[artsy talk] Ashley Wolff on My Towering Tree

~ jama ~ 19 Comments

Happy to welcome back Vermont artist Ashley Wolff to talk about her latest picture book, My Towering Tree, written by Janna Matthies and published by Beach Lane Books (2024).

In Matthies’s lyrical ode to a special tree, a girl appreciates the natural wonders in her own back yard, from squirrel to garden to bee. Beneath the towering tree’s leafy canopy, she can think, breathe, rest, write, reflect, and simply be. She can also remember her dog who’s buried there beneath “a squarish stone,” and joyfully bask in the warm rays of sunshine streaming through the branches.

In my yard’s a towering tree. It reaches high to cover me.

Ashley’s lush, color-saturated gouache and pastel illustrations bring Janna’s spare rhyming text to vivid, glorious life. Her dramatic use of scale in several double page spreads creates a sense of intimacy and introspection, while charming details such as the squirrel stealing a tomato, the girl blissfully reclining in a wheelbarrow, and her endearing notebook doodles keep us turning the pages. The majestic tree, with its thick sturdy trunk, generous branches teeming with wildlife, and foliage rendered in soft, fluid daubs of green is soothing and inviting.

In my yard’s a squeaky squirrel. He zigzags like a tilt-a-whirl and races up the towering tree that reaches high to cover me.

Big thanks to Ashley for dropping by to tell us more about creating the art for this lovely study in meditation and mindfulness, and for sharing so many wonderful reference photos. 🙂

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licking my chops, kissing my fingertips

~ jama ~ 22 Comments

“There is no sincerer love than the love of food.” ~ George Bernard Shaw

“Breakfast with Humpty Dumpty” by Michael Cheval.
COME EAT WITH ME AND BE MY LOVE
by Cathy Bryant

Come eat with me and be my love
and we will buy some plus size pants
and gorge on sweet syruped kisses
down supermarket food aisles dance
until thrown off the premises,
my fine eclair, my lemon puff.

Come eat with me and lose your scales
and gain lasagne, served with wine,
and ripe persimmons, plums and pears
my fragrant fruit, oh lover mine,
and we will laugh at diet cares
and low-fat bread that swiftly stales.

Come eat with me and roll on cake
and find crumbs in each other's hair
and nibble on as far as we can
until, replete, we lie quite bare
on our smooth bed of marzipan,
my love who dares to shake and bake.

Come eat with me and feel our flesh
as soft as custard, warm as toast
as comforting as treacle tart
as healthy as a hot nut roast,
my love, who nestles in my heart
- no sell-by date. Forever fresh.

~ from Savor: Poems for the Tongue, edited by Brennan Breeland and Stan Galloway (Friendly City Books 2024).
“Candlelight Dinner” by Raija Nokkala.

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[salty review] Potatoes for Pirate Pearl by Jennifer Concepcion and Chloe Burgett

~ jama ~ 9 Comments

Ahoy there, mateys!

Pardon for sayin’ so, but yer lookin’ a might peckish, mebbe a trifle peaked.

No worries, here be a tasty tater tale to tempt your tum-tum. Yarrr! We’re off to the high seas with Pirate Pearl and her perky parrot Petunia in pursuit of provisions. So twirl yer tricorns and climb aboard!

In the rib-tickling read-aloud, Potatoes for Pirate Pearl by Jennifer Concepcion and Chloe Burgett (Feeding Minds Press, 2023), a hungry pirate and her squawky sidekick learn how to plant, grow, and harvest potatoes, all while making a new friend.

Pearl and Petunia, who had been at sea for many months aboard the Jolly Oyster, were absolutely fed up with eating hardtack biscuits day after day. “I’ll make this codswallop walk the plank!,” Pearl said, just before she tossed their barrel of grub overboard.

Now what?

Luckily, with a “splish splash SQUAWK” they were soon able to make landfall to scope out some fresh grub. They “splashed through streams . . . hiked hills . . . and trooped through trees” when they spied a red barn and silo in the distance. “Thar she grows!”

Fading fast, Pearl and Petunia could barely drag themselves toward the farm. Just in the nick of time, a friendly landlubber named Farmer Fay came to the rescue. She carted them off to her kitchen to revive them with a steaming bowl of potato soup. Blimey, was it good!

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[saucy review] Pasta Pasta Lotsa Pasta by Aimee Lucido and Mavisu Demirağ

~ jama ~ 29 Comments

Bucatini, capellini, spaghettini, tortellini!

Molto delizioso!

Italian pasta names make me happy. Joyful, lyrical, rhythmic — saying them is almost as good as eating them. Hungry? Time to put on a bib, grab a fork, and feast on Pasta Pasta Lotsa Pasta by Aimee Lucido and Mavisu Demirağ (Beach Lane Books, 2024).

Mangiamo!

In this lip smacking celebration of all things noodle-y, a family of picky eaters gathers for dinner. Their names just happen to rhyme with where they’re from as well as their pasta preferences. Told from a young girl’s point of view, the story begins with the arrival of her grandmother:

Ring-a-ding, the doorbell rings, and oh!/What did my Nonna bring?

Nonna Ana (who’s from Catania and only likes to eat lasagna) wheels in her chicken and some eggs. The girl and her mom get busy making the lasagna from scratch — combining ingredients, rolling out the dough and then cutting it into thin layers.

The next minute, the doorbell rings again. Nonno Titi arrives with a bag full of fresh veggies. “Nonno Titi from Tahiti only eats our spaghettini.” Papa and Mamma proceed to slice and cook the spinach, zucchini, eggplant and onions to go with the spaghettini.

Pasta pasta lotsa pasta/made for Nonno and famiglia!

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nine cool things on a tuesday

~ jama ~ 6 Comments

1. Hello, September! We’re welcoming this new month with the lush beauty of Linnea Tobias’s art. Based in Spokane, Washington, Linnea enjoys painting modern interpretations of nature.

She’s inspired by daily walks in her neighborhood — the trees, birds, plants, light and color she observes later emerge in her work.

 I am influenced by textile design, the connection between the physical and spiritual worlds, fairy tales, optical illusions, and the changing of the seasons. I use different mediums depending on the effect I want to achieve. Lately I choose between watercolor, encaustic or acrylic paint, combining collage and texture with abstract forms and patterns.

Each painting or print has multiple layers of color to heighten contrasts and create an inner glow.

Linnea earned a BA in fine art from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA; studied painting, art history and printmaking at The Aegean Center for the Fine Arts in Paros, Greece; and graphic design and ceramics at Humboldt State University in Arcata, CA.

Visit Linnea’s Official Website for more. Prints and cards may be purchased via her Etsy Shop. Follow her Facebook Page or Instagram for the latest updates.

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