Hello Oliver

A new adventure begins. I always love following works in progress and seeing them develop over time.  So I figured I would share the progress of my latest large illustration project. I plan to keep you updated with it as it progresses. Mind you this is done while working full time as a social worker, having a new little baby boy, and now are selling our house!  So on top of getting the house photo ready for sell, yesterday was spent creating the first page of illustrations for a children's book written by Tina Chadwick. I can't help it, but I seem to have fallen in love with this little character.  I giggle when I write this but he reminds me a bit of my girls. He's a collector of all things.  When I was doing a mass clean out of my girl's room I discovered that I too, and I'm sure you know many other moms in this situation, have been blessed with hoarders in disguise!  My little one's are so crafty at hiding their treasures all throughout their room.  Inevitably every little scrap of paper or nick nack paddy wack we came across during our clean out had some sentimental value to them.  This seems to be a something that Oliver, the character in the illustration struggles with too!  In this first page (still in progress) he is just like any other kid, playing with his dog, collecting rocks, and going to school. You can view more of my children's themed and nursery artwork here: http://www.gumballgrenade.com