School Visit: St. Mary School, Manchester, IA

This past weekend I attended the St. Mary's School in Manchester, Iowa to give a presentation on art in picture books and the concept of visual story telling.

It was April Author month at the school and my future wife's cousin was able to set up a speaking gig. I was nervous at first but as soon as I started talking to the kids I felt at home and hopefully I educated the kids with tips on art and story telling.

I did two presentations where I talked to kids from Kindergarten through 6th grade. I told the kids how my love for drawing lead me to writing and illustrating children's books. I also spoke about where the concept for the When I Was Little series came from.

Towards the end, I had a Q&A session where I answered questions about art, hobbies, and self-publishing. I was literally blessed as a gesture of thanks and well wishes as I wrapped up my last presentation for the day. I felt honored. I had an incredible time and the kids were well behaved and asked a lot of great questions.

Thank you to Mrs. Palmer, Dawn Gaffney, the students, and faculty of St. Mary's for hosting me and allowing me to speak about art and books at their school. Also thanks to Nicole who "held my hand" through the weeks of prepping on what I was going to talk about.

I look forward to more wonderful opportunities likes this to share my art and stories and to encourage kids to find a passion and pursue their own goals.

Oh and just a reminder, I will be at the C2E2 convention this weekend at McCormick Place. Artist Alley table L6A!