Amy Huntington - Interview #467 (8/7/17 B)

Vermont Author and Illustrator Amy Huntington, whose latest book is Fresh-Picked Poetry: A Day at the Farmer's Market (Charlesbridge).

The retreat Amy mentioned in our conversation is AIR Serenbe in Chattahoochee Hills, Georgia. And more information about the Children's Literacy Foundation (CLiF) can be found here.

This week, thanks to Amy Huntington, who recommended it, we have an Illustrator Prompt. She writes: “My inspiration for a lot of my recent work comes from nature, and spending time outside observing and learning about the natural world around me. I do this near my home and when I’m traveling. I find that sitting quietly in one place, sketching for a half an hour, allows me to see more and remember more. I also use details from this work to lend authenticity and depth to my illustration work. PROMPT: Take a sketchbook and your favorite medium, (mine is a fountain pen), and spend a half an hour outside drawing. ) You don’t have to find the perfect subject. It can be a tree or a leaf or a knot of twisty roots. I have a barn swallow nest outside my kitchen window that I have been itching to draw. You’ll find that after a bit of quiet sitting – even if it’s by a patch of weeds on the edge of a parking lot - you’ll start to hear and see critters around you interacting with their environment. This is all fuel for stories!”

Good luck with your work in the coming week, and please listen next week for another prompt or suggestion.

Music Credit: Aaron Shapiro