~Francine van Hove~

.
"My main theme is, without a doubt, that intimacy
and peace which women know when they are alone,
when they enjoy such simple pleasures as reading
during breakfast, or losing themselves staring into
the eyes of a cat, or just sleeping."
~Francine Van Hove (1942-)
.
.
  .
The illustrator and contemporary painter
Francine Van Hove paints gentle, sensuous portraits
of women in day-to-day poses. 

She always paints with a live model and has a
particular mastery of transparent skin tones. 
Beauty, refinement, sensuality and meditation
are the prominent themes of her work.

She is inspired by daily life, painting and literature. 

Her masters are La Tour, Ingres, Degas, the painters
of the Italian Renaissance and Dutch painting. 
.. . .

~Sunday Poem~

.
For I have learned
to look on nature, not as in the hour
of thoughtless youth; but hearing oftentimes
the still, sad music of humanity,
nor harsh nor grating, though of ample power
to chasten and subdue. And I have felt
a presence that disturbs me with the joy
of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime
of something far more deeply interfused,
whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
and the round ocean and the living air,
and the blue sky, and in the mind of man: 

A motion and a spirit, that impels
all thinking things, all objects of all thought,
and rolls through all things. Therefore am I still
a lover of the meadows and the woods,
and mountains; and of all that we behold
from this green earth; of all the mighty world
of eye, and ear, -- both what they half create,
and what perceive; well pleased to recognize
in nature and the language of the sense,
the anchor of my purest thoughts, the nurse,
the guide, the guardian of my heart, and soul
of all my moral being. 

~ by William Wordsworth~
Painting by Vladimir Gusev (1957-)

~Graham Rust~

.
"Then she slipped through the door,
and shut it behind her, breathing quite fast
with excitement and wonder, and delight.
She was standing inside the secret garden."
~Frances Hodgson Burnett~
. .
Graham Redgrave-Rust was born in Hertfordshire,
England in 1942. He studied drawing and painting
at the Polytechnic School of Art, Regent Street,
the Central School of Arts and Crafts in London and
the National Academy of Art in New York.
For two years he worked as an artist on
"Architectural Forum" for Time Inc.
In 1968 he spent a year as artist in residence
at Woodberry Forest School, Virginia, USA.
.   .
He is internationally renowned for his murals
and ceiling paintings. His most important work is
the mural "The Temptation" in the entrance hall of
Ragley Hall, Warwickshire, which took over a decade
to complete. He has illustrated various books including
the 1986 edition of ' The Secret Garden',
by Frances Hodgson Burnett and
the 1993 edition of 'Some Flowers',
by Vita Sackville-West. His works has been displayed
in over twenty one-man exhibitions.
. . .
Graham Rust lives and works in Suffolk and is
currently illustrating a cookery book by the late
Countess of Clanwilliam, who commissioned his
first mural painting in 1965.
.

.
Books illustrated:
- Fruite of the Earth 1986
- The Secret Garden 1986
-A Little Princess 1989
-The Secret Garden Notebook 1991
-Some Flowers 1993
- Little Lord Fauntleroy 1993
-The Fine Art of Dining 1994
-Claro en la Selva 2001
..
Books published:
-The Painted House 1987
-Decorative Designs 1996
-Needlepoint Designs 1998
-The Painted Ceiling 2001
.

~P.J. Lynch

.
Patrick James Lynch  was born March 2 1962
P. J. Lynch has worked as a Children’s
Book Illustrator since leaving
Brighton College of Art in England in 1984.
.  .
He has won many awards including the
Mother Goose Award, the Christopher Medal three times,
and the prestigious Kate Greenaway Medal on two
occasions , first for "The Christmas Miracle of
Jonathan Toomey" by Susan Wojciechowski, and
again for “When Jessie Came Across the Sea” by Amy Hest.
. . 
Born in Belfast, Lynch was the youngest of five children.
He was interested in art from an early age, often
choosing to spend his free periods during school in
the art department. According to Lynch, Belfast
was a "scary" place for a teenager in the 1970s
(see The Troubles), and he used drawing and reading
as a "way of escaping for a while from the horrors
that were happening around me in the real world."
He attended the Brighton College of Art, leaving in 1984
to begin his career as a children's book illustrator.
. .
Lynch's first book, a collection of folklore tales from
England and Wales entitled A Bag of Moonshine
(written by Alan Garner), was published in 1986.
This was the beginning of a recurring theme in Lynch's work;
many of his books focus on traditional stories, legends,
and fairy tales. For his illustrations in A Bag of Moonshine
Lynch received the Mother Goose Award,
given to the "most exciting newcomer to British
children's book illustration".
.
.
"The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey”
has sold more than a million copies in the United States
alone, and has recently been made into a motion picture
starring Tom Berenger and Joely Richardson.
.
. 
.
Lynch has illustrated about 20 books:

*A Bag of Moonshine, by Alan Garner
*Raggy Taggy Toys, by Joyce Dunbar
*Melisande, by E. Nesbit
*Fairy Tales of Ireland, by William Butler Yeats
.
.
*East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon,
translated by George W. Dasent
*The Steadfast Tin Soldier, by Hans Christian Anderson
*The Candlewick Book of Fairy Tales, by Sarah Hayes
*The Snow Queen, by Hans Christian Anderson
*Catkin, by Antonia Barber
*The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey
by Susan Wojciechowski
.. 
*The King of Ireland's Son, by Brendan Behan
*When Jessie Came Across the Sea by Amy Hest
*An ABC Picture Gallery, by P.J. Lynch
*Grandad's Prayers of the Earth, by Douglas Wood
*The Names Upon the Harp:
*Irish Myth and Legend, by Marie Heaney
*Ignis, by Gina Wilson
*The Bee-Man of Orn, by Frank R. Stockton
*A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens
*The Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
*Lincoln and His Boys by Rosemary Wells
.
. .. . .
http://pjlynchgallery.blogspot.com/
.

~Sheri Doty

.
Sheri Lynn Boyer Doty
Sheri Doty received a B F A degree in 1972
from the University of Utah with a painting and
drawing emphasis. Having experimented
with non-representational styles during her
student years, Sheri preferred classic realism as
thought by professor Alvin Gittins.
.
.
.
   .
He and the professors under whom she studied,
emphasized strong drawing and painting skills.
Sheri’s paintings have earned her awards in regional,
national and international art exhibitions and
invitational shows including purchase awards and
permanent museum acquisitions.
Sanford Corporation, formerly known as Berol USA.,
used her artwork to showcase its PRISMACOLOR
colored pencil product line internationally for
over 25 years. Sheri is a signature member of the
Colored Pencil Society of America [C.P.S.A.].
..  
.
Sheri’s artwork has been published in numerous books
including The Encyclopedia of Colored Pencil
Techniques by Quarto Publishing, London England; 
Sheri’s artwork is also published on book covers,
in newspapers, periodicals, and exhibit catalogues.
..
.
.
http://www.sheridoty.com/info.phtml
.

~Paul Vincenti~

. 
Paul Vincenti has been creating images 
for over 25 years.
Based in Orlando, Florida, Paul's style and subjects
have a unique overlap between fantasy illustrations
and the fine art world. Everyone agrees that Paul is
blessed with boundless energy.
His professional endeavors have spanned many media,
including forays into musical composition and production.
.
   
.
Paul’s first professional art show was in 1979.
He did the outdoor art show circuit around Florida
for a few years, displaying a mix of fantasy and landscapes,
but found he could actually afford to eat if he took
photographs, something he had been doing for
years as a reference for his paintings.
The opportunity to go to Hawaii presented itself in 1984
and in short order, Paul became a contributing editor
and photographer for Hawaii magazine photographing
the swimsuit issues for three years.
.. . .
In 1989 family bonds brought Paul back to Florida.
Although fascinated by new technology,
he decided that he could not to afford to re-invest
his money into the digital photography revolution
he saw coming, so he sold most of his equipment, and fell
in love with oil painting all over again.
.. . . .

~Paul Vincenti.com

~Sunday Poem~

I remember, I remember,
The House where I was born,
The little window where the sun
Came peeping in at morn;
He never came a wink too soon,
Nor brought too long a day,
But now, I often wish the night
Had borne my breath away!
.     .
I remember, I remember,
The roses, red and white,
The violets, and the lily-cups,
Those flowers made of light!
The lilacs where the robin built,
And where my brother set
The laburnum on his birthday,
The tree is living yet!

I remember, I remember,
Where I was used to swing,
And thought the air must rush as fresh
To swallows on the wing;
My spirit flew in feathers then,
That is so heavy now,
And summer pools could hardly cool
The fever on my brow!

I remember, I remember,
The fir trees dark and high;
I used to think their slender tops
Were close against the sky:
It was a childish ignorance,
But now 'tis little joy
To know I'm farther off from heaven
Than when I was a boy.

By Thomas Hood (1799-1845)

~Amy June Bates~

.
A peek in her Studio!
.
Amy June Bates is a freelance illustrator
with Shannon and Associates.
She has worked with Harper Collins,
Farrer Strauss And Giroux, Hyperion Books for
Children and Barnes and Noble among others.
Amy grew up in Utah and graduated from
Brigham Young University in Illustration.
While in Utah, she worked for the Waterford Institute
doing educational illustration. During her time with
Waterford Amy illustrated over twenty books and
learned all about this sort of thing.
. .
Most importantly, she gets to draw which makes her happy.
Amy now lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan with
her husband Alex and their ambidexterous son Evan.
..
Sketch and illustration of Swan Lake.
.  .
A few books illustrated by her hand:
Hillary Rodham Clinton:
Dreams Taking Flight by Kathleen Krull
You Can Do It! by Tony Dungy
The Dog Who Belonged to No One by Amy Hest
Martin’s Dream by Jane Kurtz
Abe’s Fish: A Boyhood Tale of A.Lincoln by Jen Bryant
. Illustration from the The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Easy Reader Classic series, adapted by Catherine Nichols.
.. From The Dog Who Belonged to No One by Amy Hest.
.  .
.

~Halloween~

.
Witches flying past on broomsticks,
Black cats leaping here and there,
White-robed spooks on every corner,
Mournful moaning in the air,
Goblins peering out of windows,
Spirit-things that rap and run-
But don't be scared-it's just October,
Having one last hour of fun!

.
~by Mary Jane Carr

~Janet & Anne, Grahame Johnstone

  .
Janet Grahame Johnstone (1 June 1928 - 1979)
and Anne Grahame Johnstone (1 Jun 1928 - 25 May 1998)
were twin sisters and British children's book illustrators
best known for their delicate, detailed prolific artwork
and for illustrating Dodie Smith's classic book
"The Hundred and One Dalmatians."
..
Books illustrated include:
-Andy Pandy, Bill and Ben,
- Folk Tales of the World,
-The Hundred and One Dalmatians,
-Miracle in the Wilderness,
-My Book of Enchanting Nursery Rhymes,
-Peter Pan and Wendy,
-Santa Claus is Coming to Town,
-Tales of the Greeks and Trojans.
.  . . .
The twins were born in 1928 to British muralist and
costume designer Doris Zinkeisen and her husband,
Captain Grahame Johnstone.
They attended the Heathfield School in Ascot, Berkshire
during World War II; their artistic bent nurtured
both at home and at school. Later, they attended
St Martin's School of Art in London,
where they studied period clothing styles.
.
.
.   
The Johnstone sisters' popularity took off in
the early 1950s, when they were noticed by
publishers and acquired a growing reputation
as talented illustrators. They always worked together,
passing drawings back and forth across their studio
until both twins were satisfied with the final outcome.
Janet specialized in animals and birds.
Anne focused on the period costumes that so dominated
their work. Because of their symbiotic collaboration,
until the death of Janet in 1979, there was never a book
illustrated under either one of their names alone.
.
.
The first important book the twins worked on was
The Hundred and One Dalmatians by Dodie Smith,
who was already a very successful playwright
and author. In 1956 she invited them to illustrate
her first children's book, and it was an immediate
success, captivating parents and children alike.
Eventually, Smith's book was made into a
feature-length animated film by Walt Disney.
.
.
The twins' further success with later Smith books,
The Starlight Barking and The Midnight Kittens,
made them the most widely recognized illustrators
of children's books in England at the time.
Their business association developed into an
enduring friendship until Smith died in November 1990.
.