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Robert's Snow: Maggie Swanson

Maggie_swanson_snowflake

Robert's Snow for Cancer's Cure is an online charity auction of some 200 snowflake art pieces created by children's book illustrators. The proceeds from the auction go to cancer research at Boston's Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Won't you put in a bid? They make excellent, one-of-a-kind gifts. Visit the Robert's Snow/DFCI web site to see the particulars about buying the snowflakes. The bidding starts next week.

Maggie Swanson's snowflake, "The Birdfeeder," goes up for auction starting Monday, November 19th. This piece of art makes me happy just to look at it, and  I am  honored to feature Maggie's work here at Chicken Spaghetti.

First off, a bit of biography:

Maggie Swanson wanted to be an artist for as long as she can remember. As a child growing up in New Haven, Connecticut, she spent many hours in her parent’s grocery store drawing and coloring pictures with the customers. After graduation from the Rhode Island School of Design, she spent three years illustrating and designing product for Hallmark Cards in Kansas City. Returning to Connecticut, she started her family and her freelance career. Since then, Maggie has illustrated more than 100 books for many different publishers.

At Maggie Swanson's web site, you'll see that she has illustrated many "Sesame Street" titles. Time for Bed, Elmo is one of our favorites. Don't miss the photographs that she takes at a local animal shelter, too. Beautiful.

In a recent email, I asked Maggie about her recent publications. She writes,

"I have two new books for Christmas. One is The Kitten's Christmas Lullaby, which I wrote and illustrated for Regina Press. This one has an interesting back story relating to my work at Paws. The book is based on an Italian folk tale that I read on a bulletin board at the shelter. It was a torn off page from a 'Cat of the Day' calendar. I couldn't  stop thinking about it. I don't normally write, but this book was so clear in my mind that I  figured out the words and layouts in only a few hours. The other is A Scratch & Sniff Night Before Christmas, published by Sterling Publishing Company."

Maggie sent along these images from A Scratch & Sniff Christmas (below, left) and The Kitten's Christmas Lullaby (below, right). Aren't they wonderful! Many thanks to Maggie for sharing the illustrations with us.

Don't forget to bid on "The Birdfeeder" at Robert's Snow.

Kittens_in_bed_swanson_3 Manger_scene_swanson

 

Comments

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She's great... one of my favorite illustrators!

Thanks for stopping by! Isn't that snowflake two tons of awesome? I love it!

Wonderful ... and I will HAVE to get that Kitty Christmas book!

Thanks for the link to Maggie Swanson's cat photos --- they're great.

NT

i love maggie!

Wow, this one is really beautiful. For some, it seemed as if they were running out of space, but for this artist, she can do a BIG character and still have detail. All those teeensy hairs on the bear!

I'm considering what a Scratch & Sniff Christmas smells like...

I love love this snowflake. Tadmack is right. It's absolutely beautiful and has remarkable detail. It's laid out perfectly. Thanks for the great feature!

Such happy colors!!

I'm so glad all of you could see Maggie Swanson's snowflake, which I think is grand. I've so enjoyed viewing all the art during Robert's Snow & Blogging for a Cure; it's been like gallery-hopping online.

I'm late getting to the features today, but I'm here!

Yes, that is a great snowflake. Like TadMack, I love all the detail. And that page of cat photos? Oh my, cuteness overload. Very lovely.

Thanks for doing this, Susan!

That is just a perfect shade of blue.

My pleasure, Jules, and, Adrienne, that blue is perfect! I agree.

Thank you all for your kind comments! I feel lucky to do what I love best and to be able to support such an important cause. And thank you, Susan!

Hello, I came from Indonesia. I saw your illustration first at the highlight magazine. It's so great! I really like it. I'm a beginner on ilustrating, I will be very delighted if you comment on my work, on my deviant art pages. thank you very much =)

Thanks for the great post.

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