Praying in Georgia

Right now in Georgia there is a lot going on politically.  The Republican candidate for Governor, who happens to the Secretary of State is being sued because he is allegedly overseeing illegal suppression of absentee ballots thereby disanfranchising many African Americans.  His opponent Stacey Abrams is calling him on it and a U.S.District Judge has just ordered that the ballots not be discarded without further investigation.
Full story.


This 15 story high mural by Sam3, a Madrid based street artist on the Comfort Suites Hotel feels to me like what many Americans are feeling about the upcoming election.  PLEASE GOD LET THE DEMOCRATS WIN and end this lawless attack on Democracy everywhere!

OLIVE ILLUSTRATIONS

Meanwhile I have been working on illustrating a book about one year in a 5 -6 year old.  And I began an Instagram account with some illustrations.  story influx.
https://www.instagram.com/nclearwaterherman1/

georgia whatever

I am way behind in my Georgia blogging.  So much is happening there and here as well.
This is the image I have decided to use for part of my Georgia postcard.  Jimmy Carter is always hopeful.

GEORGIA #3

Here is something that happened in Georgia just last weekend.  Neo Nazi planned riot.  Protesters gathered wearing masks.  This was a big mistake as there is a law which prohibits wearing masks - originally passed to keep KKKers from wearing hoods.  The protesters were arrested.  Since the Neo Nazis were not wearing hoods they were not arrested.

Link to story.

Georgia #2

Here is an interesting little art story from Georgia.  Murals painted for the Agriculture Building in 1956 by George Beattie were taken down by republican Commissioner Gary Black in 2012 when he was elected to be the Commissioner for Agriculture. He didn't like the portrayal of Native Americans as heroic figures. I wonder what replaced them? I can't find any info on that part of the story.  Perhaps photos of Gary Black?  This is a good video of an art historian talking about the murals in an historical context.  Interestingly enough, although he is generally positive about the work, he indicts Beattie for his voluptuous portrayal of the Native American women.

Here are some murals that are currently on display in Georgia.

GEORGIA #1

Georgia named after King George is the last and the furthest South of the original Thirteen Colonies.  It was also one of the original seven Confederate states and the last to be restored to the Union in 1870.  It has been known as the Peach State and the Empire State of the South and Atlanta the state's capital and most populous city, has been named a global city, which means it is a node in the global international financial network.

To get you warmed up down there where the peaches are fine,

Here is Ray Charles with Georgia on my mind with plenty of shots of the State.

Other work

I have to admit to being a little weary of all this traveling around the country.  I will continue however with Georgia next on the list.

In the meantime I have been working on some illustrations for a new children's book.  I went to a symposium of the society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators to learn how to get something published.  It was very interesting.  I discovered that one needs to restrict the number of words in a children's picture book to from 50 to 2500 with the less the better.  The book should be from 32 to 64 pages long.  I brought some of my previous illustrations along and was told that I should not include photos as I did with some pages from OLIVE AND STICKY BEAR like this.

Although this critic was not too keen on digital illustrations (she is a water colorist) she did approve of the illustration below and suggested I go with my strong point, which was the addition of fabric patterns.

As in this illustration.

So I have tried to digest all of those limitations and recommendations and begun making some new illustrations.  All of which can now be seen on my new INSTAGRAM account which is something it is very important to have apparently.

Once I get several more illustrations for the book finished I will make a postcard to be sent to art directors from publishing houses.  Apparently you cannot send an unsolicited manuscript without an agent to anyone anymore, but the art directors will look at a postcard for as long as it takes them to walk from the mail room to their desk.  If they like it they may look you up.  If they don't, into the trash it goes.  So you have about 6 seconds to make an impression.  I think I may make several postcards and send them all the same week so if one image doesn't hit the spot the next may do the trick....and I am nothing if not an old dog trying to learn new tricks.

As I post the illustrations please let me know which ones you think might grab someone's attention!

Florida #10

Well here it is way into October and Florida is not really finished.  I sent out my newsletter with the Florida postcard and there were several responses that made me rethink it.

Here is the original painted postcard which I think says what I want to say about Florida.

Here is what was suggested by one person with a stormy sky, red tide, and the top of Mar a Lago in the sea added.

Here is another suggestion from yet another contributor.  All of the above with a dead fish.

Someone on Facebook didn't like the ones with Mar a Lago as she felt that made it seem as if the man facing the tide was Trump...and she feels we see enough of Trump all the time and he should not be brought into every image.

My original intention was to have the man represent "everyman", facing the see alone.  The word Florida, which is usually portrayed in postcards as being filled with fun stuff, is here empty as the tide comes in.  I am going with the first image for my postcard.  But I would love to here what you think.