My Balinese Children's Book: Next project

This is a picture book I wrote and illustrated based on a mythological
little Balinese fairy living in Bali and a girl, named Wardani who found her.

I started this book while living in the Island of Bali, Indonesia.
Whenever I am in Bali, I try to stay in the same town called Ubud
This is the view from the porch in front of my bungalow:


I got the inspiration from one of the sketches of a particular Balinese lantern in
front of my porch which looks like this:


I imagined the little fairy living in this lantern that looks like a small Balinese temple.
The setting for my story started with this image:





Below is the porch where I sometimes wake up just before dawn ( yes--that early!)
 and I start to sketch the Balinese lantern below in the dark :

I love to wake up very early and sketch or write in my journal until
I hear the cock crows.
In Bali, you will always hear them crow when the sun rises.
They are actually music to my ears.

Here you can see one of my sketches while drinking coffee. 






Another illustration of my fairy character living in the lantern house:
More on my Little Girl in Bali story next time--to be continued....

Momsie's Book illustrated by Madonna Davidoff

YOU ARE INVITED TO A BOOK LAUNCHING EVENT:

Event: Children's Book Event & Launching of Momsie's Book 

by the writer/illustrator team of Bart and Madonna Davidoff 

When: April 14, 2013 ( Sunday) from 2:30 -3:30 pm

Where: Mercer County Library System's -Ewing Branch
61 Scotch Road Ewing, NJ 08628.                                    



In Honor of the National Library week beginning on April 14th and running through the 20th,  the writer/illustrator team of Bart and Madonna Davidoff will be presenting their children's picture book entitled Momsies’ Book on Sunday, April 14th from 2:00 to 3:00 pm at the Mercer County Library System's - Ewing branch. 

Momsies’ book includes a memoir entitled "Natie and Me" written and illustrated by Muriel Shutan-Davidoff in which she describes her childhood adventures growing up in New Haven in the late 1920's with her  younger brother Nate. 

Muriel has been living with Alzheimer's disease for the past 5 years and since she is unable to publish her work, Bart and Madonna decided to make it a part of Muriel's legacy.



During the book launching, Madonna will demonstrate how she created the illustrations and Bart will read passages from the book.  The Davidoff’s will donate a copy of the book to the Ewing library's collection and another copy will be awarded as a door prize.



Advance purchasing of Momsie’s Book may be ordered  online here at Lulu.com


Also available soon at Amazon & Barnes & Noble.

Mural Painting for Yoga Studio

I have been commissioned to paint a mural for my favorite Yoga Studio called  
Firefly Yoga & Wellness in Lawrenceville, NJ.
The mural is located in the entrance of the Studio.

I am really happy about this project because am I creating
 something that is close to my heart which is Yoga and Meditation. 
Also, Firefly Yoga & Wellness is a great place not only to learn Yoga but also
a place for meditation, tai chi, tea ceremony workshops, massage therapy,
crystal and sound healing classes.

Below is the color study for the mural:


I already finished the drawing on the wall which is colored light lavender.


Today, I will start to paint and put textures on the trunk 
and the leaves by using patterned paper ( collage style) and 
overlaying it with paint again.

This is so different from what I normally do (small size children's illustrations)
and I find mural painting challenging and exciting.

I look forward to finishing this soon.
I wish you all a happy day today.


Namaste...

How I Created my Valentine Card 2013


                First, I try to get some inspirations from some of my vintage greeting card collection :



I just love the way these greeting cards look.  I try to imagine the sender and the receiver of these cards, what their relationships were with each other, where do they live? What are their favorite food, what do they wear? What books do they like, etc. My imagination takes me far and different characters start to build up in my mind until finally, I start to draw them. And from there, other images appear until I choose one that I will finally work on.


For my Valentine Card, I chose this vintage card as my source of inspiration:

Step 1. Using the image of the tree I made a rough sketch :


Step 2. I finalize the sketch, ink it and scan it in Photoshop .
I also position the text. Here is the scanned image:

Step 3. I color the line art in photoshop
It's easier to change the color combination and
correct mistakes when you work digitally.

Step 4. I decided to create a collage of hand sewn skirt,
ribbons and laces for the girl's outfit. Here are the hand-sewn skirt
and ribbons I made which I then scanned in the card:


Step 5. Here's the final Version of my Valentine Card .
Now I am ready to submit it to 
OnlineGreeting Card Store
called Madonna Davidoff's Card




Happy Valentine to you all!!

Happy New Year of the Snake!

A greeting card I illustrated for The Year of the Snake 2013:
I just started a new line of greeting card illustration for
The Greeting Card Universe.

The name of my Greeting Card store is
MADONNA DAVIDOFF CARDS
where you can order greeting cards anytime.

It was fun creating this card for the year of the snake 2013.

My Process in creating the Card:
1. I made a pen and ink drawing of the girl and then scanned it using my Wacom tablet (Bamboo)



2. I colored the girl and designed the pattern of her dress digitally.


3. I painted the snake in Photoshop using the paintbrush tool.

4. Finally I chose the text and designed the layout of the card digitally and submitted it to
The Greeting Card Universe. for approval.













Madonna Davidoff Paintings at Robins Egg Gallery


My works are now at Robins Egg Gallery in Lambertville NJ.
I am exhibiting 2 of my paintings which is part of my " Little Girls and Boys " series
depicting children in different surroundings and their daily activities. 

This series is made up of small acrylic canvas paintings, size 8" x 8".
I enjoy making them and my source of inspiration are vintage children's books.





Below are paintings at the gallery:




Holiday Greeting!!

Happy Holidays to Everyone:

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa!!



This is an illustration I did inspired by my daughter growing up in Switzerland
where she learnt how to ski and snow board. 
Below is La Vielle Ville or the Old Town in Fribourg where my daughter was born 
where we used to live in a street called Rue de la Samaritaine:


Congratulations President Obama!


Barack the Anointed One: Children's Book I Illustrated

Just in time for Kwanza, Christmas and the Holiday Season,
 This  picture book I illustrated is published and available at the Publishers site as well as in Amazon.
 
 Barack the Anointed One ( Book Description from Amazon)
"Barack Obama elected President of the United States fulfills the wishes of people all over the world, who would like to see a new global direction. This book explores the magical nature of his journey from birth to the presidency and will inspire children to seek broader ideals other than for only themselves."


You may see it in My Facebook Artist page as well.

My Cartoon Strip Little Mado


This is an announcement for the launching of my cartoon strip: 

Little Mado, A Schoolgirl Adventure

OSM Magazine ( an online magazine for awesome global citizens) 
will be featuring Little Mado weekly soon.




I created this comic strip character Little Mado based on my childhood experiences
 in the Philippines during the 60's while attending an all-girls catholic school run by nuns.

Little Mado and her  classmates had to follow strict rules, go to confession, and obey their teachers.
Always restless and hyper, Little Mado's curiosity lands her into lots of trouble.
Her mother often gets called in by the school principal ( also a nun) for Little Mado's bad conduct.
She is always bored with her classes and comes up with creative ways to entertain herself which did not amuse her teachers at all. The only thing she enjoys and love is her Art Class.


Below is the first cartoon strip entitled: I love Art Class







San Francisco Exhibit

I'm participating at an exhibit organized by PapergirlSF
Opening is on Nov 2 at the Incline Gallery, 
Below is my artwork done in San Francisco entitled:
" Night Series #2"
I literally, did the painting at night, during my stay in that city overlooking the 
Coit Tower and the work I'm exhibiting is the middle one below "boxed" in red.


Halloween in Bali


Balinese Inspired Illustration
by: Madonna Davidoff

Happy Halloween!!



© 2012 Madonna Davidoff

I created this illustration based on a Balinese mythology, inspired by my travels to the island of Bali. I was in Bali last June and I rented a small bungalow which resembles the one in my illustration below. This is an illustration of a Balinese witch who likes to devour children.
In the myth, the Balinese children saved themselves from being eaten by dancing.






Good news!! 

© Maria Madonna Davidoff

My registration was confirmed and I will be attending the The sixth annual KidLitCon  (Saturday Session ) on September 29th, 2012.
It will be held within the main branch of New York Public Library  in
New York City . KidLitCon  is an annual conference of children’s and YA bloggers.

We were given several choice of sessions to attend, rating them from #1 -4.Here are the number 1 choices I made:

For Sessions #1 (11:00-11:45) My first choice was:
Presenter: Sheila Ruth (Wands and Worlds)
Title: Who’s In Charge?
Description: Having a social media presence has become an essential fact of life for many in the Kidlit space. Authors, bloggers, and publishers use social media for marketing, engaging with fans, and communicating with peers. Librarians use it to keep up with industry information & book news, and to communicate with patrons. But managing a professional social media presence can quickly become an overwhelming time suck, leading to burnout. This presentation will help anyone who is using social media for professional reasons to take charge and manage it in an effective way. Participants will learn to create a strategic plan by answering the questions what, where, when, and how, and learn about technology tools that can reduce the amount of time and effort needed for social media management.

Sessions #2 (12:00 – 12:45) My first choice was:
Presenter: Marcia Lerner (The Diamond in the Window)
Title: Inspiring Reader Response
Description: A presentation that aims to give bloggers tools to strengthen conversation with their readers. One of the great things about blogging is that it facilitates immediate response. The rewards of blogging come from a wide variety of readers—librarians, teachers, and parents—who offer their wisdom and expertise on a regular basis. Yet one of the frustrating things about blogging is that sometimes readers don’t respond, and it can end up feeling like you’re writing into a void. The most common recommendations for getting readers to comment are to use giveaways or to end posts with a question. In this talk Ms. Lerner discusses how to create emotional connections with posts and platforms that explicitly value readers’ input.  Attendees of this program will be encouraged to offer their own responses beforehand on what has and has not worked for their sites.

Sessions #3 (3:30 – 4:15)My first choice was: 
Presenter: Melanie Hope Greenberg (Mermaid on Parade)
Title: THUMBS UP! PLUMP UP YOUR PLATFORM and MAXIMIZE YOUR MARKETING
Description: This workshop addresses the necessity of creatives to fine tune their marketing skills on all fronts: analog, digital and social networking. Become your own best publicity director (even if you already have one). Learn the points of access to reach out and let the world know about your published book. Online marketing will be covered with a special focus on Social Network Etiquette.








Madonna Davidoff Exhibits at the Yippie Museum NYC



I was invited to participate in a group show in New York City
with other international artists from Mexico, Eritra, Korea and Puerto Rico
The title of the exhibit is "La Bracera: Women and Work"

Below is the Invitation to the exhibit and Opening:


According to Olivia Canlas, who curates the exhibit with Leilani Montes, “it is seldom that we ponder upon the pivotal role women play in keeping the most basic structures of our society operational. It is AF3IRM’s mission to keep a constant focus on the critical nature of women’s work and to advocate for comprehensive equality and justice for women.”

Exhibit hours at the Yippie Museum are from 7-10 pm, April 21-May 5, 2012. Please RSVP to nynj@af3irm.org or call 212-726-2254 for either the opening or closing events, media coverage or to purchase a piece.