Picture Book Idea Month (PiBoIdMo) in November a success for linda dalal sawaya!

it is with delight that i completed the challenge of coming up with 30 picture book ideas in the 30 days of november for this national event.

not every idea for a story that i would write and illustrate was fabulous, but i am amazed and grateful for the exercise and discipline that produced so many ideas.

now, to sift through them, and discern which i'd like to focus my creative efforts on. a good time of year as we approach official winter, to stay cozy and warm, and write and sketch.

much gratitude to tara lazar, who organized this fun challenge!

here are two children's books i illustrated, both out of print: How to Get Famous in Brooklyn and The Little Ant. i have a number of written manuscripts in progress for books that i'd like to illustrate. now i'm totally inspired to fulfill this intention!

Intro to SoulCollage® Workshop December 7 & 8! with Linda Dalal Sawaya

Intro to SoulCollage® Workshop

An Intuitive Collage Process

taught by artist Linda Dalal Sawaya

December 7 and 8 in her outer NW Portland art studio

SoulCollage® is a simple but deep process of using collage to tap into your heart and soul. The workshop begins with a Friday night intro from 6:30 to 9:30 pm, followed by all day Saturday from 11 to 4 pm to make cards, read, and write about them. It's a fun and revealing process! 

The card shown here is one of three OPRAH cards made to honor a woman who is a part of my COMMUNITY, someone whom i have learned from and respect. In SoulCollage® there are four suits: Committee, Community, Companion, and Council, which encompass all aspects of our lives.

No experience is necessary for this workshop. Anyone can do it, and it is an insightful and affirming process. Please email Linda with questions or if you'd like to register. Workshop fee is $85, which includes all materials. Treat yourself to a creative gift for yourself this holiday season, and join the workshop! Teens and adults are welcome. Bring a friend, and receive a discount for two!

children's picture book writing challenge—i'm in!

PiBoIdMo, a children's book writer and illustrator response to NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month begins this month, and i've signed up to take the challenge! the acronym stands for Picture Book Idea Month: create 30 new picture book ideas in 30 days. oh boy! let the creative juices flow!

i'm back in the groove on my art and illustration work, and delighted to return to my children's book manuscripts in progress, and new ones about to be created. last month i participated in a 30 day picture book dummy challenge initiated by portland illustrator lee white via Portland Kidlit facebook group, which initiated finding one of my manuscripts written long ago that i intend to illustrate. the dummy is in progress! hooray! i didn't meet the deadline because i had a number of big deadlines and projects in october, but it's on my drawing table and the challenge sure jump-started me.

keep a watch here for updates on my progress.

two well-loved children's books i illustrated are long out of print, so i'm ready to dive in.

the first one i did, How to Get Famous in Brooklyn, is close to my heart with the recent superstorm sandy. i hope my friends and precious places in brooklyn have survived. harold underdown, friend and children's book editor and author of The Complete Idiot's Guide to Publishing Children's Books and major contributor to educating on the children's book publishing process, has been posting his news; he and family are hanging in there! not sure that roller coaster at coney island pictured on top left of my cover made it. here's an article with photos talking about the future of coney island.

photograph © Timothy Murray 2012 from Huffington Post article

The Little Ant, the second book i illustrated, a Mexican folk tale, is also close to my heart, and would have sold thousands more copies if it had stayed in print!

acrylic paint and collage workshop participants create cool new work in one day!!

vicki lind, artist and creative marketing coach, attended her fourth workshop in my studio last saturday and created two powerful paintings with collage in her unique style.

christine, a fellow soulcollage® facilitator did this provocative piece with celtic themes and began another which i hope to post here when completed.

unfinished work did't get photographed, but everyone had a positive and rewarding experience.

if you'd like to be contacted for my next workshop, please email me.

Linda Sawaya's Acrylic Paint with Collage workshop Nov. 3!

Give yourself the gift of making art in an Acrylic Painting with Collage Workshop in my studio in outer NW Portland, Saturday, Nov. 3 from 10:30 to 4:30. This one-day workshop is a fun exploration of collage together with acrylic paint. Learn a variety of techniques with acrylic paint, how to integrate collage images with paint, and how to transform images from one idea into another. 

Finish at least one piece by the end of the day! All levels of experience are welcome. Please email me for more information and to reserve your space by October 26, 2012. Workshop fee is $95 plus $10 materials. 

here is a snippet from a woman who took this workshop from me in the past and has been waiting since spring for my workshop!:

Linda: I've been wanting to come back and do another collage and acrylic workshop with you. I made two last time I took it and sold one for $160 and the other is one of my favorite pieces...when i asked vicki for her permission to use this she added "another true twist": and the other one my daughter made me promise to give to her as part of her inheritance when I die.—vicki l., portland

Intro to SoulCollage® workshop in linda sawaya's studio Dec 7 & 8

My Intro to SoulCollage® Workshop scheduled for October 26 and 27 has been rescheduled to December 7 and 8 in my outer NW Portland studio.

SoulCollage® is a simple but deep process of using collage to tap into your heart and soul. The workshop begins with a Friday night intro from 6:30 to 9:30 pm, followed by all day Saturday from 11 to 4 pm to make cards, read, and write about them. It's a fun and revealing process! My SoulCollage® card, the Clutterer, was made recently as I rejoice in having cleared and cleaned my studio this summer, making it ready to teach classes and workshops again, after a few years of taking time for myself and loved ones. I celebrate this clarity of space and beauty that surrounds me!

The Clutterer is my tribute to my love of things and acknowledges the dark side of having too much stuff! No experience is necessary for this workshop. Anyone can do it, and it is an insightful and affirming process. Please email me with questions or if you'd like to register. There is space for 6 in my beautiful studio. Workshop fee is $85, which includes all materials. I hope you can join me!

Linda Sawaya at WORDSTOCK book festival this weekend!

If you're in portland, oregon this weekend, please come by the convention center for a great book festival, wordstock, and visit me at booth #815. i will be there signing copies of alice's kitchen: traditional lebanese cooking and The Sweets of Araby, a book for which i illustrated and designed the cover, as well as doing interior illustrations, published last year by Countryman Press, and named a NY Times Notable book for 2011. it is a delightful book with recipes and stories based on the tales of the 1001 Arabian Nights.

i will have matted art prints for sale as well as some framed International Madonna prints.

my beloved mother, alice, joined me at Wordstock in 2005, when they had a cooking stage and the revised and expanded edition of AK had just been published. it was such a joy to share the stage with mama; the audience loved her, and she was honored by the line of people waiting for us to sign their books.

this weekend i'll be selling the books and art prints at a special price, and will be sharing some of my summer dried figs...so do stop by! mama will be with us in spirit! reminding us: Dear, if you make it with love, it will be delicious!

and if you are too far away, you can order copies through my website or amazon, or please email me for more info. happy cooking!

ART CLASSES & WORKSHOPS COMING UP in my studio!

INTRO TO SOULCOLLAGE® WORKSHOP
October 26 & 27

SoulCollage® is a simple but deep process of using collage to tap into your heart and soul. The workshop October 26 & 27 begins with a Friday night intro from 6:30 to 9:30 pm followed by Saturday from 11 to 4 pm to make cards, read, and write about them. It's a fun and revealing process!

My SoulCollage® card shown here was made recently as I rejoice in having cleared and cleaned my studio this summer! The Clutterer is my tribute to my love of things and the dark side of having too much stuff!

Email me for more information or to register by October 15. Space in my beautiful studio has room for 6. Workshop fee is $85.

FALL ART NEWS for linda dalal sawaya: exhibitions, wordstock, classes!

there's been a lot going on since my last blog post, and i must confess, since i got my iphone in march, i've been doing lots of instagram photos and posting on TWITTER (lindasawayaART) and FB...so if you'd like to keep up with me that way, you'd be welcome to join me!

EXHIBITION THIS WEEKEND: SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL FOR GOD
i will be displaying my original icons and accepting commissions for them, as well as selling Alice's Kitchen cookbooks, and some art prints. please join me there!

WE SPEAK mural presentation Wednesday, April 18 in VOICES LESS HEARD at Columbia Center for the Arts Hood River

WE SPEAK MURAL celebrates its 20th anniversary with first exhibition this year in the Columbia River Gorge at the SPRING HUMANITIES SERIES: VOICES LESS HEARD sponsored by Columbia Gorge Community College. my arab american panel reflects on the 500 years (1492—1992) of Columbus in the Americas as it relates to being an arab american. thirteen other panels of the WE SPEAK done by asian american, african american, latinos, and native americans are on display this month in Hood River, White Salmon, and The Dalles.

on wednesday, April 18, i will be presenting with Seidel Standingelk, and one of the ALANA mural organizers, Elizabeth Perry, at the Columbia Center for the Arts in Hood River.

please see the new WE SPEAK blog with more information and views of all the murals with a map of locations to download if you're able to visit the beautiful Columbia River gorge and visit the murals in person.

here's the text from my artist's statement above adapted from the 4 pages in the original 1992 brochure:

Artist’s Statement (1992)

“Salaam (Peace)—An Arab American Voice”. The Columbus legacy began by brutally denying the integrity of the indigenous people on this continent. Racism and lack of respect for diversity has continued through the course of North American history. If a people were not of the ruling class and color, they were typically exploited, stereotyped, abused, scapegoated, and oppressed. Beginning with indigenous peoples, the pattern continued through each successive wave of immigrants subsequently arriving. Most recently targeted are Arabs and Muslims.

A montage of images in a geometric design depicts the Arab experience in America: from the first wave of Arab immigrants in the late 1800s through the present resistance by ADC (American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee) and peace demonstrators, and including Detroit auto workers, Yemini farm workers, political activists Alex Odeh and the LA 8—politi-cal prisioners used as a test case to round up Arab Americans similar to the Japanese Americans internment camps in 1942. Together with oppression/resistance are images of strength and inspiration—the flowering of our culture within the constraints of racism. The border includes portraits of Arab Americans, who have contributed to the country: Khalil Gibran, Ralph Nader, Christa McAuliffe, Naomi Shihab Nye, Helen Thomas, Casey Kasem, Alixa Naff, Danny Thomas, Mary Rose Oakar, Candy Lightner, James Abourizk, Fadwa El Guindi, Salma Jayyusi, Edward Said, and Rosalind Ellis. Interspersed are culturally significant icons; along the bottom are Arabic contributions to civilization with the Arabic word for peace, SALAAM, in the center. The central figures in the Arabic arch represent 3 generations: the heavenly wisdom of the ancestors—the grandmother (Sitto) holding the olive branch for peace, the Mother/present generation, also grounded on the earth, carrying a child—the hope for the future, for peace, a healthy planet, and affirming the importance of family in Arab culture.

WE SPEAK mural project and my Arab-American panel celebrate 20th anniversary this year!

in 1991 the first Gulf War instigated the creation of an organization in portland, oregon called ALANA: Asians, Latinos, Native Americans and African Americans for Peace and Justice. in 1992 ALANA organized a mural project called WE SPEAK presenting a minority view of the Columbus Quincentenary being celebrated that year across the nation.

i was a participant and painted one of the thirteen 5'5" x 5'5" panels on racism and an alternative view to the Columbus Discovered America theme. my panel naturally centered on my being an Arab-American and the issues i was aware of from my experience and perspective as an active member of the ADC (Arab American Anti-Discrimination Committee) portland chapter. this was 9 years before 9/11 and the second Gulf war.

since January 2012 my panel has been on exhibition in LA at AFSC's gallery in the art district of downtown LA. it is a part of their show free your mind, awaken your spirit, and will be on display through the end of March, when it's returning to join the other panels to be exhibited in the Columbia River gorge. more about that when i have more details. 

being in the presence of the WE SPEAK murals last june for the first time in almost twenty years gave me the goosebumps. the issues presented by the many artists representing various cultures are still relevant today. WE SPEAK is still speaking truth to power.