's Critique Group meeting. We had about six illustrators who have attended the Conference before, plus three newer illustrators make up our group. It was just lovely to see how much the returning illustrators have grown! Their styles have changed and grown more professional. The three newer illustrators showed off some impressive work, and asked questions about this business. This Group meeting is always one of my favorite portions of the Conference. It's a great time to get to talk "shop", in a group of your peers, and to exchange tricks of the trade. And just to get out of our often lonely work-a-day shell.

In the afternoon, I attended the second version of Ms. Jamieson's Art Department Confidential talk, and then us "brave and few" went for our individual critiques.

The next day, Sunday, was waaaay more relaxed, with only one breakout session, and an "Art Screening" with Ms. Jamieson. At the Screening, about six of the illustrators sat around a table, and laid out some of our promo materials in a pile, and called it our "Card basket". Ms Jamieson shuffled the deck, pulled out random cards/sheets and gave us a few words comment and whether she would put that card in the "keeper" box or recyle it. It was a most informative peek into what goes on in an Art Director's mind. We all came away with good insights.

The last part of the day was a Panel discussion, and I got to see some of the faculty that I hadn't seen before. From left to right was Harold Underdown (Purple Crayon) , Victoria Jamieson, Amalia Ellison, Bruce Coville and author Alexis O'Neill.

Amalia Ellison is the newest member of the Amulet/Abrams Books for Young Readers editorial team, moving from Random House just under a year ago. She's edited 50 Ways to Save the Earth (Abrams) and has had the privilege of working on other standouts like the forthcoming The Order of Odd Fish (Delacorte) by James Kennedy, A Thousand Never Evers (Delacorte) by Shana Burg, and at Abrams, Cicada Summer (Amulet) by Andrea Beaty. When she was a little girl, she used to dream of being Charlotte Doyle, Winnie Foster and Turtle Wexler. The Westing Game, Tuck Everlasting, and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle still remain on her list of all-time favorite books, among a slew of new ones that have captured her imagination and held it captive like Pullman,His Dark Materials trilogy and Twilight by Stephanie Meyers. She loves a good mystery for any and all age groups, appreciates YA contemporary fiction that doesn't take itself too seriously and can't get enough of those special middle-grade books that are adventure stories at the core but still make her laugh. She remains, to this day, undefeated in the board games Clue and Clue Master Detective.

I always feel that anytime you can come away from a Conference more inspired and excited than you were when you came in......it's been a HUGE success!

A great big shout out of thanks to Candie, Sharon and Genetta and all the wonderful volunteers who make these conferences run so smoothly and allow us all to get so much out of a weekend "gathering".

Jade Arcade

Since 1988 Jade Arcade has been providing the world with his own brand of art, animation, writing, and music. His work has been in comic books, role-playing guides, animation, CD covers, novels and more. Although known for Pen and Ink, Jade also works in watercolor, airbrush, digital painting, stone/wood sculpture and many more mediums than you could shake a tree full of sticks at. His work can be found at his site at http://www.jadearcade.com

Debbie Baird

Debbie has been a papercutter since 1980, although she only became serious about it in 2001 when she joined the Guild of American Papercutters. Since that time she has attended workshops, shown in eight shows, including several in Lexington, Kentucky and the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina. She also teaches workshops on papercutting. Debbie has completed the children's course with the Institute of Children's Literature, and enjoys writing for children. Her ultimate goal is to write and illustrate a book, either for adults or children. Debbie also works as a speech/language pathologist in the public schools, because she gets hungry.

Joshua Brunet

Joshua S. Brunet is a freelance illustrator out of Jackson, Tennessee. He earned his B.S. in Illustration from Indiana Wesleyan University in the spring of 2000, and soon after found himself working for such publishers as Focus on the Family and Moody Press. Joshua has also lended his talents to a variety of other creative careers including teaching and graphic design, but his true love is children's book illustration. In fact, he is currently seeking publication for a self promotional children's book entitled, "When Pig's Fly," written by aspiring author and SCBWI member, Christin Taylor. Joshua's unique sense of style and his passion for excellence make him an exciting addition to the world of children's book illustration. His email is jsbrunet@hotmail.com

Leigh B.Butler

Leigh B. Butler's favorite subjects for both her paintings and illustrations are children and animals. She has illustrated Sunday School and Preschool materials, notecards and stationery sets, as well as corporate promotional materials. One of her favorite projects was a commissioned life-sized portrait of two clowns, which they also used for all of their promotional materials. Leigh paints primarily in oils, but uses her digital skills to create many of her illustrations. She and her husband now live on a 100-acre farm in Lynchburg, TN, where the ideas for her whimsical illustrations come to life. You can reach Leigh at leigh@leighbbutler.com and see more of her work at http://www.leighbbutler.com .

Holli Conger

Holli Conger is a digital and dimensional illustrator who illustrates in a whimsical style for the children's market. She has a Bachelor's Degree in Graphic Design & Advertising from O'More College of Design in Franklin, TN. She lives and works in Nashville, where her husband, Chad, their daughter, Walker, and their goofy basset hound, Do-Wop, give her plenty of inspiration. You can see more of her work at http://www.holliconger.com

Laura Lee Cundiff

Laura Lee Cundiff is a fine artist, illustrator and designer. In the 1980’s, after graduating from Pratt Institute, she freelanced illustration in NYC for several years, illustrating two young adult books for Ariel Books/Kipling Press: Geronimo by Russell Shorto, and Beatrix Potter by Peter Durwood; and illustrating or designing for Disney Company Licensees, Just 4 Kids, the Kentucky Horse Park, Lexmark International, the New York Daily News, Slosson Educational Publishing, the Village Voice, Warner Brothers Licensing Offices, and others. She currently works as a designer, and frequently illustrates fine letterpress books with wood engravings or line drawings: The Guesthouse, The Good Life, and Gardencourt by Frederick Smock; A Simple Human Motion, by Jeff Worley; and In the Country of Morning Calm, by Richard Taylor, all published by Larkspur Press. She also illustrated Amish Economy by Wendell Berry for Adela Press; and Divine Right’s Trip, by Gurney Norman, and Snakehunter, by Chuck Kinder, for Gnomon Press. She is working on writing and illustrating a couple of books at present. See her work at http://www.llcundiff.com

Susan Eaddy

Susan Eaddy has been illustrating pictures for children for over 15 years. During that time she has done covers & illustration for over 70 books in the educational market, & her artwork has appeared in magazines, greeting cards, CD covers, catalogs, & advertising. She worked as an art director in book publishing for 8 years, & has received international awards from the Society of 3-D Illustrators for her paper sculpture. She was Art Director at RCA records for seven years, where she was nominated for a Grammy Award in Album Art packaging for the "Los Super Seven" CD. She is currently illustrating full-time & her favorite medium is modeling clay.

Caleb Gray

Caleb Gray is a Nashville based artist and graphic designer. His illustrations have been featured on book covers, journals, gift bags and scrapbooking products. This variey keeps his styles diverse. A sampling of work can be seen on his website http://www.calebgraystudio.com.

Wanda Johnson

Wanda Collins Johnson is an artist and writer. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Tennessee. She paints primarily in watercolors and has exhibited her work in Tennessee and New Mexico galleries. Her goal is to do cover art for novels and to write and illustrate picture books. Her recent work as an illustrator included this painting, Joy. As a former dancer and current yoga enthusiast, she loves to paint the human figure in motion or in stillness. Current subject matter also includes animals, portraits, and landscapes done in a loose style with visible brushstrokes. You can see more of her work by visiting www.wandacollinsjohnson.com

Alison Lyne

Alison Davis Lyne has been a freelance illustrator since 1996. She has illustrated magazine covers, greeting cards, B/W spot illustrations for magazines, and most recently, two children's books for Pelican Publishing Company. Her first children's book was Evangeline for Children, a retelling of the Longfellow poem. Her second book was Easter Day Alphabet the third was Kudzu Chaos. Book numbers four and five ; Jacques et la Canne a Sucre and Halloween Alphabet are due out fall 2004. Alison Lyne works in a realistic style with glowing colors using an acrylic glazing technique. She specializes in historical illustration, with an interest in clothing and design from many periods. She worked most of her adult life in Nashville, before marrying Frank Lyne, (sculptor) and moving to his farm in south central Kentucky. You can see more of their work by visiting the rest of this website.

Sharon Matisoff

Sharon Matisoff is a professional artist who paints portraits and figurative works primarily in oils and pastels.She was raised in Southern California and now resides in Kentucky. She received classical training in life drawing and portraiture at a variety of local colleges, including the Art Center College of Design where, under the guidance of the late Richard Bunkall, she honed her oil painting skills. Sharon’s figure studies and portraits reflect her academic background, while her use of color and painterly style give her work a contemporary flair. When working in either pastel or oil, she pushes the contrasts of color and value, as well as warm and cool color. “I love to paint the human face and figure. Every person is unique and I consider it a personal challenge to try to capture the spirit of each of my subjects.

Sharon’s work has been exhibited in numerous galleries and juried exhibitions. She has won many awards for her work, most notably her portraits. She is a juried associate member of the Pastel Society of America and the Oil Painters of America. Her website is http://www.sharonmatisoff.com

Cheryl Mendenhall

Cheryl Mendenhall studied illustration at Washington University in St. Louis and Art Center in California. Her digital artwork has appeared in magazines, textbooks, and mass-market products, including the board book COWBOY BABY http://www.drmy.com/moveDance.htm To see more go to http://www.cornellandmccarthy.com/ and click on Color art. Cheryl lives in Nashville with her mad scientist husband and a manic cat.

Carol Spiller

Carol Spiller is both a writer and an illustrator. She has done finely-detailed colored pencil drawings since 1989, and has recently "discovered" watercolor. "I enjoy illustrating animals and people in a realistic way." she says ". However,I also take artistic liberties in making the characters come to life and enter the viewer's world." Her current project-a book about a pika and a grandmotherly hamster-introduces pikas to her readers. These seven-inch relatives of the rabbit live on rocky mountainsides in North America and Asia. They gather grass, leaves and flowers for winter food and store these harvested plants in hay piles under rocky overhangs.Active thoughout the winter, they build tunnels beneath the snow out to their food. In the illustration on the left, a young pika runs through a snow tunnel toward her den with food from one of her hay piles.

You can contact Carol at Cjspiller924@aol.com

Kristin Tubb

Kristin O’Donnell Tubb has crafted stories and illustrations for Spider, Guideposts for Kids, Wee Ones, eMagazine,Highlights for Children, and Cricket She has ghostwritten a number of children’s activity books for Dalmatian Press, crafting games and activities for licensed characters such as The Powerpuff Girls, Scooby-Doo, Strawberry Shortcake, and the Care Bears. For more samples of her work, please visit www.creativefreelancewriting.com.

Mary Uhles

Mary Reaves Uhles is a graduate of Ringling School of Art and Design with a BFA in illustration. Before becoming a freelance illustrator, she worked as a designer and animator of children’s educational software. Always a fan of children’s publishing, in March of 1997 she decided to make the leap to freelancing full time. Since then she has done work for clients such as Thomas Nelson, McGraw-Hill and Word Entertainment as well as numerous children’s magazines. Her illustrations were featured at the 10 year celebration of the Southern Festival of Books. Working primarily in watercolor her images are colorful and whimsical and her characters often inspired by those she knows. A particular recurring creature is a tan cat, modeled after her own Sam, who is a permanent fixture in her studio. Also inspired by music, Mary is currently working on a picture book version of One Piece at a Time, the Johnny Cash song about a fellow who builds his dream car in a slightly unorthodox way. A Tennessee native, Mary lives in Nashville with her husband. She has been an active member of SCBWI since 2003 You can see more of her work at http://www.maryuhles.com

Kristi Valiant

Kristi Valiant has illustrated 25 published children's books. She graduated magna cum laude from Columbus College of Art and Design with a BFA in Illustration. Kristi paints both digitally and traditionally. She has also done freelance work in greeting card illustration, fashion illustration, graphic design, and website design, but her passion has always been children's books. Currently, Kristi is working on refining her portfolio and submitting illustrations to children's book publishing houses. She enjoys telling stories through her artwork, but also with words. She would love to write more children's books and is pursuing that dream as well. For additional samples of Kristi Valiant's artwork, please see her website: www.kristivaliant.com

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, Mid-South (SCBWI)

Illustrators' Link-up (Kentucky & Tennessee)

Visual ART Techniques and ArtViews