Liz Here Now, oil on canvas board, 2016
As a child I wrote and illustrated a lot of stories. There was one about a snake. Why snakes? Perhaps it was easy to replicate a snake in varying poses and plots very quickly. The snake has a magic carpet. An influence of the present popularity of Aladdin, perhaps?
I also illustrated with my best friend, who now makes her own drawings in CAD as a successful Interior Designer. We wrote cutting edge news (Madonna had a baby!) and kept the readers (our parents and patient neighbors) abreast on the weather - also carefully rendered.
Fast forward twenty years. As an exercise in creating meaningful goals and continued success in my career I created a list of short and long term goals in January. One of those goals was to illustrate a book. The universe answered the call and I received an e-mail from a publisher who had seen my painting Commingling. They were in need of an artist who could paint hands. Me! I can do that!
For those of you who follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you may have seen some initial sketches and in progress paintings. The painting is now complete! I'm completely honored and blessed to be a part of this project with Todd Connor, the author of the autobiographical novel. As details about where and how to purchase the book get finalized, I'll keep you posted!
Commingling, oil on canvas, 2015