Noah and friends

Today, was a day filled with entertainment and laughter. I didn't get too much done as far as work goes but this photo that describes my day with little Noah is priceless. Also, I'll be at a show in Harrisburg this weekend if anyone is interested, http://www.harrisburgarts.org/artsfest/

The Green Monster

There is nothing like tubby time with our little one. I just thought I'd share this adorable photo of our little Green Monster with you. What a blessing it is to watch him grow each day. Have a great day!

Book Illustration

Throughout my career I've had the pleasure to do a number of commissions, some of which were illustrating children's books. Most of these book projects have been with small publishers and with authors who self published their books. So, I thought I would share some samples of my illustrations from two of these books. A few of the books that I've illustrated are unpublished but I still enjoyed making the illustrations. I am working on a book right now that is about lullabies, a perfect subject now that we have a little one of our own.

MAGIC MARMALADE and the MOONLIGHT FAIRIESUNTITLED BOOK (a book without words)

Have a great day!

~James

Portrait of Kelley

I often do commissions throughout the year where I use portraiture and illustration together. I've been doing this kind of thing for some time now and it is always exciting for me to try to capture the subject's personality and emotion and place them in a magical setting. In most cases, it always deals with the imagination, mostly "childlike imagination". In fact, most of the portraiture that I have done has been depicting children.

The above portrait illustration is a recent commission I had done for a wonderful lady who wanted me to capture the essence of her imagination in an illustration. Her name is Kelley and she was a joy to paint.

Today, it is raining and my little son is listening to the raindrops as they musically tap on the rooftop...ah, the sound of rain, there is nothing like it. It always opens the door to my imagination.

Have a magical day,

~James

I love this little guy.

I thought that today would be a good day to start making a better effort of writing on my blog on a more daily basis as my life has changed of late. What better way to start then with my little son who has me smiling constantly every time I lay my eyes on him. He is such a beautiful gift to my wife and I thought that I would post a little picture of him. He is now 3 months old and he is doing absolutely wonderful. So here he is, little Noah James.

Noah and the Tree

I can't stop looking into the eyes of our little baby boy. He is almost a month old and I find it very hard to walk away from him. However, I was at an art show this past weekend and little Noah James was on my mind, so I decided to do a little sketch of our wee one. I can't wait to introduce him to the trees.

He is truly a gift from above. ~James

THE BEE KEEPER

THE STORY:

It was the old man who found the lost bee that had wandered far off and had not been seen for many a day.
Barely alive and clinging to a purple flower, the bee sensed his keeper was near and with all it's strength he buzzed his frail wings as a cry for salvation. At that very moment, the old bee man suddenly appeared and said, "Hello, my little friend. I have been searching for you for quite some time. I have now found you and will now keep you close to my heart. For I love all of my servants and I will never loose any of you". ~JB

MY THOUGHTS:

This painting and its meaning kind of grew while I was creating it. To be lost and suddenly found is a very beautiful thing. It's inspired by how God loves us and how He keeps us close to Him and also how He searches us out when we are lost.

THE MEANS:

I painted this using watercolor and gesso on Arches 140 lb cold press paper. It measures 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inches.