 Meet Johanna Wright, illustrator of THIS POEM IS A NEST Welcome to Poetry Friday, late edition. I just returned from traveling yesterday plus got up at 3:30 AM to take oldest grand to swim practice, and Buster has needed attention (poor guy caught kennel cough) so I'm just getting to this. Some days are like this, right? Our Poetry Friday is hosted by Jama at Jama’s Alphabet Soup I can't remember when it was that I learned that local artist/illustrator/author, Johanna Wright, was illustrating Irene Latham's book, THIS POEM IS A NEST. I was thrilled as I love Wright's work.  How did you decide which nestling poems would get an illustration? It was tough to decide what poems to illustrate! There are so many in this book that called out to me. The editors gave me a lot of freedom to pick what I was inspired to work with. So I made a list of those that called out to me the most and we went from there. Some of the poems I had ideas for right away, and others I played with lots of ideas before settling. It was a really unique and fun book to illustrate! I love the illustration for “Black”, can you share a bit about that? “Black” was one of the illustration ideas that came to me right away. I love to put a bit of magic into my artwork, and it was fun to interpret that poem in that way. In general I tried to apply nature and magic themes throughout the book. It gave me a bit of a framework and helped me feel less overwhelmed with illustration options! I notice a lot of magic depicted and at work work in your illustrations. It seems that it’s a constant theme for you no matter where your art leads. Would you talk about that a little bit? Oh I love that you’ve noticed that and, yes! Magic is a big theme in my life and work. I love to include it as much as possible. Seeing life through a lens of magic makes everything a bit more bearable and fun and full of possibility.  Illustration for the poem, "Hidden Treasure Story"  Illustration for the poem, "Herd of Alpaca in the Rain" I know that often the author and illustrator don’t get to talk about the book. Were you and Irene able to chat about ideas and concepts? Irene and I didn’t chat directly during the making of the book, but our fabulous editor Rebecca Davis did a great job of communicating our thoughts to each other. When the book was done Irene and I did have some exchanges that were really fun! I love her work and felt so lucky to be a part of this book project. GIVE AWAY~ WIN A COPY OF THIS BOOK Comment and I will select a winner and announce it next week.What are your current projects? What would you consider your signature style? Right now I’m working on illustrating and writing a deck of oracle cards and developing a new, illustrated, guided journal. I’ve really enjoyed combining my interests in healing energy and intuition with illustration these past few years. It’s taken me a long time to feel brave enough to share that work, but I feel like people are more receptive than ever to self healing and creative tools, so it feels like a good time for it! My signature style...I love to have my characters a bit sketchy and free. When I'm working in full color you'll usually find a layered painted background. I've been working with a darker palette the last few years, with brightly colored characters layered on top.
What would you like to share that I haven’t ask? I just really loved working on this special book and I’m excited for kiddos to dive in and make their own poems based on this concept! Johanna Wright has illustrated and written several books. My grands and friend's children have been gifted her books. I love her art work, the richness of the colors and the magical quality. Bunnies on Ice by Johanna Wright The Best Bike Ride Ever (by James Proimos) The Orchestra Pit by Johanna Wright Clover Twig and the Magical Cottage by Kaye Umansky Clover Twig and the Perilous Path by Kaye Umansky Celie Valentine Friendship Over by Julie Sternberg Celie Valentine Secret’s Out by Julie Sternberg Celie Valentine Everything’s Changed by Julie Sternberg Keep a Pocket in Your Poem The Magic of Mindset by Johanna Wright This Poem is a Nest by Irene Latham Thanks for stopping in, Johanna and sharing with us about THIS POEM IS A NEST. |
AuthorAll photos and poems in these blog posts are copyrighted to Jone Rush MacCulloch 2006- Present. Please do not copy, reprint or reproduce without written permission from me. 
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1 April 1 Irene at Live Your Poem 2 Donna Smith at Mainly Write 3 Catherine Flynn at Reading to the Core 4 Mary Lee at A(nother) Year of Reading 5 Buffy at Buffy Silverman 6 Molly at Nix the Comfort Zone 7 Kim Johnson at Common Threads 8 Rose Cappelli at Imagine the Possibilities 9 Carol Varsalona at Beyond Literacy Link 10 Linda Baie at Teacher Dance 11 Janet Fagel at Reflections on the Teche 12 Jone at Jone Rush MacCulloch 13 Karin Fisher-Golton at Still in Awe 14 Denise Krebs at Dare to Care 15 Carol Labuzzetta @ The Apples in my Orchard 16 Heidi Mordhorst at My Juicy Little Universe 17 Ruth at There is no such thing as a God-forsaken Town 18 Patricia at Reverie 19 Christie at Wondering and Wandering 20 Robyn Hood Black at Life on the Deckle Edge 21 Kevin at Dog Trax 22 Margaret at Reflections on the Teche 23 Leigh Anne at A Day in the Life 24 Marcie Atkins 25 Marilyn Garcia 26 JoAnn Early Macken 27 Janice at Salt City Verse 28 Tabatha at The Opposite of Indifference 29 Karen Eastlund at Karen’s Got a Blog 30 Michelle Kogan Painting, Illustration, & Writing |
