made by hugh
05.16.2013
This Fotoplay page was sent to me by Hugh Kepets, an artist whose work and home I …
artLab: ephemeral exhibition
05.04.2013
It’s been distractingly gorgeous outside: Warm. Sunny. Quintessentially Springy. And yet, today, on another quintessentially gorgeous Spring …
spring (and summer) news
04.18.2013
It’s mid April, and everyone –animal, insect, human– is feeling it: Spring is here and it’s magnificent. …
artist’s vision: guri dahl
04.09.2013
I’ve just returned from a vacation out at sea, sailing around the Caribbean on a big ship, …
artist’s vision: daniel anselmi
03.19.2013
I recently received a note from collage artist Daniel Anselmi, asking if I would be interested in …
artlab: geometric paintings
03.16.2013
I’m a month behind in posting, but the February ArtLab for All Ages workshop at CMCA was …
fotoplay for easter
03.13.2013
I was particularly excited to be asked by the Early Stage School in Poland to design Fotoplay …
chronicle books: in progress
03.10.2013
Two and a half months ago I wrote about completing the first draft of my Fotoplay book …
artLab : open space
03.05.2013
This past weekend at the CMCA ArtLab, the room was overflowing. With people, paper, and lots of …
joel glassman’s menagerie
02.25.2013
The Recycled Menagerie, a delightful collection of whimsical creatures created by the late Joel Glassman (1911-2007), opened …
fotoplay for valentine’s day
02.13.2013
Tomorrow is Saint Valentine’s Day. Overflowing with flowers, hearts, chocolate, and hopefully love, it’s a day, like …
collaborative travel journal 2
01.30.2013
In past posts (here and here) I’ve written about collaborative journals, and my family’s ritual of drawing …
in praise of paint chips
01.06.2013
The first CMCA ArtLab workshop of 2013 (yesterday), was focused on the idea of paint chip mosaics. To …
2012: a year in review
12.30.2012
Because it’s impossible to come to the end of the year without reflecting and assessing, I thought …
chronicle books: 1st draft
12.27.2012
It’s been a few months since I signed a contract with Chronicle Books for a new edition …
time-lapse fotoplay
12.16.2012
Click the image above to see the latest from the inimitable Alexis Iammarino. This film is actually …
365 children’s books
12.10.2012
Many thanks to Lauren Nassiff of 365 Children’s Books for the wonderful review of Fotoplay! Lauren’s photograph …
parallax photo exhibit
12.09.2012
I learned this week that my photograph, Holding On, Letting Go #22, was selected for Parallax, The …
ashley bryan : luminary
12.05.2012
Inspired by the work of Maine poet/artist/illustrator/storyteller Ashley Bryan, I created a luminary project for yesterday’s ArtLab …
fotoplay for christmas
12.02.2012
‘Tis the season to turn toward light and song and myth and tradition…and Fotoplay! I was recently …
made by alexis 3
11.27.2012
This is the third post featuring the work of artist Alexis Iammarino: dancer, teacher, and Fotoplay artist …
a visual call-and-response
11.21.2012
Without a doubt, it’s winter. It’s cold. The trees have lost their leaves. The sun sets, it …
polish benefit for bolivia
11.17.2012
I was recently asked if I would design, pro-bono, a Fotoplay page for an International Project initiated …
matisse for well-being
11.14.2012
I spent hours this week leading Matisse-inspired art projects, and I’m left with one burning question: Why …
photo-collage from poland
11.05.2012
Take a look at this Halloween photo-collage, sent to me today from the super-creative teachers and students …
halloween in poland
10.31.2012
Today is Halloween, and looking at the piles of completed Fotoplay pages sent to me by the …
chronicle books + fotoplay
10.27.2012
Here it is. The “big news” I alluded to a couple of weeks ago: I’ve just signed …
artbar selects fotoplay
10.24.2012
Many thanks to Bar Rucci for choosing Fotoplay as one of “the best drawing books that ignite …
fotoplay at princeton
10.17.2012
This past weekend I visited the Lucas Gallery in the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton …
in poland: playing w/ photos
10.16.2012
Last week the kids at the Early Stage school in Poland turned the tables on me and …
in poland: fotoplay penpals
10.08.2012
In the first collection of pages I created for the Early Stage School in Poland, I included …
posable sculpture workshop
10.07.2012
A couple of weeks ago I wrote about the quest for a ball and socket joint, which …
in poland : at the beach
09.27.2012
Along with the works I posted yesterday, the pages above were sent to me from the Early …
in poland : summer holiday
09.26.2012
This morning I received a few emails filled with Fotoplay pages from the children at the Early …
this playground : one year
09.24.2012
This week marks the one year anniversary of This Playground, and that means it’s time for some …
posable sculptures : the key
09.12.2012
For the past year and a half I’ve been an instructor at the Center for Maine Contemporary …
for english students in poland
09.08.2012
This week I completed my commission for the Early Stage school in Warsaw, a project which I’ve …
a fotoplay guest book
09.03.2012
In my last post I wrote about a recent visit to the home of Hugh Kepets and …
artist’s vision: hugh kepets
09.02.2012
I’ve just returned from a many-faceted trip, where one of the highlights was a visit with our …
back to school in poland
08.24.2012
In time for the new school year, I’ve just completed the first part of my commission for …
building one’s self
08.17.2012
Today was the last day of my “We Are All Builders” workshop at the Center for Maine …
designing one’s self
08.10.2012
Yesterday was day four of my Animals in Art workshop at the CMCA ArtLab, and I thought it …
in praise of watercolor
08.09.2012
Yesterday, midway through my Animals ArtLab Art Camp workshop at the Center For Maine Contemporary Art, I …
fotoplay in poland
08.07.2012
A few months ago, I was contacted by the leading English language school in Warsaw, Poland, Early …
balancing sculptures
08.06.2012
This past Saturday at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, I led another ArtLab For All Ages …
happy birthday (to me)
08.05.2012
Today is my birthday, and even though I proclaimed, over and over again, that I didn’t feel …
made by jake
07.26.2012
Today, in the midst of a rather dark, dreary afternoon, I received an email with these wonderful …
a new book : holding on…
07.14.2012
Last year, in an earlier post, I wrote about the fourth series in the large, ongoing collection …
stained glass windows
07.08.2012
Yesterday, on a super hot summer afternoon, I led another workshop at the Center for Maine Contemporary …
prompting myself
07.04.2012
It’s summer, the windows are open, my studio is newly cleaned, and I’m preparing for my summer …
the new fotoplay gallery
06.28.2012
The Fotoplay page Gallery / Archive is now live on This Playground, and I do think that …
made by teens
06.22.2012
Yesterday I spent the afternoon as a visiting artist at a residential treatment center in rural Maine, …
made by freya
06.21.2012
This page was sent to me this morning from Thurgoona, NSW, Australia. It was created by Freya, …
fotoplay: in the hospital 4
06.18.2012
It’s completely unoriginal for me to say that I love working with kids because I learn so …
fotoplay: in the hospital 3
06.16.2012
This is the third post (but not the last) on Fotoplay pages that were completed at the …
fotoplay: in the hospital 2
06.14.2012
In yesterday’s post I wrote about one group of completed pages from the Fotoplay books I donated …
fotoplay: made in the hospital
06.13.2012
One week ago I wrote about donating five Fotoplay books to the hospital emergency room in my …
fotoplay @ the crafty crow
06.11.2012
Many thanks to Cassi, blogger extraordinaire, for featuring Fotoplay on her excellent children’s craft blog, The Crafty …
fotoplay donated to hospital
06.07.2012
On Wednesday afternoon, I donated five Fotoplay books and a basket of art supplies to Kim Spectre, …
made by alexis 2
06.05.2012
In an earlier post, I wrote about the work of artist Alexis Iammarino, her lifelong involvement with …
in praise of scratchboard
06.04.2012
The act of etching a dark black scratchboard, combined with the metaphysical endeavor of creating a self-portrait …
kids love art (education)
06.02.2012
How can anyone who’s in a position of power even consider cutting art education out of a …
fotoplay: what is a prompt?
05.31.2012
What is a teacher really doing when they give a written or visual prompt to a student? …
collaborative travel journal
05.27.2012
I’ve written a few times before about exquisite corpse, the wonderful drawing game made popular by the …
travel lust : shadowplay
05.14.2012
I think my eyes are wide open, I think I’m fully awake, I think my senses are …
artlab: pins & pendants
05.06.2012
While more than fifty people participated in yesterday’s ArtLab workshop at CMCA, there were many more than …
artist’s vision: alan fishman
05.04.2012
What makes us stop in our tracks to really look at a work of art? What pulls …
made by isabel
04.30.2012
The Fotoplay pages in this post were created by a young lady named Isabel, who clearly does …
spring garden installation
04.29.2012
Yesterday’s book signing at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art was just one of the events we …
CMCA fotoplay book signing
04.28.2012
Here’s a peek at today’s book signing at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, which is located …
cool moms pick fotoplay
04.26.2012
Many thanks to Cool Mom Picks for their terrific review of Fotoplay! After cool mom Christina Refford …
fotoplay: six funny faces
04.23.2012
In anticipation of this Saturday’s book signing at the Center For Maine Contemporary Art, I’ve designed four …
made by alexis 1
04.18.2012
The work in this post was sent to me by Alexis Iammarino, a many-faceted artist/teacher who is …
fotoplay for art therapy
04.12.2012
This completed page was sent to me by Corine D., an art therapist in New York City, …
the infinite cube workshop
04.08.2012
Yesterday’s ArtLab workshop at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art was filled with adults and children of …
big kids magazine: treasure
04.04.2012
Yesterday I received in the mail, all the way from Australia, the gorgeous magazine you see in …
made by daniel
04.03.2012
This post is filled with the carefully considered work of nine year old Daniel, who is painting …
exquisite corpse cubes
04.01.2012
With lots of help, I’ve been preparing for the next ArtLab for All Ages at the Center …
fotoplay: concrete poetry
03.30.2012
Yesterday was the third day of my residency at the Camden Rockport Elementary School. We moved from …
fotoplay: inner vision
03.28.2012
On day two of my residency at the Camden Rockport Elementary School, I worked with 40 more …
fotoplay: graphic design
03.27.2012
Yesterday was the first day of my residency at the Camden Rockport Elementary School. As I wrote …
made by seamus and avery
03.23.2012
This is a photograph I received a few days ago, of two cousins, Seamus and Avery, with …
fotoplay: poetry workshop
03.22.2012
On Monday I’ll begin a Fotoplay-inspired residency at the Camden Rockport Elementary School, in Rockport, Maine. The …
coloring is…
03.21.2012
What does it mean to draw or color? What happens when a child (or a grown child) …
in praise of collage
03.19.2012
In this gallery, #2 of works created from my Fotoplay book, I’ve posted more pages made at …
fotoplay: modern art
03.18.2012
On Tuesday, I delivered to the Starrett Children’s Center two copies of my Fotoplay book. Those of …
fotoplay! : book trailer
03.17.2012
The Fotoplay book trailer is HERE! I will be brief and let this gorgeous creation speak for …
fotoplay book : thank you
03.13.2012
Fotoplay! The Book, has arrived, and is now available for shipping! As with the creation of all …
eye painting workshop part 2
03.12.2012
This post is part 2 of one from last week, in which I wrote about a workshop …
frozen moment : maine
03.10.2012
Spring break at Bowdoin College. An empty campus; most buildings were locked. But the drawing studio was …
the exquisite corpse
03.08.2012
I’ve wanted to write about exquisite corpse since I first created this blog, for lots of reasons: …
eye painting workshop part 1
03.06.2012
Yesterday I led a workshop at the Rockport Public Library, which I designed in response to the …
creating a fotoplay page
03.05.2012
A few months ago, Jo Pollitt and Lilly Blue, the creators of the wonderful BIG Kids Magazine, …
artlab: mystery bag monsters
03.04.2012
Yesterday’s ArtLab workshop at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art was focused on monsters, and as usual, …
mystery bag : monsters
03.02.2012
Tomorrow I’ll be leading another workshop at the Center For Maine Contemporary Art in Rockport, Maine. To …
book covers for other people
02.28.2012
In earlier posts, here and here, I wrote about the world of stock photography and the many …
fotoplay: 716 pieces = 1 book
02.26.2012
In my last post, I wrote about the year-long evolution of the cover of Fotoplay, and the …
fotoplay book cover design
02.20.2012
I spent this past week still completely immersed in refining the design of my Fotoplay book and …
creative process: the way in
02.13.2012
Last year, in my very first post on this blog, I wrote about children’s art, and how …
fotoplay: end of the horizon
02.10.2012
The Fotoplay Invitational, What’s On the Horizon?, is now complete. Nine unique works were created in response …
fotoplay: design a cat/car
02.07.2012
I’m pleased to offer you the second of my free Fotoplay pages, which is also a sneak …
fotoplay: on the horizon 7
02.05.2012
This weekend I received an email from my friend Maya, along with photographs of the work she …
fotoplay: on the horizon 6
02.03.2012
The final design of my book is now completed, and I expect to see the first full …
made by agathe annick david
01.31.2012
Today in my inbox I received three Fotoplay pages, from a wonderful illustrator who lives near Montreal. …
fotoplay: the book
01.24.2012
While I continue to receive new work for the Fotoplay Invitational, I won’t be posting about it …
fotoplay: on the horizon 5
01.19.2012
This morning I received an email from my friend Chris,with his contribution to the Fotoplay Invitational. Once …
fotoplay: on the horizon 4
01.18.2012
The newest pieces to arrive in my inbox for the Fotoplay Invitational were created by my friend …
fotoplay: on the horizon 3
01.17.2012
Have you ever, while standing on a beach looking out at the horizon, felt that you were …
fotoplay: on the horizon 2
01.15.2012
Gallery 2 of the Fotoplay Invitational includes works that suggest (one with more subtlety than the other) …
fotoplay: on the horizon 1
01.11.2012
The first two pieces for the Fotoplay Invitational have arrived, and I have to say that I …
invitational: on the horizon
01.08.2012
When thinking about creating a new Fotoplay image for the Invitational, what I wanted, first and foremost, …
fotoplay : invitational
01.04.2012
It is no longer December, and it is no longer the “holiday season.” As I wrote in …
december fotoplay: gallery 12
01.03.2012
The photograph of the work above arrived by email yesterday, along with the series of photographs that …
december fotoplay: gallery 11
01.01.2012
Early this morning, on this first bright day of the New Year, I opened my inbox and …
december fotoplay: gallery 10
12.31.2011
It’s New Year’s Eve, and photographs of two new December Fotoplay cards, that I think are so …
december fotoplay : gallery 9
12.29.2011
These winter mornings, anticipating the Fotoplay cards that might be waiting for me in my inbox, I …
december fotoplay : gallery 8
12.28.2011
Gallery 8 of the December Fotoplay cards is filled with works that share a sense of playfulness, …
december fotoplay : gallery 7
12.27.2011
Here in gallery 7 of the December Fotoplay cards, you’ll see a Guggenheim-esque sculpture, “stained glass” windows, …
december fotoplay : gallery 6
12.26.2011
While I am far from happy about it, I am going to openly admit the following: I …
december fotoplay : gallery 5
12.25.2011
In earlier posts, here and here, I wrote about my holiday card ritual, and why it is …
december fotoplay : gallery 4
12.24.2011
It seems that the zeitgeist of this group of December Fotoplay cards is Conceptual. The above work …
december fotoplay : gallery 3
12.23.2011
The creators of this next collection of December Fotoplay worked with markers, pencil, and collage, and designed …
december fotoplay : gallery 2
12.22.2011
This is the second set of completed December Fotoplay cards. All the work was created by adults, …
december fotoplay : gallery 1
12.19.2011
This year, for my annual holiday card, I created a Fotoplay image (I took the original photograph …
fotoplay : what does he see?
12.14.2011
The lovely folks at BIG magazine recently asked me to create a Fotoplay page for their upcoming …
collaboration : upcycled tree
12.13.2011
This week, my son, my husband and I decided to build a holiday tree, using whatever we …
fotoplay : symbolic windows
12.08.2011
Last spring, I created this Fotoplay page using a photograph I took eight years ago at the …
the rebirth of a photograph
12.07.2011
In an earlier post I wrote about the world of stock photography and a few of the …
best seat in the house
12.03.2011
In an earlier post I wrote about the not-so-obvious (and sometimes mystical) part of the process of …
20 years of holiday photos
12.01.2011
A few weeks ago, I wrote about my annual holiday card project in my post “one image, …
artlab: collaborative painting
11.30.2011
Yesterday in CMCA’s ArtLab the children created their third collaborative painting. If I’d have videotaped this session, …
thanksgiving fotoplay
11.25.2011
After tonight’s delicious Thanksgiving feast, there were games and conversations, and then there was Fotoplay… Below is …
elephant opposites
11.23.2011
Thank goodness I was in New York last December for that record-setting blizzard. And thank goodness there …
the life of a photograph
11.22.2011
For twenty years I’ve been sending photographs to various agencies (aka stock houses) to license my work. …
self portraits / group portrait
11.21.2011
I was fascinated by the responses to the head template stamps I made, so I created a …
artlab: family portraits
11.18.2011
My attraction to the mystical head-template-stamp idea lingered, so I made a few more basic head shape …
in praise of crayons
11.16.2011
Here is a gallery of works created by both children and adults, using the same Fotoplay page. …
fotoplay : complete the zebra
11.14.2011
I’m pleased to offer you the first of many free Fotoplay pages. Feel free to print it …
commission : borgata hotel
11.12.2011
In the spring of 2011 I was asked to look through my archives and create a photograph …
teen vision : john loxterkamp
11.11.2011
For the past 16 years, I’ve lived with my family in a small town on the coast …
i’ll wait in the car
11.09.2011
Do you like to read books? Do you like to look at hand-colored photographs? Are you crazy …
artlab: puzzles
11.08.2011
One of my favorite things to do with kids is making puzzles. Not only are they designing …
artbuds : making a difference
11.07.2011
I am so pleased to be featured on this lovely site, in their new “Making a Difference” …
stamped impressions
11.06.2011
Saturday’s Family ArtLab stamping workshop was not only almost standing room only, it was also jam-packed with …
collaborative painting
11.05.2011
This week in the ArtLab, I set out our second canvas for collaborative painting. The word collaborative …
frozen moment : london
11.03.2011
It was a cold, snowy day when I visited the British Museum in London. But then I …
fotoplay : images, hieroglyphs
11.01.2011
It’s easy to be wowed by the variety of approaches that kids have taken to complete my …
one image, once a year
10.30.2011
I knew that November was near, and I had realized that day by day, it had become …
BIG Kids inspiration
10.29.2011
A big thank you to Jo Pollitt and Lilly Blue, the creative team behind BIG Kids Magazine, …
a child’s vision : eliot bee
10.27.2011
It’s not unusual for a child to make wondrous, unique creations. (All children do.) But it’s rare …
artlab: monoprinting
10.26.2011
Yesterday at the ArtLab, my five year olds drew on styrofoam sheets with wooden styluses to make …
art hero : roy decarava
10.25.2011
Roy DeCarava was one of my first art heroes, and the first photo-based artist whose images opened …
fotoplay : adults jump in
10.24.2011
The first thing the participants in Saturday’s workshop found when they came into the ArtLab was a …
creative flow : group power
10.23.2011
Yesterday’s Shake Up Your Art workshop at the Center For Maine Contemporary Art produced a full collection …
freefall : infinite box project
10.22.2011
Tomorrow’s daylong workshop at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art is entitled “Shake Up Your Art” for …
at the stedelijk museum
10.20.2011
This past summer I was fortunate to spend a few weeks in the Netherlands, and one of …
collaborative painting
10.19.2011
For our second autumn session in the ArtLab Studio, I set up a collaborative painting on canvas …
shake up your art
10.18.2011
There’s still room in my Saturday, October 22 workshop at the Center For Maine Contemporary Art: This …
the innocent eye
10.17.2011
This is one of those books that never makes it back onto the shelf. It came into …
fotoplay : complete the body
10.16.2011
Through the years, I’ve created a number of photo-based projects for students. This past spring, I created …
Early StARTS grant
10.14.2011
In November of 2010, I received a grant from the Maine Foundation, Early StARTS, to work with …
roll the dice and draw
10.13.2011
This is just one of a few sets of foam core drawing prompt cubes I created. They’re …
frozen moment : florence
10.12.2011
I went back to Florence for a week in September and came home with one photograph. …italia, …
holding on, letting go
10.11.2011
How do single images evolve into a cohesive collection? Where do the ideas that repeatedly captivate us …
vegetable…animal…
10.10.2011
There is something singularly satisfying about making a print. Add to that the geometric beauty of a …
invitation for graffiti
10.09.2011
A few months ago I “wallpapered” a room at the Starrett Children’s Center with white paper as …
illuminated slide lamp
10.08.2011
A lamp I created with slides of my husband’s and my work. Or: What does one do …
the origins of fotoplay
10.07.2011
Most projects actually incubate for a long time. Days, weeks, decades. This is true of my Fotoplay …
a gesture, a commission
10.05.2011
In the summer of 2011, I was commissioned to create a wall mural for City Drawers, a …
collaborative collage
10.04.2011
This is another collaborative piece created during my time at the Starrett Children’s Center. Contributing artists: Grace, …
a line is a prompt
10.03.2011
A blank sheet of paper can be liberating or intimidating. It can open the doors of perception, …
fotoplay : created by m.j.b
10.02.2011
In the spring of 2011 I created Fotoplay, the first-of-its-kind photo-based prompt book. Fotoplay grew out of …
exquisite corpse blocks
10.01.2011
For a recently completed installation in an undergarment store, I worked, once again, with the wonderful kids …
a rocket, a scream, a child
09.30.2011
One of my favorite artists is Karel Appel. In 1953, he said: My paint is like a …
this playground
09.28.2011
Children, and the art created by children, have long been a source of inspiration for me. Children …








