I’m getting too lazy with my blog, but here are some pictures of Puerto Vallarta, mostly taken in the Romantic Zone where we were staying. The only evidence we saw of the February cartel violence – 4 burned convenience stores. The friendly people who live in PV work so hard! If you’re interested, you can click each picture in the gallery, and it will show up full-size:) Happy spring!
I’m obsessed with learning to illustrate lately, and I’ve been selling my “cuddle cards” for the past year or so at Stirling’s, a local farm market. I used a quote by Mark Twain for my most recent illustration, above:
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you DID NOT DO,
than by the ones you DID DO. Explore, Dream, Discover!
Matching words and images is so much fun! I was that kid who gave up on art in about grade four when I realized lots of other kids were better “drawers” than I was. I’m so happy I decided to heed Mark Twain’s advice, take the plunge, and pick it up again (about 50 years later). This summer, I published my first book that has my name on the cover as both author and illustrator, KARISSA & FELIX. The quality of this JPEG isn’t very good, I fear… But I’m pretty proud of the book, and I hope it will help some kids find hope after a great loss. I do still have a lot to learn about illustrating, but I’m enjoying the process. If you’d like to buy a copy (or 10), I have several boxes in my writing room…
Stole this heading from my new-found cousin (about 9 generations back), Charlie. He lives in Florida most of the year, but he and his wife, Linda, have a beautiful home in Lunenburg, too, and we spent time exploring our mutual Langille ancestry over the past few weeks. Sadly, my month was over today, and it’s back to reality. Not that doing research isn’t “work”, but Lunenburg is just so incredibly beautiful, and such a welcoming and artistic town, that it was a most pleasant place to do that work. A highlight for me was meeting with the “Gallows Hill Writers”, a lovely group of writers (my landlord for the month, Gill Osmond, is part of this group) – we had tea at the art gallery of Joseph and Tela Purcell – their work is incredible! And if Tela is there, she’ll welcome you with open arms:)
I feel like I’ve accomplished what I set out to do – now it’s a matter of sitting down and figuring out how the story might come together, blending characters from 2014 with people in 1753, a challenge for sure. I took loads of pictures and here are a few that capture the essence of my month exploring the area. So long, lovely Lunenburg – I’ll be back!
Jan L. Coates - "What if...?" 