Shennen Bersani's Weblog

Reflections

So my Mountaineer's engine is dead, which didn't get me down until yesterday when the rear tire came off my bike a mile from home and the lawn mower choked and coughed it's last breath...

Fortunately I have photos of Italy on my wall - they can brighten the darkest day.

Bethany, Kerrin, and I went to Italy in April 2004. We traveled south to north. Karlene also went, she traveled north to south. At one point we left a hotel in Florence before lunch and Karlene checked in after lunch. She and I called each other, exchanged journey stories, and racked up a fabulous phone bill. Worth every penny.

We left poor Ryan back at BU, he was in class minoring in Italian!

I took over 1,000 digital photos. Here's just a couple. First off, what the heck is with this hair? Kerrin laughed herself silly when I told her that I was going to post this - why not laugh at myself??

Me, in the subway in Rome - notice my reflection behind me.

What's not to love about the Ponte Vecchio? I got hypoglycemic after crossing it and required some gelato. Tough, I know.

Now this one is a personal favorite. Here is Bethany with her younger sister Kerrin. Guess what? Kerrin is taller than Bethany now!!

You never can go wrong with a couple of gondolas. When I was a child we always ate at a local Italian restaurant - I can still see the red gondola printed on the take-out pizza box lid. I dreamed of traveling down the Grand Canal. ...it was better than I dreamt.

We were told that this was one of the holding cells for Christians - umm, waiting to meet the lions - in the Colosseum.

Oh No! Androcles, watch out!!

phew!! Androcles gets freed!!

illustrations by Shennen Bersani © McGraw-Hill 2002

Okay, so I got a little silly there - those were from Androcles and the Lion; a flash from my illustrating past. Here's what the interior of the Colosseum really looks like:

Let's leave Italy on a cheerful note!

flowers in Milan

Inside and Outside

Barbara has been urging me to take fresh photos of my studio space, I made it as far as taking a pic of my latest addition - an orchid.

I took the butterfly photo last year and the skate eggs on the wall are from Ocean Counting Odd Numbers.

As my work continues on The Feeding Tree I felt a compulsion to put up a couple of bird feeders in my front yard. Here is a baby robin who visited my fence.

In the book the family makes homemade feeders, here is my first study of one for the book - this illustration got published in the current issue of Vineyard Style Magazine. My illustration of the feeder for the book will be in technicolor! LOL!!

Over the years the great thing about Vineyard Style Magazine is that John and Charlie have given me leeway to be experimental with my illustrations. The next issue will show a different side of me.