Still Revising...

Things are still coming together...been going over some of the book's poems and fine tuning some details, finding more things that need to change.

Of course, after I posted this, I made more changes.

I've been re-writing and revising this poem for well over a year, and it just made me cry, so that probably means it's done. #poetry #poems #books #childrensbooks #kidlit #cheeseforest

A photo posted by Ken A. Priebe (@ken.a.priebe) on Feb 18, 2016 at 6:05pm PST

Inspiration Monday: The Tomato Collection

I decided the time was nigh for another "Inspiration Monday" post highlighting another artist who's given me inspiration for the work I'm doing.

My mom teaches in a school district close to my home town of Grosse Pointe, Michigan, and a few years ago a writer/performer named Kevin Kammeraad had visited her school. Soon afterwards as a gift we received this book in the mail, signed by Kevin for my daughter, called The Tomato Collection, a quirky collection of poetry, photos and artwork.

I was instantly intrigued by this book, and have enjoyed reading it with the kids. It's delightfully creative, random, silly and poignant from page to page. It also sparked something inside me, and made me think, hmmm, it might be fun to start writing poems again. Before too long it also made me think, hmmm, maybe I could put them together into a book...

A few years and a pile of full sketchbooks later, it's still coming together, thanks to that little spark of inspiration.

This excellent video was just posted recently about Kevin Kammeraad and his work, and I love it. I love the philosophy behind what he does, and it gives me loads of encouragement. I hope it does for you too.



More at www.kevinkammeraad.com

Other "Inspiration Monday" posts: Shel Silverstein - Mercer Mayer - Dr. Seuss - Maurice Sendak - The Decemberists and Other Musical Storytellers - Aaron Becker - Rooftops in Paris and London

A New Poem for 2016

Happy New Year from the Gnomes of the Cheese Forest!

I made some good progress on the book (which is actually two books now) over the Christmas holidays. Mostly I spent some time organizing the second volume and which poems will be a part of it, including a brand new one which has been a concept in my noggin for a long time and finally flowed out onto paper.

Enjoy this little epic, which will likely be included in the second volume...


THE HOUSE ON THE ROCK (second-ish/third-ish draft)

When all’s said and done, at the end of the day,
I have a strange feeling that God wants to play,
So put all your masks and your mirrors away,
And we’ll meet at the House on the Rock.

We’ll garden for stories, we’ll dig up old books,
We’ll bring in the criminals, captains and cooks,
And dress in a way that brings quizzical looks
From the bishops who don’t understand.

We’ll steal every treasure, collect to our pleasure,
And load it all up in a ship of great measure,
And sail ‘cross the wide open sea at our leisure,
Until we arrive to find land.

For here there be monsters and bumps in the night,
So come with us now, let us flee and take flight,
And turn all the dirges and darkness to light,
And meet at the House on the Rock.

For ‘round any corner, much to our surprise
A merry-go-round of fantastical size,
Each beast and behemoth a sight for sore eyes,
Could be waiting for us to ride it.

Then on to the market to sell off our wares,
Our cotton and candies, our sugars and squares,
Contraptions designed by intelligent bears
With a clockwork monkey inside it.

We’ll walk where the coffee flows sticky and strong,
And every freak finds a place to belong,
If you need to find me, I’m lost in a song,
But we’ll meet at the House on the Rock.

Through terrible tunnels we’ll carefully tread,
And duck down to dodge what may hang overhead,
What gallant explorers, still living or dead,
May have travelled these caverns before us?

And could there be places that no one has seen,
Untapped and untethered in spaces between?
If we found one, would every print magazine
Come and knock on our door to implore us?

Let’s find out together, we’ll draw our own map,
We’ll note every danger and each booby trap,
And scout out the safe spots to have a quick nap
On our way to the House on the Rock.

A city of doll houses winds through the street,
With cobblestone labyrinths under our feet,
But know there are those who are less than discreet
Who lurk in each crevice and crack.

So keep your watch wound, take note of each sound,
Be wary of each alley cat and each hound,
But fear not, for if you get all turned around,
Take comfort, for I got your back.

For here’s where the jester’s tales sputter and spin,
The feast at the fire‘s about to begin,
So fill up your mug, wipe your feet and come in,
And we’ll stay at the House on the Rock.

Poem: The Parliament of Owls

An overdue update to the blog...here's a reveal of the poem that goes with this illustration (which was published in The Story Warren Reader: Volume 2)

           THE PARLIAMENT OF OWLS

The Parliament of Owls will now come to order...
Something must be done about this trouble at the border.

Now I'm not one to meddle in the business of ferrets,
Or disturb the operations of the Company of Parrots,
But as the noted chairman of this most distinguished board,
I have to say, murder of crows should never be ignored!

This Mob of Kangaroos has gotten way too out of hand,
And that Pack of Wolves is slowly taking over our whole land.
If what they teach in that School of Fish does not change for the better,
I think we'll have to write to them a reprimanding letter...

For if the Colony of Rats cannot protect their plants,
I fear we'll have to call upon our own Army of Ants.
It’s a shame in my opinion, and I really must confess
It’s the pride of lions that contributes to this awful mess.

But now it's getting late my friends, the dawn is drawing near,
So the Congress of Baboons will have to take it all from here.

Directions...

It's the week for another blog update. I just got back from my last work trip for the year to Mexico City, where I got to soak up some inspiration and meet some great people. Work in general has been crazy-busy with many long hours put in, plus family life and other things to do — but the book is always there, on the back burner of my brain.

Earlier this year, I had been telling friends that the book might be ready for release around this time, but obviously the book said "I'm not ready" and many important changes were needed. It's in a bit of a holding pattern at the moment, as I've cast a few nets out into the publishing world and waiting to see if anything catches. Once I know more about how this pans out, let's just say a release time for the book will become clearer.

In the meantime, I do have other projects I'm thinking about and playing with. Part of the process behind the Gnomes book was cutting out several poems that didn't fit into the thematic flow it's taken on, so these "cut-outs" are being formulated into a second volume. My working title, at this point, is There Would Be Owls Everywhere.

I also have ideas for some short stories and sketches which might come together into another book, currently in mind as a working title of The Ice Cream Truck at Midnight. This book concept is inspired in part by the insanely-brilliant work of Shaun Tan, particularly his masterpiece Tales from Outer Suburbia. This image of the water buffalo is from that book, which I bought a used copy from a friend who was having a moving sale, and it opened up a vista to me in terms of the style of storytelling and the kind of work I'd like to do.

On top of all this, I have a rough outline for a fantasy novel, based on a draft I wrote 16 years ago. Some of the characters in Gnomes of the Cheese Forest and Other Poems are actually from this story. Every now and then I jot down some ideas for fleshing this project out.

So this is what's on my mind, when I have moments to spare. It's like a water buffalo pointing the way to directions on an invisible map. I only know there is one direction he's pointing me to, but I won't know how to trace the rest of the journey until I've arrived.

Happy Toast

Here's a bonus poem which I revealed on Instagram: Enjoy some HAPPY TOAST!

Happy Toast! #poetry #illustration #books #happy #breakfast

A photo posted by Ken A. Priebe (@ken.a.priebe) on Sep 22, 2015 at 7:40am PDT

Progress on the actual book has slowed down a bit due to crazy-busy-ness at work which has included some travel of late, recently to Seattle and soon to Mexico City.  I am, however, participating in #Inktober for the first time, creating a new ink drawing everyday just for fun, and to keep me drawing & experimenting with new techniques. I'm hoping some new ideas for future poems or books may come out of it. Follow me on Instagram or Twitter to see what I'm posting.

Instagram Happenings

I've recently started posting some fun stuff for the book on Instagram, including some of my "poetry postcards" and behind-the-scenes drawings. Some of them are embedded here, and you can FOLLOW ME to see more, along with other random images of birds, children's books, and weird things.

Back at it. #books #illustration #childrensbooks #cheeseforest #drawing #art #kidlit

A video posted by Ken A. Priebe (@ken.a.priebe) on Sep 23, 2015 at 9:32pm PDT

Rooftops... #drawing #illustration #books #cheeseforest

A video posted by Ken A. Priebe (@ken.a.priebe) on Sep 26, 2015 at 10:03am PDT

Still at it... #illustration #drawing #cheeseforest #books

A photo posted by Ken A. Priebe (@ken.a.priebe) on Sep 26, 2015 at 7:35pm PDT 

The work you see me doing here are new illustrations for The Boy Who Looked Up, which I decided needed a re-vamp to the layout. At this point, it's the story that ties up the book near the end, hence the re-vamp. I've been thinking about these drawings for a long while and finally found time to work on them in the past week or so.

As far as the whole process for the book goes, it's still been going through a few more changes as of late, and I've also been thinking through my publishing options and making some plans around that. With school starting, there have also been several days of "leaving it alone" both for practical and sanity reasons.

Looking ahead, I now feel that I have enough material from the poems & drawings which I cut out to warrant a second volume after this one, so I'm starting to work on this too. So far I have a working title and an assemblage of which poems would be included, plus ideas for new ones. More soon...