A hint of things to come...

There are three new books coming out this spring/summer. Here is a hint at just one...the one that I wrote and illustrated.  It isn't about fish, but they are part of the adventure.

Wishing all a very Happy New Year

And much success for each of us in the New Year.

For the children and the child in all of us...

For years we used to make these flour/salt dough angels, snowmen, cookie shapes,
 and ornaments. Here is the recipe and some hints for creating your own angels.  To see any of these charts larger, just click on the image.

After you knead the dough cover the dough with a wet paper towel to preserve the mositure.  If you don't do this the dough will become too dry.  If your dough is too wet you can put a little flour on your hands before you begin to roll out the body parts.  Create 11 balls of dough in sizes similar to those above.

Once you have them all ready you can begin with the wings and place the head between the two wings.

 Next you will begin to assemble the angel.

Once the angels and ornaments have baked to a nice hard finish you can paint them with food color, watercolors, acrylics, or just leave them plain.    When you pack them away after the Holiday season, you can store them in air tight containers for the next year.  Our collection grew over the years.

Here is a hint.... the smaller the object the less time it takes to bake. So check your creations after the first 20 minutes or so.  These are about 3 inches high and maybe an inch and one half wide.

Flying Poodles Soars~

An interactive story, written by Karen Morss and illustrated in a traditional style with children in mind, the APP is only 1.99 at the Apple APPs store.

CHRISTMAS APP BY: POODLE DOG PRODUCTIONS

RATING: 4.5 OUT OF 5
BUY IT? YES
IPHONE / IPOD / IPAD APP: $1.99
UNIVERSAL APP: YES

The book is also available at any and all bookstores with the ISBN ( 978-0-615-38490-0) reference and on Amazon.com for the full book price.

A nice review... and a teaching moment

I am always happy to see great reviews for books and when they happen to be for authors for whom I have illustrated, I am even happier.  Here is a great review for Flying Poodles, A Christmas Story.  Karen Morss is the talented Renaiassance Woman who created the story.

Karen's own personal story is just as exciting and entertaining.

I was able to include the northern lights in some of the illustrations.  My mother grew up north of the Arctic Circle in Norway. Her stories about the Aurora Borealis always intrigued me.  I did visit Alaska, but only in the summer, so I have never seen these first hand, but hopefully I will return to either Norway or Alaska and view them for myself.

Poster for Little Charley Thornpaws

I created some posters for the book promotions for Little Charley Thornpaws.  We are only allowed to show three images from the book for promotional purposes and this is one of my favorite pieces.  To make the poster the correct size for the printer I needed to add the border.  The border is similar to some of the areas in the book and I had fun with all that color!

Artist of the Week on Public Republic - Bulgaria

I had the rare opportunity to be featured as the artist of the week on the Bulgarian Art Blog, Public-Rebpublic which is now being shared in English. It features artists from around the world on a weekly basis. I hope you will take time to have a look at the article and the other amazing artists featured on the blog. The interview was conducted by Galya Mladenova.

If you look to the right side bar on that blog you can click on and access the other artists that have been featured.  Many different approaches to art are displayed.

My first ever book signing *:)

The book signing for Daniel and the Harmonica, by Rob Dubreuil was a fun event today. I received a beautiful birthday card from Bethany Dubrueuil. She made it herself and I will always treasure it. We had a great time today. Rob played the harmonica with great flair! I tried a little, and will practice more. The book contains a lot of harmonica notation, so every book sold was accompanied by a harmonica. Thanks to all who came, and to Rob and his family and the great people at the Toadstool in Milford, NH

This is Rob reading his book to the group. He shared his journey from writer to published author with us and even played a fantastic harmonica solo.

Flying Poodles ~ A Christmas Story

from "Flying Poodles ~ A Christmas Story" written by 

Karen Morss and illustrated by 

Ginger Nielson.

Miss Sally helps harness little Max, who wears a hand knitted nose warmer as he prepares for the adventure of a lifetime.

The book is available from Flying Poodles and will soon be listed as an iPad/iPhone app.

The Proofs have arrived

It is really exciting when you get to see the galley proofs of a book you just illustrated and they look great!

©Ginger Nielson

So many times the color can be a bit off, or some spreads don't match perfectly, but this time I am just thrilled that the proofs look great in all respects: color, design, and alignment.  The book, "Flying Poodles, A Christmas Story" by Karen Morss is due out later this fall in time for Christmas.  Her vision and her story are a combination of fantasy and reality and I know children and adults will enjoy her version of a Christmas Eve miracle.

In addition to the book an iPad version is also being finalized and will include audio featuring some of Karen's young neighbors as the voices of the poodles.

In My Bath, and Author interview

Beth Bence Reinke, the author of In My Bath has a lovely interview posted here on Beverly Stowe McClure's Blog. I think you will really enjoy how she arrived at the story and the inspirations that helped her create such a winning work.

I was pleased to have been chosen to illustrate her story. The images she describes can only contribute more fun to bathtime.

          Beth Bence Reinke

New Books for 2010...

 This past year and a half has been a fortunate one for me as an illustrator. It proves that really hard work pays off... well it may not pay as well financially, but it certainly does pay
in credits, books illustrated,good karma, and nice rewards as the books begin to sell*:).

Four of the books I have illustrated are either available now, or will be this fall. Working with Stemmer House Publishers for Daniel and the Harmonica was a joyful challenge. Due out in September the picture book challenged me to create crowds of people for a young boy's day out in the park with his harmonica. Robert Dubreuil's story asks "What could happen if you play a very special harmonica in a park on a sunny afternoon?"
Answer:  ALMOST ANYTHING!

This book will delight the 4-9 group and may be the beginning of a young harmonica player's career in your home.

Also due out this fall is A Wish and A Prayer, by Beth Bence Reinke. I really enjoyed working on the illustrations for this picture book that asks the question, "Is a Wish better than a Prayer?"
As soon as I have my copies, I plan to read this one at our children's time in church and leave several copies in the church libraries.  A good target audience for this book is the 5-8 year old but it could be used easily for 4-9 because of the gentle message.

Currently available from the publisher, 4RV PUBLISHING, LLC are In My Bath, by Beth Bence Reinke,  is a great book for the pre-schooler and kindergarten to first grade crowd.

If Wishes Were Fishes, by N.A.Sharpe, will be fun to read for all the
havoc it causes for J.T.  For anyone in primary school and even before, this book will have them laughing and most likely trying to do exactly as J.T. does.




 You can order  In My Bath and If Wishes Were Fishes right now and also available for  Pre-order, A Wish and A Prayer by Beth Bence Reinke.

When you order the books, any or all,  just shoot me an email and I will  send you an illustrated, signed book plate for your copy or one you plan to give as a gift.

The world of technology gets more interesting each day.

I tried to upload a short trailer for If Wishes Were Fishes, written by N. A. Sharpe, and for some people it did not play. This morning I redid the entire page and movie, and hope it will show up for anyone who wants to hear some fun music and take a look at the next book.

If Wishes Were Fishes

A second book I illustrated for 4RV publishing is due to be released this June. If Wishes Were Fishes was written by N. A. Sharpe.  A child's point of view makes some of the statements adults make come to life in a very literal sense.

I have a short trailer on my website for If Wishes Were Fishes. if you want to take a peek. Hopefully the trailer is working. Some viewers had trouble seeing it. The other trailer for
IN MY BATH does seem to be working okay.

All 4RV books are available on the 4RV website, Amazon.com and any and all bookstores.

Also Coming Soon... If Wishes Were Fishes

Another book will also be released this June. Currently it is listed as available for Pre Order along with In My Bath.  This picture book explores the confusion that can result from "adult speak" when grown ups use terms like "If wishes were fishes, we'd all cast our nets..." OR "let's get our ducks in a row..."

 You can just imagine how a 6 year old could interpret that and a number of other expressions we sometimes take for granted. This all results in some very funny scenes that were so much fun to illustrate.

Written by N. A Sharpe, the picture book is a great read that fosters the bond between grandparents and their grandchildren.  It will be enjoyed by children and adults and will most likely bring up some interesting questions about the kind of language we use from time to time.

Published by 4RV Publishing, LLC it is listed as available for pre order as of May 15. If their website has not caught up with the deadlines, I'll post another update here soon.

Coming Soon.... to a bookshelf near you...

Coming Soon ~ In My Bath ~

I have had the privilege of illustrating a charming picture book written by Beth Bence Reinke. IN MY BATH is scheduled for release by 4RV Publishing LLC, this June. Children will love the adventurous imagination of a young boy who turns bath time into a splash, swish, and slosh of a romp!

Something Nice Happened

I have the pleasure and honor of being featured in the "Spotlight" on the Hire An Illustrator portfolio website.  Since joining HAI I have found the site to be most supportive of the artists and illustrators that it represents.  Take a peek if you have time and visit the other fine illustrators that are on the site. Joining is easy and there are fee options that are inviting.

Daisy Chain

Many Hoppy Returns ~

Pen, ink, watercolor

Pages in Blogger and More fun for all...

Recently Blogger added some neat new updates. One of those is PAGES.  With pages you can create stand alone pages and use tabs under the header on  your blog for navigational aids to your visitors.  I am doing this with the Blogger in Draft . This is the first step and you can get information on the new format for Blogger, new templates and more.

Because I was looking for an easier way for people to Naviate the Adventures of Winston the Wonderhound, blogger in draft led me to explore PAGEs.  Pages in Blogger will allow you to create stand alone pages that can be accessed via tabs just under your header image.  You can see what I mean if you visit Winston's blog.