A New Look

We've given the ol' website a makeover and a good thorough reorganizing. Studiorayyan.com is now solely the home of Omar's work. We felt the old site was a bit cluttered by featuring both our work, so we opted to part ways (but only on the website)! We're hoping with this new design it will be easier to keep it updated with fresh content, plus be able to let our viewing public know which pieces are available for sale. MY site, which is still under construction, is www.motherspoon.com.

Thanks for viewing!

-Sheila

Full Speed Ahead!

WOOT!

Omar's "Full Gallop" watercolor has been accepted into the Society of Illustrators "Annual Exhibition: Illustrators 53,  Uncommissioned Exhibit", and will be subsequently published in the Illustrators 53 Annual book.
From the more than 1,400 entries in this category, only 70 were chosen! So it's quite an honor to have a piece accepted for this.

The show will be held in New York at the Museum of American Illustration at the Society of Illustrators from January 5 to January 22, 2011. An opening reception for the show will be held Fri, Jan 7th.  More info here.

Mail Royale

We got this unusual sack in the mail today. At first, I thought we were getting some mail from Hogwarts! But once we opened it we found out it was Omar's copies of the Brown Fairy Book. Guess we're done with our Christmas shopping early this year!

My Brother

My brother Pete had an accident at home on Monday, and passed away last night. He has left a giant rift in the universe of our family and friends. He leaves behind a wife and two children, whom he adored to no end. His fellow firefighters have set up a fund to help them. 

Peter S. Regan Family Support Fund 

C/O Wayland Local 1978

P.O. Box 5009

Wayland, MA 01778

 Or direct deposits can be made at the Middlesex Savings Bank in the funds name

Any contributions would be greatly appreciated.

-Sheila

Brown Fairy Book

Omar did interior and cover illustrations for the Brown Fairy Book, which is a collection of fairy tales by Andrew Lang. This edition was just released by the Folio Society of London. They are known for their high quality collectible editions, so if any of you out there are book fanatics, this is a great book to add your library!

Boxes for sale

I've just put these fun little boxes up for sale on my Etsy site: http://www.motherspoon.etsy.com.

I've decorated them using pyrograhphy (wood burning), my inspiration being henna designs and also Mexican Day of the Dead motifs.  So go check them out, they're great little boxes for stashing treats, treasures and baubles!

-Sheila

Bronze WIN!

Vincent Villafranca sent us a lump of clay a while back and asked us to sculpt something, so here is my something! I sculpted this little catfish, carefully packed it up and shipped it off to Vince to do his magic. Today in the mail I got this precious little gift in bronze. I just love it!
-Sheila

Gearing up for Gen Con

We're heading off for Gen Con next week so I thought I'd share some of the new works Omar has been working on.

First up: a new oil painting, currently untitled (Any ideas out there? Anyone? Bueller?  *update* - we figured out a title, it is now called "The Favorite"), freshly framed with an antique frame we got from Wendy and Chuck Lang at their fabulous Art Corner frame shop in Salem, MA. They have an amazing selection of frames old and new, you should check them out if you are ever in the Salem area. If you look really close in the background of the photo you can see Omar's pyramid-like Spectrum Awards lined up on the shelf. :)

 Continuing our tour, we've got "Cavalier with an Acorn", painted in watercolor.

 And finishing up, here is what Omar was working on the morning, a scene from Midsummer Night's Dream featuring Bottom and Titania and lots of little fairy friends.

Another Award (possibly)!!

We just found out that Omar has been nominated for an Illie Award. The "Illies" are chosen by the members of the Illustration Exchange and will be presented in November at Illuxcon. This is the first year for this award, and they've really gone all out in the making of the actual award, which is pictured above. It's a bronze piece created and cast by Vincent Villafranca, an amazing sculptor and really nice guy to boot. Omar's nominated painting is "The Caterpillar" shown below...

Chesley Nods!

Omar and I have BOTH been nominated for ASFA's Chesley Awards this year, albeit in different categories (Thankfully! We wouldn't want to have to compete against each other!). Omar is nominated in the Hardback Book Cover category, and I'm in the Unpublished Monochrome category. The awards will be presented at NASFiC in Raleigh, NC in August. So those of you eligible, get out there and vote for us! We want to be the first husband/wife dual Chesley winners!!! How cool would that be?

Out in the real world...

We'll be stepping out of our studio and off our little island to head to our old stomping grounds for a day in Providence, RI. We'll have a booth at the Providence Art Festival this Saturday June 12, so if you're in the area be sure to drop by to say hi and see what sort of goodies we have for sale. For more information, click here. To see a list of fellow artisans who will also be there, click here. Looks to be a great festival. See you there!

Random Art

Here's a little piece I just finished that I've titled "Queen of Hearts".

I was working on this while I was playing catch-up watching past episodes of "Lost" before the grand finale. Anyone notice the influence of the Smoke Monster?

-Sheila

Up For Auction

The MicroVisions auction is now live on eBay!

This is your chance to bid on (and possibly win!)

some amazing art by some of the best illustrators out there.

For more information, click here.

Click here for the auction on eBay.
Opening bids start at $50.00

Auction ends Wednesday, May 26th.

Omar's MicroVision

"Hop-along Galahad" is Omar's contribution to the MicroVisions exhibit put on by the Society of Illustrators. The show opens April 26 and all pieces will be up for auction to benefit the Society's student scholarship fund. Irene Gallo is one of the organizers and you can read her "review" of Omar's painting here.

More info about the exhibit can be found here.

New Book

Available now! Joha Makes a Wish, written by Eric Kimmel and illustrated by Omar, has hit the bookstands! You can purchase a copy online by clicking here.

ALSO: A few of the illustrations from the book will be featured in the Los Angleles, CA Skirball Museum's exhibit Monsters and Miracles:A Journey Through Jewish Picture Books. The show will open April 8 and run through August 1.

There's Gold in Our Spectrum

The Spectrum Annual recently finished the judging for this year's book, and we found out that Omar won a Gold Award in the Book category. His winning painting is for the cover of the upcoming Mistmantle: Urchin and the Rage Tide. You can see a list of all the winners here.

...Where the Sun Don't Shine

We just got back from Boskone, and we're very proud to announce that Omar won NESFA's prestigious and possibly dangerous Skylark Award. As you can see from the photo above, the award features a large and very high quality magnifying glass. And we all know how fun magnifying glasses can be when you play with them in the sunshine. In the second photo, you'll see author Jane Yolen recounting her experience soon after winning the award a few years back. She was thrilled to have won it, so she had put it on her kitchen table where she could show it off and admire it. One morning, as the sun came through the window and illuminated the award, it proceeded to burn a hole in her favorite wool coat draped on a nearby chair. So every year, Jane tells this story to the latest winner, with the advice to "put it where the sun don't shine!"

Thanks NESFA. :)

The Escape

"The Escape", a new watercolor by Omar. Feels appropriate for today, since tomorrow we are making our "escape" to the mainland.

Random Art

 

A new drawing, finished in time for the Boskone art show this upcoming weekend. I've titled this one "the Mermaid's Masque" and it is 11"x14", done entirely in pencil.

-Sheila