From: wickedneva@comcast.net
Subject: August N.E.V.A. Newsletter
Date: August 19, 2006 6:40:59 PM EDT
To: wickedneva@comcast.net
Christmas Cards
Who's ready for Christmas!? Well, me neither, but it's never too soon
to start thinking about it...or to buy your Christmas Cards! This year,
consider buying NEVA designed Christmas Cards! They are now available
to purchase through my website. These cards are 5x7, and come in two different
flavors..."happy elf" or "cool santa", or a combination
of both. This is kind of an experiment in the greeting card genre to see
how well they sell. So please check them out, tell your friends and spread
that Christmas Card joy!
Teaching
Thank goodness for summer break! I am now recovered from teaching overdrive,
and ready to get back into gear! This Fall I'll be teaching two classes
at the Currier Art Center in Manchester; Introduction to Illustration,
and Botanical Illustration. The Intro class covers a wide range of Illustration
concepts, and the Botanical class will give students a chance to draw
from live flowers. Both of those classes are 11 weeks long, once a week,
and are for teens and adults. Also through the Currier Art Center, I'll
be teaching a one day Wildlife Illustration Workshop at the Massabesic
Audubon Center on Saturday, September 30. That workshop is also for teens
and adults. To sign up for any of those classes, call 603-669-6144, ext.
122 or fill out a secure registration form online at www.currier.org.
In addition to those classes, I'll be teaching a Cartooning and Illustration
class at the Kimball Jenkins School of Art in Concord. This class is for
ages 10-12 and is a combination of my popular cartooning class, and my
crazy persistent love of Illustration! This class is also 11 weeks long.
I'll be introducing new fun projects, so I hope you'll join me. To register
for this class you can call the school at 603-225-3932.
Full descriptions of all the classes can be found on the schools' websites
or in the Teaching section of my website. On the Currier's website, you
can download the Fall Brochure pdf... which I'm only mentioning because
I designed it!
www.currier.org
www.kimballjenkins.com
Charity
I've started to work on painting the cabinet for the Caregivers of NH
"Art of Caring" Charity Auction. Last year I painted a blanket
chest with original characters and a theme of "New Friendship".
But this year my cabinet will have an "Alice in Wonderland"
theme. Once finished, my cabinet will be displayed at the Currier Downtown
store at 52 Hanover Street in Manchester. So once I have some of the cabinet
finished, I'll post some more pictures on my website, and hopefully some
of you will join in the fun by bidding in the online auction, or even
join me for the live auction event in a few months.
www.caregiversnh.org
Website
I've made some changes and improvements to my website recently and would
love your feedback. I'm attempting to make it a little easier to navigate,
while still keeping it full of fun and art. Under "About Neva"
you can now access these monthly newsletters by clicking on "What
has Neva been up to?". Additionally, the "Neva's latest press"
section is now easier to browse through. The teaching section has been
updated, and there is now information on Library and School presentations
and appearances, with a handy downloadable pdf flyer to bring into your
local library or school to encourage them to book me! There are new images
in the "Past Projects", "Illustrations" and "Paintings"
sections. And don't forget the "Store" section, where i am now
not only selling Christmas Cards, but will also be selling NEVA originals
soon. Right now, you can make payments through PayPal, if you have an
account, or if you aren't comfortable with that, you can always pay with
a credit card without signing up for a PayPal account, and it's still
secure. So check it out!
READ!
I read "Daddy's Girl" at the Raymond Library last month, and
someone asked me what my favorite books were when I was little. That made
me realize that I've never shared one of my absolute favorite books with
you all! I'm sure most of you know of "Tikki Tikki Tembo", written
or retold by Arlene Mosel and illustrated by Blair Lent. The copyright
on my copy was from 1968, but I think the story itself is one that's been
around a lot longer. The story is about two little Chinese boys, with
two very different names. A long time ago, it was the custom of Chinese
mothers and fathers to give their first born sons great big long names,
while their second sons were given hardly any name at all. So in this
little mountain village lived a first born named "Tikki tikki tembo-no
sa rembo-chari bari ruchi-pip peri pembo", which meant "the
most wonderful thing in the whole wide world!", and his younger brother
"Chang", which meant "little or nothing". When Chang
falls into the well, it's his older brother who must run and explain to
his mother what has happened and fetch some help. But when Tikki tikki
tembo then falls into the well, his poor brother Chang must run and explain
to his mother that her son with the VERY LOOOOONNNG name has fallen into
the well. Since it takes Chang longer to say his name, poor Tikki-tikki-tembo
is in the well much longer, and never quite recovers. From that point
on, the Chinese have always thought it wise to give their children little
short names, instead of great long ones. The illustrations are in pen
and ink with a limited pallette, and the characters are adorable and memorable.
Cheers
As always, if you know of anyone in need of artistic talent, please feel
free to give them my information. Thanks for reading this far, and stay
tuned for more N.E.V.A. news next month.
Neva Austrew
N.E.V.A. or New Expressions of Visual Art