Thursday, June 18, 2009

Artist Jennifer Merz blogs: I am very excited to be joining StoryBook Arts. I'm looking forward to a very creative and productive relationship!



--Her picture book "Playground Day" from Clarion will soon be available in the Korean Marketplace. We're looking forward to seeing how they translate her rhyming text.



--She recently completed an author visit -book signing for the Daisy Girl Scouts (6 yr olds) of Ridgewood, N.J. They were very enthusiastic and appreciative audience, about 85 girls in all (including 4th grade helpers) and enjoyed learning how she creates a picture book-starting with torn paper. They loved her PowerPoint demo and doing a craft too.



--On May 13th, Jennifer had another visit scheduled: this one for Chapel School in Bronxville, N.Y. She will present to 3 different groups over the course of the day..to 175 children in all! This visit will be very special because her 4 yr. old niece will be in the audience too!



--On Sunday, (5/3), Jennifer enjoyed meeting Anahid Hamparian, the Art Director of Marchall Cavendish at a CBIG meeting. Anahid was so generous with her information and her time: she looked at everyones portfolio and distributed all of her sample books at the end of the meeting!



--Jennifer's website is getting a face lift and the changes can be seen at http://www.jennifermerz.com/ Please take a moment to look.

Artist Shawn Costello is an Art Teacher at Lisbon Elementary in Howard County, MD. Faculty and students recently took part in an Earth Day Parade singing "This Land is My Land". The students participated in different activities throughout the day learning about conversation and ecology.


There was also a 5th Grade art show at the end of May showcasing a charcoal portrait for each student created by Shawn. The show was an opportunity to exhibit the portraits along with the children's artwork. Refreshments were served and parents took the opportunity to donate to the art program.