Like a lot of people, I love the fall season with its beautiful colors and great weather to go out and enjoy autumn activities. Also, a few years ago, our small apple orchard inspired me to make a pattern of apple trees and cores to decorate various home goods.
Now, with my Etsy Shop, I can share this fun pattern with you! The new apple themed shop section features many items printed with my original “Trees and Cores” watercolor and stenciled artwork.
New item in aws Studios art Shop – an Apple Trees and Cores Tote!
aws Studios Apple Trees and Cores Seasons wrapping paper!
Just in Time for Fall and Apple-Picking Season!
In the new “Apple Trees and Cores” section, there’s many items with the pattern to choose from including blank greeting cards, tote bags, clutch purses, and even wrapping paper!
Furthermore, you’ll want to see how you can easily get an apple themed print of the original watercolor. Just by downloading and printing it today (or getting it printed and shipped to you)!
Celebrate With Me
To celebrate my new Shop section, I am offering a discount coupon. Don’t wait too long. The offer is time limited! Feel free to share the coupon and what your favorite products are on your social media!
Will you be apple-picking this season? What else are you anticipating? Let me know in the Comments below and check out the new merch here!
This week is the Grand Opening of my aws Studios Art Shop on Etsy! Offering prints and original art products, the Studios’ shop is currently showcasing originals of “The Whimsicals.” These simple blank cards delight with fun and kooky characters using illustration drawn with pencil and painted with watercolor. Both kids and adults will relate to “The Whimsicals” simple, yet relatable all-occasion cards.
Slow but Sure
My plan is to roll out inventory slowly, mainly as it becomes available. In the days and weeks ahead, I will be adding more of my illustrated cards. This fall, I will launch an exciting line of products specially made for the season. Think “apples.” Hint, hint! I’m excited to show you!
Check it Out and Let Me Know What You Think
I hope you check out my new aws Studios Art Shop. While there, treat yourself or your friends to one (or more) of “The Whimsicals.” Everyone deserves a little fun and whimsy. Don’t delay, do it today!
After taking a look around – at my current little shop – let me know what you think in the Comments below. Thanks for reading!
I spent the entire summer working on my newest book Apples for Cider. Apples… is a pastiche of one of my favorite picture books, Blueberries for Salby Robert McCloskey and a fast way to create a picture book. A pastiche is a type of intertextuality in literature. Intertextuality is either deliberate or latent. Deliberate intertextuality purposely borrows from the text. Some are exact lines while others are vaguely referenced. Latent intertextuality is incidental – “when references occur incidentally—the connection or influence isn’t deliberate” (masterclass.com). Forms of intertextuality include parody, pastiche, retellings and allegory. Some examples include the main plotline of Disney’s The Lion King as a take on Shakespeare’s Hamletand the structure of James Joyce’s Ulyssesmodeled after Homer’s Odyssey.
Parody vs pastiche
I was familiar with parody – a humorous take on a classic piece of literature such as in the picture books Goodnight iPad (a parody of Goodnight Moon) and The Taking Tree (a parody of The Giving Tree). And I wondered if there was a way to take a classic and not make fun of it, as in a parody, but use the classic text as a foundation to pay tribute to it. That’s when I came across pastiche. The following is a description from literarydevices.net:
Illustration pastiche, a fast way to create a picture book!
Pastiche is a literary piece that imitates a famous literary work by another writer. Unlike parody, its purpose is not to mock, but to honor the literary piece it imitates. In pastiche, the writers imitate the style and content of a literary piece to highlight their work, as the original piece is accepted by the vast majority of readers as landmarks of their age. So, imitation in such works celebrates the works of the great writers of the past.
Fia finds Papa Deer
A pastiche of Blueberries for Sal, a fast way to create a book
I was thrilled to find this was “a thing.” I wanted to do a book about how my granddaughter helps her grandfather (my husband) make cider from the apples in our neighbor’s farm. I think the title Apples for Cider came to me first which immediately made me think of Blueberries for Sal. Blueberries… was the perfect foundation to tell the story of gathering apples to make cider. As an early-career illustrator, creating the pastiche gave me the opportunity to make a picture book fast, getting an entire book done in five months – over the summer and into the fall (by November so I can give it to my granddaughter for her birthday). It allowed me to get right to my book making – I didn’t have to wait to have a new manuscript written, edited and ready to go.
Self-publishing opportunity
Unless a publisher desires the rights to Apples…, my plan is to learn about self-publishing and use this book as my first attempt into that realm. I’ll keep you posted on my foray into self-publishing and when it’s ready for sale, I’ll let you know. Then you can tell me if you think my book Apples for Cider honors McCloskey’s Blueberries for Sal! Wish me luck! And let me know in the Comments if you have ever written or read a pastiche!
