This morning Tulsi whispered in my ear, “Pssssst, let’s go for a ride on a butterfly.” “Let’s,” I replied. In case you didn’t already know, you know now who keeps me in check. And busy. There is much I want to share from the past couple months! Where to begin? I’ll start with Hattiesburg, Mississippi…I [...]

Last week I came upon The M.A.P.P. Gathering, an incredible, growing ocean of mamas, coming together to relate and share, encourage and ignite each others’ flames. The Gathering is a series of interviews with some amazing, wise, gentle, BRIGHT soul-mamas who are all wholly passionate about their mothering AND their “work”: Brene Brown, PhD, Jennifer [...]

I just created a page “FOR KIDS” (and parents, teachers, big kids…) — it is now in my menu above. I think it’s super fun, and I hope it will inspire young authors and illustrators. At the top is an interactive page with 27 different “clicks” that shares some of my writing & art process [...]

“I have this idea for a children’s book, but how do I get it published?” I have heard this so many times over the past few years — from dear friends and family, family members of childhood friends, girlfriends of ex-boyfriends :), blog friends, students, and strangers. I am no expert on this. My own [...]

This week was a tough one. We all have Spring colds and felt pretty miserable. On the positive side, Tulsi and I got 24-7 snuggle time for about 5 days straight. :) Today we all began to feel a wee bit more like our normal selves. This afternoon Tulsi and I sat side by side, [...]

Above: Tracy McGuiness and her son Roy, at work on a mural at Roy’s school in the U.K. Eight years ago when I was first in Nepal volunteering at Sunshine School, the students and I created a 60′ mural in their playground on a brick wall. I didn’t have any paint supplies and ALL that [...]

A couple months ago, I received this incredibly beautiful book, Nurturing Walls, from a, somewhat abstract, internet friend in India (hee. I love that we live in a time that we all have these ‘friends’ out there who we’ve never met but love that they exist in space and in our lives :) ) What [...]

It happened! For real. Five of us children’s book authors and illustrators gathered up at our homestead for our “first annual kid’s book retreat”. I originally got the idea for this last winter when hearing about a women’s creative workshop at a remote and inspiring lake-cabin location. Considering time, finances, Tulsi, and the idea that [...]

a sweet, still moment from a recent visit to the Lama Foundation nearby. these mountains ground me in a way i’ve never felt prior. i am so grateful for living in such a beautiful place with endless inspiration. So, remember that cigar box I’ve been stuffing with story fragments scribbled on note cards? I laid [...]

Continuing the conversation about being a full-time mama and an artist…  I’ve thought a lot this past year about how to merge the two. It seemed strange to keep Tulsi completely separate from my art, especially since a lot of my illustration+books are kid related, and she is inspiring so many new ideas. While I [...]