Winter will be here soon.
Check for moth holes in your mittens. Wax the old sled. Chop a nice stack of wood and look to greying November sky for those first specks white.

I was trying to get this image up before the first snow, but it snowed on October 17th! It was a gentle white trim on the orange and brown landscape there to greet us in the morning. We were both excited (the essence of this illustration) and dissapointed, because our autumn was so short. We have been given a stretch of really nice autumn weather since them, so I will ignore that October anomaly and let my excitement for snow build again.

Brendan November 2009

Fall is here! Frosty dew coats the morning grass and our house struggles to get warm in the sun. I don't get out in the car much, but when I do the roads are lined with red and yellow. Those leaves are falling fast and the wind has picked up. The smell of the earth has changed and that, coupled with the sound of dry leaves rustling raise sensory memories of years past. This time of year is so short, so sweet - filled with apples and deep breaths.
I am beginning to create a page of illustrated activities for kids. I have one maze up so far based on my book "Boo!" I hope to add more soon.

Brendan       October 2009

Summer is waning fast. The nights are cold, though the days can be sweltering. The harvest is rolling in. We are stocking up for the winter - jars upon jars, bucket upon buckets. The county fair is over. The Cows are back in the barn. The Demolition Derby cars are smoldering in a heap, and our bodies have finally stopped leaking deep-fry oil.
Time to start thinking September thoughts...
But there is still time for a few last jumps into the pond! Go!

Brendan            August-is-almost-over 2009

Yikes! When you jump it's still summer, but when you hit the water autumn is here. The leaves are coloring and in an instant they will be burning and then gone.
Brendan    September 2009

Summer is high; the days are hot; the garden is trying to break out of its rows and fences; my child is running around with no clothes, rolling in grass and throwing hay; at night, fireflies wink at us, or maybe the stars; I no longer listen to talk radio every day, though I am occasionally brought back to the world at large.
There is magic and power in the long summer days, enjoy them. What are you doing on the internet anyway? If it is not raining, please turn off your computer and go outside, preferably with someone who is willing to run down a hill naked. Well, finish looking at my website, then turn off your computer.

Thanks,
Brendan            July 2009

We are now knee deep in spring, with summer on the horizon! Our garden is growing by leaps and bounds - at least most of it. It is harder to spend the days inside the studio with the warm weather, but I have been working. I have put some pages from a book project into the portfolio - and one here.

The snow is gone! (For now).
Grow! Grow! Grow!
Brendan                April 2009

March. Glimpses of grass make the persistent winter livable. The snow still falls.
The food stores are running low, but we have planted our first seedlings, so we are filled with joy. The earth is tillable where we have protected it from winter's cold.
Once again I have redesigned this site. It has been a persistent habit this winter as I try to catch up with technology and re-learn the ways of the web. I'm sure regular physical exercise would have kept me warmer, but there is always tomorrow.
Brendan            March 2009

We are in the heart of winter. The snow is piled around and falls gently. The world is grey and white. Our lives have closed into a tight circle around our hearth. Welcome to my virtual hearth.
Come warm yourself be you man or beast,
Brendan            January 2009

Winter is here!
The snow came by Halloween - just as they say it should in the Catskills. I have not yet cranked out any winter themed art this year, but here's a popular image of mine from a couple of years ago. It is from a book I have just started getting back into, called at this point "The Baby and the Bear" (surprise, surprise). It was the first finished piece of work I made after my son Eamon was born - and yes that is him in the bear's arms.
Also I have just begun posting my portfolio at childrensillustratiors.com, you can use the link below.

Thanks for stopping by,
Brendan Novemeber 2008

My family and I have just moved up to the lovely catskill mountians. We have left the sweltering summer of New York City for the cool mountians. It is now the tail end of summer and we are already hunkering down for winter - canning tomatoes, pickling cucumbers, putting away crates of onions, protecting our gardens to extend the lives of our precious veggies. Life here is challenging and bountiful. Just as our lives have changed so has my website. You can still find all the old stuff - notes from my bike trips, food ideas and recipes.

-Brendan     September 2008