Congratulations to our RISD CE Students at the NESCBWI Spring 2014 Conference!

This year’s NESCBWI spring conference was held in Springfield, MA, May 2014. The theme was “Create Bravely,” with a focus on having the courage to find your voice and make your mark. RISD CBI students are always well represented at the conference. This year, Anne Wert (class of 2013) and Marcela Staudenmeier and Sarita Rich (both in the class of 2014) enjoyed a productive weekend networking with fellow artists at the conference. Marcela is a conference veteran; this was her third year attending the NEWSCBWI conference. It was a first for Anne and Sarita.

Marcela, Anne, and Sarita got to hang out with inspiring speakers including Jane Yolen, Peter Reynolds, and Laurel Snyder. They received helpful critiques of their book dummies (created in Cheryl’s fall 2013 Book Dummy) from literary agents. And they each displayed portfolios of their best work from the CBI program in the Portfolio Showcase.  

Anne Perkins Wert and Marcela Staudenmaier

During conference weekend, all three RISD CE students demonstrated the theme of creating bravely. 

Marcela entered the “Pitchapalooza,” an event in which contestants’ names could be drawn for a chance to have one minute to pitch their book to a panel of judges featuring the Book Doctors and several literary agents. The author of the winning pitch received a free critique of their entire manuscript from an agent on the panel. Marcela’s name wasn’t drawn, but she had an amazing pitch ready to go!

Anne took advantage of a great portfolio building exercise and free promotional opportunity by entering a poster in the Illustration Challenge. The task was to illustrate a passage of choice from The Wizard of Oz. Her beautiful poster was displayed for art directors, editors, and conference participants to view. Anne was also named the runner up for this year’s Ann Barrow Illustrator Scholarship.

In her final semester of the CBI program, Sarita had a chaotic few months of preparation prior to the conference. From January to May, it was the first time for everything: making a website, drafting and printing promotional postcards and business cards, and printing reproductions of her work for a presentation portfolio. She submitted a portfolio for the Ann Barrow Illustrator Scholarship because she read about it on Marcela’s blog after Marcela won the award in 2012. This year, Sarita was pleased to accept the scholarship.

This image was a favorite of Ad's and Editors from Sarita Rich's   
Anne Barrow Scholarship award winning  portfolio

Another favorite of Ad's and Editors from Sarita Rich's   
Anne Barrow Scholarship award winning  portfolio

Two images from Anne Wert's "Anne Barrow Scholarship Award" runner up portfolio––the Candy shop was a favorite of Ad's and editors!

Sarita Rich and Marlo Gansworthy

Some of our RISD CE instructors also participated at the conference and Marlo Gansworthy’s artwork won the runner-up R.Michelson Galleries Award 2014. You can see Marlo’s artwork and read about her conference experience on her blog post.

In addition, Mary Jane Begin presented her workshop "Colors, Contrast + Compliments".









All around it was a successful conference for both our students and instructors! Next year’s conference will be during April 24-26 and the theme is “Think Outside Your Crayon Box.” Get to work and plan to register early so you don’t miss out on all the opportunities to get your name out there!

Anne Wert, Mary Jane Begin and Marcela Staudenmaier

Anne Perkins Wert and Meg Brewster Sodano

To see more of Marcela’s, Anne’s, and Sarita’s work, visit their websites:

http://www.marcelastaudenmaier.com/

http://www.annepwert.com/

http://www.saritarich.com/

Three days after the conference and I am still "decompressing" after what for me was the best of the three NESCBWI conferences I have attended. That is saying a lot since last year I won second place "People's Choice" in the poster conference, and this year I didn't win anything. Last year I had taken to heart Jane Yolen's keynote about getting and understanding rejection letters in which she mentioned that even though she has over 300 books published she still gets rejection letters. To hear her talk about that was important to me since I arrived home to find my first rejection letter. This year Jane gave the ending keynote, most of which I missed for reasons I will talk about later.

At the Carle "Mix and Mingle" which kicked off the conference, Cindy, Brook, Marcella and I were standing talking to each other and up walks Jane Yolen, who started talking to us. I just realized that we talked for about five minutes and I didn't think to take the camera out of my purse and get a photo of all of us with her. She was very generous with her advise, wisdom and encouragement. It was magic!

Since I was a volunteer, I missed the first part of Sara Zarr keynote as I was wrapping up my volunteer duties for that morning. As Jeanette, I think, already posted she read from Frog and Toad and then relate it to our journey as Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. As in Frog and Toad in the Garden, we all want our careers as writers and illustrators to grow RIGHT NOW and not give the stories or our abilities time to develop, nurture and grow. We are impatient. There were many other lessons from her keynote that makes me want to keep a copy of Frog and Toad next to my work area.

What made this year better for me personally is that things started falling into place, barriers falling. I was very happy with my crit on the YA novel that I am writing, in which many positive things were said, but just as many, if not more suggestions for improvement were given. One needs to hear what one is doing wrong, or not quite right to make the changes needed for success. I came into the critique with that mindset. The man who was my critiquer said that I had done some of the very hardest things very successfully and that I needed to tap into the "bad" place and use that emotion to create more dialog. He also gave me a typed page of strengths and areas to improve. After the crit I ran into Tina, one of my RISD friends, who knows me well enough to see that there was something behind my eyes that wasn't quite right and asked me if I was OK. I had no idea what she was talking about and surprising myself, I burst into tears. The crit was so perfect, made me so happy and yet there I was crying.  Finally I realized that I was already tapping into the "bad" place thinking about the process that lay ahead. I had the emotions ready for the work that lay ahead of me.

I attended workshops both for writers and illustrators that were perfect for for the work ahead of me. One was for creating authentic, believable dialog. One was writing for picture books and one was on illustrating picture books. The person who gave the workshop on illustrating picture books was very generous with her time. She started the workshop an hour early, for those who wanted to come early, missing the morning panel discussion. She worked through lunch, through the autograph signing hour, and finally through the second session of the day ending just after the start of Jane Yolen's ending keynote. I learned so much from listening to her critiques of everyone's portfolios and the book dummies that they brought to the workshop. She told everyone at the start that she was not their mother so she was going to be brutally honest with her critiques. She said that if she wasn't that she would be doing us a disservice and wasting our time and money. Her critique of my portfolio told me exactly what I needed to change. She told me that I should send my postcards out to educational publications and that my digital work is perfect for that right now. She loved how I could create emotions and interaction between characters. She told me that even if I continue to work digitally, that I need to get back to hand work, sketching, painting and sculpting. Her favorite pieces in my portfolio were the clay sculptures. She made some suggestions as to how to get my digital work up to the next level to be ready for "trade publications". All in all a great session. Throughout the day, since my portfolio was the second one she looked at, whenever she said something that might be upsetting to the person getting the critique, she would say, "Just ask Lin", or "remember what I said to Lin about her portfolio." It was tough, but what I needed to hear.

Spending time with all of my RISD friends that attended is part of the magic of the conference as is meeting new people and networking. We were all excited for Marcella and Milanka for their success at the conference! What makes the group so special is that everyone is genuinely excited for the success of anyone from the group, or the people that they have met. Jealousy does not the rule in this group! As I heard in some of my workshops in other groups it does. We are blessed!

Finally, here is my "post-apocalyptic" New World poster I made for the poster contest. I imagined who would be the next to rule the world after people had gone the way of the dinosaurs.

Lin

2012 New England SCBWI - Poster Showcase Contest

 

Third Place Unpublished Category by Marcela Staudenmaier

 
Talking about awesome surprises! My entry to the Poster Contest Showcase was awarded the Third Place in the Unpublished Category!

Congratulations to my friend Milanka Reardon who won the First Place with her beautiful poster; to A.P. Sabourin who won the Second Place; and to all the participants whose work was seen by dozens of writers, illustrators, authors, editors, art directors and SCBWI friends at the 2012 New England Conference this year! 

I am so grateful to my all my Instructors and classmates at RISD CE! Since I signed up for classes back in 2010, I feel that I belong to a big loving and supporting family of talented, hard working and generous people.

The SCBWI New England Ann Barrow Scholarship

I am honored to have been chosen as the Recipient of the Ann Barrow Scholarship at the 2012 New England SCBWI Conference!

The Ann Barrow Scholarship is awarded to an illustrator based on the quality of a submitted portfolio of ten images. The winner receives one day's free tuition to the SCBWI New England event of their choice during the next calendar year.

Ann Barrow, an important member of SCBWI New England, illustrated over 20 children's books including Big Blue, published by Charlesbridge in 2004, Butterflies in My Garden, published by Mondo in 2003 and Growing up Abenaki, written by Joseph Bruchec, published by Rigby in 2003. Her career began in 1977 and included book jackets, children's magazines, greeting cards, giftware and portraiture. Ann passed away in 2006. In her memory, the SCBWI New England Memory Fund created this scholarship.

http://marcelastaudenmaier.com/
http://marcelaillustration.blogspot.com/

NESCBWI Poster Contest

A Whole New World.

That was the title of the 2012 NESCBWI conference in Springfield, MA. Two students from the RISD-CE Children's Book program placed in the poster contest, but many of our students produced and entered  fabulous art. I hope more of you will post your entries.
Congratulations to everyone.

Here is a piece by Cindy Cornwall, who graduated from the program last year:

© Cindy Cornwall, A Whole New World

To see the poster by Caroline Gray, go to her blog: http://carolinegrayillustration.blogspot.com