Lawton Elementary School Mural

On the eve of the first day of the Seattle schools' summer, I feel calm, happy, and dead tired. This is the big mural project that has consumed much of my life since May 1st.

I must add how fortunate I feel to have been a part of this. The Lawton Elementary playground mural was in need of updates. One of the teachers in charge of making it happen asked if it was anything I would be interested in or had experience with. Sure, I'd painted some murals. Oh yeah- also they wanted to have every student (430 kids) be involved. I said "No sweat." Right?

The organization and execution of this gargantuan thing was made possible by some very amazing faculty and volunteers at Lawton. I was a little daunted at first, but it happened. We did some planning, we did some talking, I outlined, the kids painted. We finished. (1100 sq. ft) It was so easy.

Here are a few photos of the process and the end result.

Yeah Lawton, High fives all around!

Seattle Spring SCBWI Conference

I am so happy to share that I will be able to attend the Seattle SCBWI conference this year: http://www.cvent.com/events/23rd-annual-writing-and-illustrating-for-children-conference/event-summary-0904b113bc5c48679288c065d709a123.aspx

There is such a great line up for this one, as usual.

I am having a great time adding a few new pieces to my portfolio, and will attempt to construct my own portfolio binder. I will let you know how that turns out.

Here is a new black and white illustration that ties in with my "Sea Captain" story, which is still just forming, but not going away. The nieces come to stay for a while.

What have you been up to? Any other conference goers out there?

Happy Love Day

YOU!

New website!

It's been some time since my actual website was updated, and eventually it was time for a complete re-do.

Here we are: http://www.sarahromanodiehl.com

Like honey on toast.

New Music By Emily Bear on App MY DAY!

Hi all, I just wanted to let you know that the children's storybook app "My Day" I illustrated and co-wrote with Egads Press has been updated with a soundtrack song from Emily Bear: http://www.emilybear.com. She is a child piano prodigy, and her original pieces are beautiful.

 Emily's people gave us the "ok" to use her song "Northern Lights". I think it fits the book very well. What do you think?  Youtube video: http://youtu.be/r5VvOLCHBQw

                                                                   Happy New Year!

(illustration by Adrienne Adams)

Beaumont

I miss my dog. It's been a couple months now since his passing, but it still hurts so much. Anyone who has lost a pet knows what I am talking about. I feel like he is with us still, everywhere I turn I feel his presence. I even think I can smell his ghost farts in my studio- (I'm serious)- I'm pretty sure it is not me.

He was a wonderful, one of a kind dog. He was a true friend and companion. He taught me so much about life. I know I am a better person because of him and I know he loved being part of our family. He is forever irreplaceable.

Oh- What's That?- A Children's Book App?

I can unleash the news now that in the little old Apple App store/ iTunes store you can find a children's book app called "My Day" which was conceived of by John Romano at Egads Press, co-written by he and I, and illustrated by me.

"My Day" is an end of the day story kids can personalize with their own photos. The story takes one through the happenings of what we thought are universal and cross-cultural in the lives of many children. This was one of the challenges of illustrating such a story; where the main character is the user. Each user is a unique individual with a different family and life than the next. With that in mind as I illustrated, I sought to get a wider scope of a child's life. How they are connected with everything on planet earth.

"My Day" is a reminiscing of a day passed- it is meant to relax and settle a child, they can mentally prepare for the next sun up and all of the possibilities that await. Going through daily events can help with visualizing the "arc" in activity level, and resigning into the natural lull of the evening.

 I also made activity pages that are in the app, they can be colored and drawn on a device or printed out for use. Any pages of the book or activities can be shared by e-mail or social networking sites.

Check out the publisher's website (Egad's Press) page for "My Day: http://www.egads.com.au/myday/

and in the iTunes/Apple store: https://itunes.apple.com/US/app/id734799973?mt=8

Here are a few of the illustrations in "My Day"...