I’m excited to say that Squircle has been honored as a Mom’s Choice Awards Gold Recipient! The Mom’s Choice Awards® is known for establishing the benchmark of excellence in family-friendly  products. This annual competition recognizes authors creating quality family-friendly products. Parents, educators, librarians and retailers rely on Mom’s Choice evaluations when selecting quality materials for children and families.

I’ve been working with Tippecaone & Dover schools, which will soon merge to form Parkside School for the Arts & Humanities, to create a picture book about community. For the last five weeks the 686 students have been working with me to write and illustrate the book. So far we don’t have a title, but we’ve been working hard on our collage artwork. Here’s how the project has developed…

1. Students in grades K4-8th grade brainstormed with me to find themes within the idea of community. We needed 22 themes as there are 22 classrooms within the two schools. Each student wrote about that theme that was assigned for their classroom. This writing could be either a narrative story or a poem. Students also drew a picture related to the topic. In addition to the students’ drawings and writing, we used pages from the book that each grade is reading (11 books were selected by the teachers to help students explore the idea of community a bit deeper) and sheet music that the students created with composer, Dr. Mark Mantel.

2. With these materials, tissue paper, and glue, we created unique collage paper. The students  brainstormed symbols to represent the theme each classroom is working on. These symbols are then created as a collage artwork and incorporated into the larger collage. The finished 22 collages will be photographed and used as page spreads in the book. The teachers will be working together to create the cover for the book.

3. When the artwork is complete we will work together to compose the story, refining the rhythm, wording, and composition.

4. The final book will be released on June 5, 2014 and an accompanying CD of the music that Dr. Mark Mantel created with the students will be included with the book.

Here are some photos of the work we’ve done. The drawings are storyboards of the page spreads. There will be a tree included in each page spread. The tree helps connect the story and symbolically represents the people and community of the story.

Squircle
Andrea Skyberg, author/artist

“Squircle” is a fantastic representative collaboration between artist/author Andrea Skyberg and students of five Wisconsin schools, creating fabric applique murals and artworks about a central theme of interconnectedness. These completed large murals are woven into a creative story about Evie a girl who carries a ball or red twine, a box and a twig into the forest. At first Evie wants to catch a squirrel, so she makes a trap from her box and then becomes angry when the squirrel eludes her trap. Her first lesson is titled “Duckflap,” illustrated by a beautiful fabric mural of a duck who flaps to set anger free. Evie goes on to learn five important lessons in interconnectedness, living in the present, learning to listen to her inner voice, flowing through life without resisting what happens, and finally, “Squircle,” an experience of coming full circle by sharing a connection with all beings and things. Each enlightenment is fabulously interpreted by a joint project fabric art mural made, and retained by a different school. The narrative pictures in black and white with red twine help describe the inner journey completed by Evie. A truly unique creative feature of “Squircle” is the creative connecting of two words to make a new joint concept, like “Duckflap,” “Fishflow,” “Right -Now-A-Pillar Time,” “Deerly Listen,” and of course, “Squircle.” “Squircle” is a truly wonderful children’s book that has to be savored, published by Wooden Nickel Press, whose mission is described as “to publish books that exhibit an original & inspired connection between storytelling and fine art. Certainly the quality of art and storytelling displayed in “Squircle” is extremely fine, deserving wide acclaim and deeply educational enjoyment. Although “Squircle” is technically a children’s book, easily accessible to those age 6 and up, adults will also find it fascinating and rewarding to read and examine. What a gift to all!

http://www.midwestbookreview.com/cbw/apr_13.htm#Picturebook

I’ve been really busy on a really exciting project, which I’ll share soon, but in the meantime I have to share my daughter Evey’s new picture book, The Queens of Spring which she wrote and illustrated! I’m very proud of her! Queens-of-Spring-Evey-Skyberg-Greer 

I’ve been working on the artwork for my new book, The Heart Shaped Girl Named Cutie Patootie. The story is about a girl who won’t share anything, even her love.

I submitted an entry for the Tommie dePaloa contest through the SCBWI. They have a great blog with all of the entries. I really enjoyed being part of this contest, as it gave me an opportunity to see a large amount of artwork from some very talented artists. I really like the winning piece done by  Sandra Ure Griffin. In fact, it was one of my favorite pieces.

I submitted this piece for the book, Little Women.

I got the chance to share a booth with my husband at this year’s Arts@Large Artist Meet and Greet. It was a lot of fun reconnecting with artists I know and meeting new people. There was some great food catered in from Cubanitos. Thanks Arts@Large for hosting a wonderful gathering!

A photo of our table, with Michael’s elephant, which will be one of the illustrations in his new book, The Eyes of India (March 27, 2014). Also, on display are Pipsqueak dolls, Ragadoodles, Squircle Wish Banners, and of course, my books!

We went to Cory Albrectson’s studio tonight to shoot the photographs of all the murals and the smaller embroidered pieces.  Here is a shot of me and my daughter, Evey next to the squirrel mural. 

I’ve  really enjoyed working on the pages of Squircle. Most days (and nights!) this summer I’ve been in my studio listening to audio books while using my sewing machine to create free-motion embroidered pieces while my daughters play next to me in their playroom.  It’s been a wonderfully meditative process.

My favorite audiobooks that I’ve been listening to while working…
Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver
State of Wonder by Ann Patchett
The Age of Shiva by Manil Suri
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Messenger by Lois Lowry
The Book of Secrets by Deepak Chopra

Most days when I emerge from my studio I’m covered in little scraps of fabric that eventually molt off of me and scatter themselves around the rest of the house.  Slowly but surely the large fabric murals for my new book, Squircle are getting finished. Music has been such a huge inspiration while I’ve been creating.

Here’s a list of what I’m listening to now…

Ceremonials by Florence + the Machine
Is Your Love Big Enough? by Lianne LaHavas
Boys for Pele by Tori Amos
The Score by the Fugees
21 by Adele
Colour the Small One by Sia
Mouths to Feed by Karen Elson
Blink the Brightest by Tracy Bohnmam
Extraordinary Machine by Fiona Apple
Lungs by Florence + the Machine
Living in Clip by Ani Difranco