It's Time to Fly

As mentioned here and there over the past year, I have been working on a picture book. My first. It has been a challenge getting these reluctant birds off the ground, but in recent weeks I have made good progress. And hey! I'm excited that the story is, at long last, coming together.



Storyboarding the manuscript has proven more thought-consuming task than I had previously imagined. Where to start a sentence? Where to end it? What happens on the next page? And the next? Where in the story do the page breaks belong? How do I keep my reader turning and turning to find out what happens next? And more importantly: How do I fill an entire book with the same herons and still keep it interesting, different from spread to spread?



I'm not sure I have all the right answers to that right now. I must remind myself that these are thumbnail sketches, not finished masterpieces. It is tempting to go into feather-by-feather detail with each little 2-inch-high drawing. I tend to get lost in minutiae. When I do I must catch myself and force myself to step back into the big picture. A wider, less meticulous marker has come in handy.



This book has become somewhat of a "Kate Garchinsky's Opus." I first observed these lanky, prehistoric-looking birds over the summers of 2000-2004 at my ex-husbands's family's house in Avalon, New Jersey. Yellow-crowned night herons nested right outside the bedroom windows. I took hundreds of photos with my old-school SLR. I watched and observed several broods hatch, grow and fledge. I wrote the first draft one day in July 2005, shortly before moving to Colorado. It was, at the time, symbolic of the unknown journey that lay before me.



When I arrived in Colorado, the mountains quickly became part of me, and I grew distant from the herons of Avalon--but they never left my mind. As my life here changed, so did my marriage. Eventually I found myself out on my own in the land of snow and pine siskins. I had bought a new computer around that time and during the migration of data from one hard drive to the other, I stumbled an unfamiliar Word document, "Time to fly.doc." I hadn't read it in 3 years and until I opened it, had no idea what it was. The story found me exactly when I needed it.



Rereading a year ago, the words had new meaning. When I had written it I was learning to fly away from my birth nest of Pennsylvania. Three years later I was in the process of leaving the nest of my mate. And now a year has past and my life requires that I fly once more. Spring migration has begun. While my current nest has offered comfort and respite through storms and blizzards, I know that it is time. I've come full circle, and it is time once again to fly.



While I prepare for my next journey, I'll post whatever progress I make here. My goal is to have all storyboards and at least one finished watercolor illustration complete for submission before I take wing.

Back from Hiatus

The dogs' footpath. Maybe I should use my skis rather than a shovel?

I spent the past 2+ weeks in Pennsylvania catching up with family and friends, some that I haven't seen in 12 years. It was really encouraging to know that I still have a huge network of support where I grew up, in addition to the group of friends here that I call my "Colorado family."

It snowed just a bit when I was at my parents' house, where everything freezes and gridlocks with just a little bit of slush. When I returned to Winter Park were at least 20 fresh inches on the ground—and stairs (above)—and more is on the way. All I have to say is, "it's about time." This being a la niña year, temperatures have been generally warm and precipitation very weak. I am looking forward to some powder days before I head onto my next adventure, wherever that will be.

At the moment I am looking for work. Any kind of work. Due to the aforementioned conditions, in addition the economic crisis, my ski industry clients have cut their marketing budgets to pennies on the dollar. I have educational illustration projects coming up in late March, but until then... Got art? Want art? Need help? Hiring?

Meanwhile, I am working on my picture book manuscript, "Time to Fly." I also have a few other book ideas brewing in my brain that will require some serious research. I plan to apply for as many grants and fellowships as I can to get these projects off the ground. Oh, and you know, to buy things like bread. And wine.

So to all you artists, illustrators, designers and creatives out there who are struggling to make ends meet right now... you are NOT alone. However, this should not stop us from creating, now should it. Our artistic endeavors are needed more than ever in this time of depression and despair. Inspiration is in the air. The government has called upon each of us as citizens to bring prosperity back to our country. What can we do to help? That's something else I have begun to explore. Got ideas?