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Text of the page (random words):
shed by silent clamor press you can buy a copy through amazon barnes noble or bookshop org the book is a compilation of short stories following jason why through his last summer of boyhood in the 1960s overview i collaborated with john jarrett the editor for silent clamor press and author j bradley minnick i worked on the cover and five illustrations including a man s reach should exceed his grasp the world had come for us swimming for fossils the pleasures of sudden wonder and fini i will show you a small bit of my process on each story and i hope you enjoy the book of why cover a man s reach should exceed his grasp and finis these three pieces are all variations of the same composition the idea started from the thumbnail sketch which was inspired by the top of the hill ending scene from a man s reach should exceed his grasp as we were discussing this sketch that was to be the cover j bradley minnick had the idea for me to create variations of this sketch as a series of images that would appear throughout the book and suggest the idea of a flip book same image small changes bow cover the perspective is from the top above the boy think a grown up looking down showing the boy s upper back the boy is looking straight ahead the car is in front of the boy is coming towards him a man s reach the perspective is slightly above the boy think an older kid looking ahead showing midway of the boy s back the boy is looking upward and in front of him at the girl on the bicycle who is going away from him fini the perspective is from below think a dog showing the entirety of the boy s back the boy is looking straight up at the sky which is featured as the background with the top of the trees the frame colors also change each composition it was easy enough to make the thumbnail sketch but i could not figure out the correct perspective of this made up hill after looking at a few hills i realized that if the boy is standing at the top of a hill it would actually have to be an incredibly steep and long hill in order to see the bottom also the bottom would have to show in order for it to look like a hill in the drawing so we went on an artist adventure to find just the right hill one idea we had was that it may be in the old neighborhoods in greenville we found some hills but none were steep or long enough while there we also stopped by arin and genavieve gilbert s coffee shop canvas coffee and art house the kids enjoyed some steamers and we got to see old friends drink the best coffee roasted by mr gilbert and look at the fine art it was fantastic we also went to the art museum and the public library another idea was the old neighborhoods downtown columbia and we did find the hill near the university this is an incredibly steep and long hill and it actually works because of the long stretch at the end finding that hill was the end of this art adventure but the beginning of the studio work the world had comes for us this piece was done over a year ago before this book it was a single story to be published for east of the web a short stories website i was still working out this illustration style that would end up being used for both the bankrupt circus and other misadventures and the book of why we had a fun time trying to build our own car for the composition but it didn t really work the boys were begging me to purchase them an actual peddle car but we ended up using a small plastic car we found at a garage sale for 5 swimming for fossils this story is about two neighborhood boys who secretly play in a tar pit they float down using their umbrellas i created some sketches and sketch d was chosen i ended up putting it on an old projector screen from sketch c idea because it compositionally worked better this story reminded me of the old times in my own neighborhood growing up when we used to go under the sewers i m not sure why we went under there maybe it was just to prove to each other we weren t afraid i remember the last time i went under there my head got stuck and i pretty much freaked out yes with everyone watching in the end i scraped it through and never went down there again at some point i saw the it movie with the demon clown a film completely made for youngsters after that i would run by the open sewer grates terrified a clown hand would snap out and grab my leg pulling me under into hell but i digress the pleasures of sudden wonder after reading this story i researched some ideas using the miniatures theme i landed on this super cute alice in wonderland old film reels they used to sell in the 1950s to kids as a type of toy story time i sent the thumbnail sketch ideas to author j bradley minnick and he wanted me to put sketch a and sketch d as one image so the giant girl standing in front of miniature house reading the book with the flower in her hair would also be looking towards the sweaters in her closet i worked in the studio drawing painting scanning and putting it all together i use staedtler 2b pencils on either 400 series strathmore bristol or 1264 fabriano mix media multi technique for color i use inktense pencils faber castell watercolor pencils and winsor and newton designers gouache and paint with a series of princeton lauren brushes i scan the paintings using an hp officejet pro 7740 and use the adobe creative suite photoshop program on an imac for final composition we went out for the pleasures of sudden wonder flower walk in a neighborhood near our parish the kids started picking up flowers and flower petals that had fallen to the ground j f p was making these really neat sculptures and art out of the petals i also showed the kids how to swing around the light pole to play dizzy gillespiee from the story they thought that was pretty fun this story was reviewed by trenton lee stewart which is so amazing because i used e k as a model for this story and the mysterious benedict society is one of her favorite books i actually read this book a couple of years after it was first published and went to an author signing event after the release of the third book in the series at an independent bookstore wordsworth books to meet mr stewart i sent the signed copy to my cousin who was around e k s age at the time who also loved mysteries and the book series i can t know if he saw the illustrations i made or just read the story but it still feels very fancy to have something one has had a creative hand in to be reviewed by a favorite author here is the review by trent lee stewart on the pleasures of sudden wonder there is an air of mystery in everything j bradley minnick writes his prose and his characters and even the neighborhoods and towns his characters inhabit are in ceaseless search of the human soul with a smiling gentle sadness they offer abundant evidence of both its existence and its ungraspable nature the pleasures of sudden wonder is a glowing example of what makes minnick such a special writer like the houses that line its streets this story will speak to you i m grateful for being a part of this project and i hope you purchase the book and enjoy it for years to come posted in art art studio art supplies artist adventures illustrations paper opera tagged photography 1264 fabriano mix media multi technique 1950s film reel toys 1950s film reels 1960s neighborhood 1960s summer story 400 series strathmore bristol a boy at the top of a hill a man s reach should exceed his grasp adobe creative suite photoshop alice in wonderland alice in wonderland inspiration amazon arin gilbert art art adventure art illustrations artist artist adventure author signing books bookshop org boy at top of hill branes and noble canvas coffee and art house coming of age coming of age story dansko brown oxfords dansko oxfords dansko shoes diy peddle car dizzy gillespiee drawing east of the web faber castell watercolor pencils fini flip book flower petal scuplture flower sculpture flower walk genavieve gilbert greenville greenville art museum greenville coffee greenville coffee shop greenville public library greenville south carolina hp officejet pro 7740 illustrations illustrator imac inktense pencils it clown it movie j bradley minnick j bradley minnick author jason why john jarrett john jarrett editor kids going around the lightpole l k sukany little tykes plastic car miniatures mister rogers sweater mr rogers sweater closet neighborhood sewers painting paper opera paper opera art paperopera com peddle car playing in the sewers playing round the lightpole princeton lauren paintbrush publishing round the lightpole scanning sewers silent clamor press staedtler 2b pencils staedtler pencils steamers steep and long hill summer neighborhood swimming for fossils tar pit the bankrupt circus and other misadventures the book of why the book of why cover the mysterious benedict society the pleasures of sudden wonder the world had come for us thumbnail sketch top of hill travel trent lee stewart trenton lee stewart umbrellas variation watercolor pan winsor and newton designers gouache wordsworth books writing leave a comment art booth at the starlight gala posted on april 23 2026 by lksukany because my small business supported the christmas angel one of the perks was getting space for a vendor booth at the annual starlight gala the starlight gala is a celebration of artists using their gifts to shine light into the world through performance and creative expression we gather as a community to support lighthouse for life and their work bringing freedom healing and hope to survivors of human trafficking when art and compassion unite even the darkest places can be illuminated my daughter e k had been making these felt stuffed creations and small nature watercolor paintings so i thought we could both use the booth i ordered a table from the library of things had m pick it up thanks m and found objects around the house i could use to display the art a large drawer two toddler bed rails my oil painting easel an art board and a drawing board e k used our old band pink suitcase some recycled party decorations a small table and our napkin basket we also used tablecloths and a small bit of lace i sold a couple of pieces and e k just about sold out her sales pitch was hello i m raising money for my dance fund would you like to buy it was so straight to the point and nine times out of ten people bought it was fantastic i found a lot of my printmaking to take for the art booth one of the pieces i sold was a man with a set of lenses or type of smartphone connected to his face the young couple who purchased the work asked me about it i had to think back because i had made the piece over twenty years ago i told them it was an idea i had of a man who could create his own world or reality through theses lenses or cameras with things he saw and what he chose to record or not they looked at me politely but seemed a little underwhelmed by my explanation i realized later when i thought about it that it would have been very relevant to say i made it in 2004 before smartphones came out so it seemed like a novel hypothetical at the time it reminded me of an old gentleman i worked for many years ago that would often tell me how he thought of this thing or that before it was mass produced i didn t realize the significance of that until now we can see the direction the culture is headed and see the obvious implications of technology with enough time however the wonder of gadgets fades and we have a vague feeling we should have a least received a check for all the trouble the human heart seems boundless in its ingratitude there were some amazing dance performances so here are some of the photos of the nova ballet theatre dance troupe which were taken by sean at so creative studio posted in art artist adventures paper opera tagged art artist paperopera art art board art booth ballet bit of lace celestial stars arts academy creativity dance dance performance drawing board easel felt creations large drawer lexington icehouse amphitheater library of things life lighthouse for life nature watercolor paintings nova ballet theatre nove ballet theatre painting easel paper opera printmaking prints recycled party decorations science fiction art small table so creative studio starlight gala table cloth toddler bed rails travel vendor booth watercolor watercolor paintings writing leave a comment the christmas angel set design posted on january 13 2026 by lksukany my friend gabrielle reed with celestial stars arts academy puts on an annual ballet she created called the christmas angel through her nova ballet dance company i got to paint one of the sets for the 25th anniversary show she sent me these pictures and gave me the wood cut out pieces i scrounged some house paint from my garage coupled with a box of acrylic paints and got to work there had been a cold front that week so the costume studio i worked in was cold it reminded me of the old days working in the concrete floor art studios at university where they funded business programs and fountains but not heaters for the art students i was talking to one of my art friends from high school about this project and we were joking how our backs were hurting from bending over to paint we both just happened to be working on installation projects she had an aha moment where she said to prop it up the second session i worked on it i did prop it up against the wall thank you elsa with no bones left once painted it was mounted and gabrielle s husband gene put it together and added curtains when it was finished it was used for one of the dancing acts one of the dance mom s had put four of her daughters through the dance program and wanted to dance with her daughters in the show gabrielle put together an amazing idea of a puppet master giving a show to the toys during the christmas festivities it turned out great our kids were in the performance as well here are some fun backstage scenes i took and some proofs from so creative studio posted in art art studio art supplies artist adventures paper opera tagged art artist paperopera 25th anniversary ballet acrylic acrylic paint art ballet celestial stars arts academy christmas ballet clock painting cold art studio dance harbison theatre house paint midlands no bones left nova ballet painting ballet painting dance painting sets paper opera prop it up puppet show puppet show dance set design so creative studio the christmas angel leave a comment post navigation older posts search follow blog via email enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email email address follow join 114 other subscribers categories art art and social media art group art ministry art museum art show art studio art supplies art workshop artist adventures artist interview artist studio series book of songs competitions diy illustrations kuar arts letters music paper opera philosophy of art publications romania painting series stories the boy and the firefly the damsels in distress b...