Recent Blog Posts

Dragons Flying High!

April 6, 2012

At the end of our stay in Minnesota I was invited to create some really, really large (read 30 feet long) dragon banners to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Dragon.  It was thrilling to create 15 foot dragons flying over the heads of children in the media centers (libraries) of Fernbrook and Rush Creek [...]

Super Simple Sumi-e with Kids in Minnesota

It was a busy winter in Minnesota teaching sumi painting in a variety of different settings to children of different ages.  We got off to a great start with 5th-7th graders at the Student Creativity Festival at the Minnesota Science Museum and then a little later at another Creativity Festival with 3rd-4th graders at the [...]

Over 2000 Kids Meet the Dragons!

March 8, 2011

I just tallied up how many school visits I’ve done this winter in Minnesota, particularly in February, which is “I Love to Read” month and I’ve introduced the dragons and Dragon Fire, Ocean Mist to over 2000 children from kindergarten to 6th grade!!!.  It’s been a wonderful experience for me to talk with children about [...]

Dragons Busy in Minnesota

January 19, 2011

In the next month the dragons are going to be very busy visiting 5 different elementary schools.  To me there is nothing more fun than interacting with children in the realm of the imagination.  In one school this Friday I’ll be teaching sumi art to groups of third graders.  And speaking of imagination, where have [...]

Dragons in Lake Superior?

September 18, 2010

Well, summer has come to an end – sigh……  But it’s fun to remember the adventures of summer, isn’t it?    One thing we did was go dragon hunting in the sea caves on the southern shore of Lake Superior in                northern Wisconsin (how’s that for confusing south [...]

The Dragon of Krakow, Poland

July 27, 2010

Our trip continued with a visit to Krakow, Poland to search for the dragon that once lived in the caves at the base of the big hill where now stand the huge castle and cathedral that was the center of the Polish kings for many centuries.  In Polish the word for dragon is smok and [...]

Dragons Back from Slovakia

Well our research trip to Slovakia  on the nature and history of European dragons proved interesting and just scratched the surface of things.  First off, in Slovakia we found many statues and coats-of-arms of villages and churches with dragons.  Only problem was that in all cases they were being slain by a brave knight with [...]

Dragons off to Eastern Europe

June 17, 2010

In a few days the dragons will be off to Slovakia and Poland to see if they can find out something about their European ancestors.  They’re hoping to find the Wawel dragon in Krakow, Poland if all goes well.  He breathes fire every 5 minutes from a gas jet in his mouth.  And apparently you [...]

Dragons in Kirkland

The month of May there were dragon sightings at various places in the Pacific Northwest.  At Ben Franklin and Juanita Elementary Schools, 2nd -4th graders talked about going to Shi Shi Beach to see if they could find Shiran, Shalini, Shoram and Shyla.  Especially Shyla, since one of the girls was named Shyla – she [...]

Dragons Visit Portland!

April 20, 2010

Once again we travelled to the City of Roses, this time to visit two wonderful elementary schools and do author presentations.  The first school, Findley Elementary has a wonderfully diverse student population (over 30 languages!) and dragons for a mascot!  So the Findley dragons welcomed the Shi Shi dragons and were thrilled to find real [...]

Dragons Back on Whidbey Island

April 1, 2010

I think the dragons flew back to the Pacific Northwest after bidding their cousins in Lake Superior goodbye for now.  We drove back. But, sure enough, when we got back to Whidbey Island, they were here too!  And joined by another dragon – the dragon of Whidbey Island!  Did you know that Whidbey Island has [...]

Dragon Updates – Minnesota

Well, it’s been a couple of months since I wrote anything and a lot has been happening in the dragon’s world.  First off, back in Minnesota, our stay there was completed with a wonderful visit to Rush Creek Elementary School.  The kids were a great audience (as are kids everywhere when dragons are concerned), the [...]

More Great School Visits!

February 9, 2010

My time here in Minnesota has been occupied with visiting various schools and sharing the wonders of Shi Shi Beach, the dragons and the transformation of the heart with lots of different children.  One highlight last week was visiting a second grade classroom at Bel Air Elementary School in New Brighton, MN, where the teacher [...]

Super Simple Sumi Art!

January 21, 2010

Last week I had the good fortune to be able to teach several classes of talented 5th-8th graders at the Armitage Academy in Kenosha, Wisconsin.  They all had heard about the dragons last year when I visited this school and this time I was able to introduce them to sumi painting in more depth.  I’m [...]

Dragons at Barnes and Noble!

December 9, 2009

The dragons and I have gotten a rousing welcome to Minnesota by being at the local Barnes and Noble in Maple Grove which is a suburb of the Twin Cities (and where my grandchildren,  the REAL Jaxon and Allie – the kid stars of the dragon book,  live…..).  We’ve been part of 6 bookfairs that [...]

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Dragons Flying High!

April 6, 2012

At the end of our stay in Minnesota I was invited to create some really, really large (read 30 feet long) dragon banners to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Dragon.  It was thrilling to create 15 foot dragons flying over the heads of children in the media centers (libraries) of Fernbrook and Rush Creek Elementary Schools in Maple Grove, MN.  The kids immediately recognized the dragons as Shiran and Zorg, the two big male dragons in Dragon Fire, Ocean Mist!  Here are some pics:

Painting the dragon banner

Dragons flying at Fernbrook

Painting more dragons!

Hanging the dragon banner at Rush Creek

 



Super Simple Sumi-e with Kids in Minnesota

It was a busy winter in Minnesota teaching sumi painting in a variety of different settings to children of different ages.  We got off to a great start with 5th-7th graders at the Student Creativity Festival at the Minnesota Science Museum and then a little later at another Creativity Festival with 3rd-4th graders at the University of Minnesota – over 500 kids in all!  They were so focused and absorbed in painting birds, panda bears and dragons that room was absolutely silent.  At first I thought something was wrong – but no, it was just focused creative energy.  The feedback was great:
“I will remember how to draw interesting pandas for my friends.”
“Making pandas and dragons was fun!”
“I love art and now I love it more!”

The new Super Simple Sumi-e book was a big hit with kids and a wonderful way to introduce them to how to do this style of painting.

In January and February I taught super simple sumi-e to a variety of 4th-6th grade classes in schools in Maple Grove, MN and Racine, WI.  Many teachers commented that they had never seen their classes be so quiet and focused.  Pandas of all sorts, birds (with and without mohawks), and, of course, dragons adorned the halls!

Students hard at work painting pandas

A dragon in the making

Other creative animals

Sumi art in the halls

 



Over 2000 Kids Meet the Dragons!

March 8, 2011

I just tallied up how many school visits I’ve done this winter in Minnesota, particularly in February, which is “I Love to Read” month and I’ve introduced the dragons and Dragon Fire, Ocean Mist to over 2000 children from kindergarten to 6th grade!!!.  It’s been a wonderful experience for me to talk with children about writing and illustrating, share with them how magical Shi Shi beach and other Washington beaches are, and especially to introduce them to sumi painting.  Here are some pics of my demonstrating how to paint dragons (a great hit!)

The dragon takes shape

Painting the fire

 

Signing the painting with my chop

Enthusiastic audience!



Dragons Busy in Minnesota

January 19, 2011

In the next month the dragons are going to be very busy visiting 5 different elementary schools.  To me there is nothing more fun than interacting with children in the realm of the imagination.  In one school this Friday I’ll be teaching sumi art to groups of third graders.  And speaking of imagination, where have you seen dragons lately?  Here are a couple of ones that I’ve seen on a stone wall.

Snow dragons on a rock wall

Snow Dragons

Snow dragon battle



Dragons in Lake Superior?

September 18, 2010

Well, summer has come to an end – sigh……  But it’s fun to remember the adventures of summer, isn’t it?    One thing we did was go dragon hunting in the sea caves on the southern shore of Lake Superior in                northern Wisconsin (how’s that for confusing south and north?).  Well, not dragon hunting exactly, more  precisely, it was dragon habitat exploring by sea kayak.  What a paradise of caves and arches cut into red      sandstone cliffs by the wind and waves of the largest lake in the world.  Mighty cracks that swallowed our    kayaks, great caves resounding with booms of the crashing waves, and keyholes that we squeezed our            boats through.  Lots and lots of caves!  In the winter they fill with icicles and ice stalagmites – the perfect      home for ice dragons!  In the summer??????  Perhaps the dragons have gone north to the Arctic to spend the summer…..The home they left behind is surely magical!  And for those of you that want to find the caves on the map they are called the mainland sea caves on Mawikwe Beach (part of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore)  near Bayfield, Wisconsin.




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