Big Fish, Little Fish

© Kathleen Rietz
This is what the life of a freelance artist feels like sometimes. I feel like this little blue fish. The big fish with the big teeth represents my mortgage.
Another childhood drawing I did when I was 4. Enjoy...

Illustration Friday - "Poem"

This is an illustration I did for a publisher last year. It was for a poster with the poem "Over In The Meadow" to be printed on it. I have typed out the poem below the illustration for you to read.
Over in the meadow
In the sand in the sun,
Lived an old mother toadie
And her little toady one.
"Wink!" said the mother;
"I wink!" said the one,
So the winked and they blinked
In the sand in the sun.
-by Olive A. Wadsworth

Illustration Friday - "Discovery"

I used this week's topic as an opportunity to create a new portfolio piece. Meanwhile, I am awaiting a decision by a major publishing company about another children's book assignment. Can't say much more about it at the present time. I am not getting much sleep these days, but I am happy. I hope you enjoy my entry this week. © kathleen rietz

Illustrartion Friday - "Twist"

©2007 kathleen rietz
Folks from the East Coast will argue that big soft pretzels are an East Coast thing, but here in Chicago - the Middle Coast as we call it - these pretzels are an ultimate Chicago summer thing. For me, they bring to mind sunny afternoons at White Sox games. This got me thinking about my Top 10 list for summer. This is just a list of things that make me happy...some are memories from childhood, others are favorite summer movies...whatever came to mind while I was illustrating this week's theme for Illustration Friday:
(In no particular order)
1) Long, hot summer night drives on curving roads as a teenager.
2) Watching fireworks from a roadside hot dog stand in the back of the family station wagon as a kid in Peoria.
3) North Avenue Beach in Chicago.
4) Visits to Grandma's house in Oshkosh, WI.
5) The Oshkosh Air Show from my grandparents' backyard as a kid.
6) The Chicago White Sox.
7) "Jaws"
8) "Poltergeist"
9) the song "Under The Boardwalk"
10) Sweet, ripe cantaloupe with a scoop of vanilla icecream and a side of strong, black coffee. There is something about the combinations of sweet and bitter, cold and hot which I love!
Happy Summer 2007 Everyone!!