2025 has been a doozy! Last month, I won the 2025 Etsy Design Award in the Art Category! It was a complete surprise, and I’m so thrilled that Etsy invited me to submit my work! The shop has seen a nice boost in sales this month, and I am sure that I would have been able to capitalize on the award if I had new work in the shop. I’m planning a few new pieces for 2026.
This year has been intense. I moderated a panel at The National Book Fest, judged the Society of Illustrators 58 Book Category, critiqued manuscripts for SCBWI, made a painting for the finale of Netflix’s YOU, announced Here Comes the Band! my first authored picturebook illustrated by John Holyfield, visited The Illustration Institute on Peaks Island. Even though I am teaching one less class at MICA, the time has still been eaten up by extra-curricular activities – mainly our search for a new faculty member. It’s exciting, but it has taken a lot of time to organize and schedule everything.
Miraculously, I did manage to finish a picture book! Gifts From Crows, written by NYT Bestselling Author Gideon Sterer, is based on the true story of a girl and the crows in her backyard. This adventure explores the mysteries of friendship across species. The illustrations are done in watercolor, ink, and gouache, which was a nice return to the work that I did in Bird.
I look forward to sharing it in August and talking more about the art! This one was on a tight deadline and really forced me to work with more intention and focus. I ended up going back into the art once it was turned in to make some tweaks here and there that make a big difference in the final product.
To get Crows done, I had to stop working on my other picture book, The Bird Thief, by Matthew David Olshan, which I started painting in 2024. Fortunately, I am well past the halfway point with this one and am excited to wrap it up before starting the art for my next author-illustrated project. It’s a busy book life! Happy end of the year everyone. Hopefully 2026 will be peaceful and prosperous for you~