This is a new business card I painted and designed for Kansas-based author and good friend, Julie Tollefson. In addition to her own work, Julie also writes for Lawrence Magazine and is a phenomenal copy editor who has saved me from grammatical embarrassment on countless occasions!

I was asked back again this year to do the graphic design for the Second Annual River City Reading Festival, an annual event that promotes reading to the Lawrence and surrounding communities. I was very excited to get to work with Lawrence-based artist/illustrator Lora Jost on a poster and series of bookmarks that advertised the event. The image above is the poster that Lora and I came up with for the event that happened last weekend.

I was able to be in possession of Lora’s original artwork for a couple of days to have it scanned and you wouldn’t believe how intricate the line work is.

The piece was created on scratchboard and it has a similar quality to a woodblock print. Lora’s work is really beautiful and I encourage you to check back here for a studio tour with Lora happening later this Fall!

These photos are from the event that took place at the Lawrence Public Library. The keynote speaker was Thomas Frank, author of What’s the Matter with Kansas? and The Wrecking Crew: How Conservatives Rule.

This is Bobbie Hinman, the author of The Knot Fairy. I loved the wings.

There were a bunch of storybook characters on hand and I haven’t seen that kind of excitement in kids for a long time!

There was also some art projects involving found materials.

There were a number of musicians on hand throughout the day to provide music.

Singer/songwriter Melanie Dill was there to perform some of her fun children’s music.

Another kids activity was to create your own book snake. I don’t know what a book snake is, but it was VERY popular!

Keep your eyes open for next year’s festival!

In his words:

“The photographs culminate 40 years of my work in the topic of Chinese migration and the emergence of China in an unprecedented pace that shocked the world. I question the process and the cost of how these monumental and irreversible changes affect the faces of the ordinary common folk of this monstrous and diverse nation.”

If you’re interested in seeing more of his work, you can visit his website at www.pokchilau.com where you’ll find a nice gallery of his photographs and you can order his book Flow China as well as his first book Dreams of the Golden Mountain. Pok Chi’s images are fascinating, shocking, humorous, haunting and beautiful and his books are a great addition to any collection. As an added bonus, proceeds from the sales of his books will used for scholarships and charity!