the goal of life

"The goal of human life is not death, but resurrection."
- Karl Barth, Theologian, (1886-1968)

Denyse Schmidt at The Glass House

My friend, Denyse, was honored with an invitation to participate in the Philip Johnson Glass House Commissions program. Artists and designers create limited-edition works, inspired by a visit to the Glass House (above), a National Trust Historic site.

A former graphic designer (that's where we met - we both were working for a small packager/publisher) and graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, Denyse, has been sewing since she was a young girl. She has a fabulous company Denyse Schmidt Quilts of Bridgeport CT and makes incredible cool quilts.

Here's her quilt for the Glass House:

“I am inspired by the spareness, refinement and restraint. The subtle layering of details, color, and the transparency and reflection between the architecture and the landscape are beautiful.” - Denyse Schmidt

quilt shown: Simple Stripe
for Philip Johnson Glass House Commission program

Do a virtual tour of her studio: here.

Sneezing Panda

thanks to flowers

"I am following Nature without being able to grasp her. I perhaps owe having become a painter to flowers." Claude Monet (1840-1926)


Georgia O'Keeffe (1887-1986), famous for her paintings of flowers, when asked why she chose flowers as her subject, said, "Because they're cheaper than models and they don't move."

the DFC launches today!

Exciting news. A weekly comic has been launched by David Fickling (my lovely publisher who published the glorious Handbag Friends).

The first issue is scheduled to arrive in U.K. mailboxes on Friday, May 30. More at the DFC website. And will be in the States soon.

Read the article in Publishers Weekly

Drawing The Story for Children

Catapult Magazine reviewed The Jesus Storybook Bible this month and here's what they said:

"Today there are hundreds of story Bibles cluttering the market, but The Jesus Storybook Bible distinguishes itself from the crowd."

It's a great article. (And my new favorite magazine.) To read the article, click here.

Empire State Building lit in Yellow

If you look this week at the nighttime skyline in NYC, you may notice the Empire State Building is lit up in yellow.

Why? Mayor Michael Bloomberg has officially declared May 5–12 to be Project Sunshine Week (their logo is yellow like sunshine), in honor of the 10-year-old nonprofit organization that connects hospitalized children worldwide with visiting volunteers, celebrities and others. And one of the group’s new programs, the Project Sunshine Book Club, is who I worked with when I visited the Lincoln Hospital.

And there's an article all about it in Publisher's Weekly (plus a photo of How To Be A Baby: By Me, The Big Sister and me and Markell at the Lincoln Hospital) which you can read here.

Otters Holding Hands

what about these two??