Friday, December 17, 2010

Letter to Santa

Pip's Letter to Santa - Acrylic on wooden snowflake, 6" x 6"

The flickering glow of the lantern gives off just enough light for Pip to dash off an urgent letter to Santa. The barnyard is in CHAOS! Can Santa please send some peace for Christmas. That's how my book "The Barnyard Night Before Christmas " begins. This week's Illustration Friday theme is "mail". A couple of years ago I was asked to participate in a charity auction to benefit the Dana Farber Cancer Institute. It was called Robert's Snow and was named after illustrator Grace Lin's husband Robert Mercer. At the time of it's inception, Robert was in the midst of his battle against cancer, which sadly, he lost. Each artist was given a wooden snowflake to paint in any way they chose. I based mine on the opening spread for my book where lead character Pip the mouse writes his Christmas wish to Santa. The snowflakes were approximately 6" across. They were all auctioned off online and the proceeds went for cancer research, which was close to my heart, having lost my own father to cancer during the creation of "Barnyard".

12 comments:

Kerrie said...

Great illustration for a great cause!

Beth Anne Maresca said...

Oh, I love this! Wonderful!

MrBibleHead said...

Hey Greg! What a wonderful cause, a terrific idea, an amazing work of art and a great post for the theme this week! Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones!

Andrew W. Moir said...

Wow!! Incredible work! :)

Linda Hensley said...

Wonderful art and a wonderful idea!

Linda Hensley said...

Wonderful art and a wonderful idea!

Vilt og vakkert said...

Heisann, julsann!

Reminds me of the Christmas cartoons which we loved to see at noon the 24th on TV ;:OD)

Christmasgreetings:
♥♥♥
http://viltogvakkert.blogspot.com/2010/12/if-mail.html

Caroline said...

What a lovely illustration and story to go with it. I am sure it will be treasured by its owner.

Unknown said...

Thanks everyone for your kind words. I encourage you all to contribute to good causes like this one. Merry Christmas everyone!

froggie is... said...

i i remember seeing this one, too! it's a lovely piece, greg! happy holidays! :-)

Anonymous said...

This is sweet and so well done. Bless your heart!

Pásztohy Lili said...

not bad i mean good