SPRING ADULTS: Writing & Illustrating a Picture Book

Course Description:     
This course, taught by two writer/illustrators, will show how to create a children’s picture book. Students will learn how to incorporate text and sequential images to create a mock-up or “book dummy” presentable to a publisher. Student may use the media of their choice whether traditional or digital. All levels are welcome--beginners to professional artists will be able to experiment and gain insights to meet their individual needs.

This class is co-taught by Ilse Plume & Julia Miner.

Ilse Plume
Ilse Plume is a Caldecott Honor Book Award Winner for her book The Bremen-Town Musicians. She has illustrated many folktales from around the world,  including ones from Italy, Russia, Germany, Sweden, and Latvia.
Ilse was inspired to write and illustrate children’s books by her daughter, and her love of books and international tales was nurtured by her grandfather.
Plume has a B.F.A. & M.F.A. from Drake University, and studied printmaking at Santa Reparata, now called (SRISA —  Santa Reparata International School of Art) in Florence, Italy.
Ilse has taught at MCAD, RISD, Mass College of Art & Design, and SMFA/Tufts; as well as the Umbrella Center for  the Arts.
Exhibitions of her work have been at the De Cordova Museum, the Concord Free Public library, and the Trinity Gallery.
Ilse is currently working on a picture book set in Italy.

To learn more about Ilse and connect, visit her website www.ilseplume.com or follow her on Instagram @ilseplume.

Julia Miner
As a child, Julia Miner loved reading and creating art projects that told a story or expressed her love of nature. After graduating in the first class with women admitted to Dartmouth College, she received a Master of Architecture from Yale and worked for top-ranking firms in the Northeast. On a bike trip through Europe to sketch inspiring places, she felt drawn to the light hitting the landscape and buildings as much as to the architecture itself. Soon she opened her own design office, giving her the flexibility for art and programs at the Vermont Studio Center and DeCordova Museum. For a decade she lived in an old adobe house in Arizona, where she completed illustrations for The Shepherd's Song and the award-winning book, The Unbreakable Code. Since returning to Massachusetts, she has illustrated The Lighthouse Santa and Save Our Stream.

Julia loves feeling transported to extraordinary places through the characters in her illustrations, a landscape painting started on location, or a space to be built in the future. She enjoys working with students of all ages to share the process of creating art, a book, or a place we inhabit.