Quarter page art for a book I illustrated called "Because I Couldn't Stop My Bike", written by Karen Jo Shapiro & publ.d by Charlesbridge. Water color, gouache, 2004.

Character sketch page for Adeline, the mom-hero of the graphic novel I'm working on "Gaijin-American Prisoner of War", written & illus.d by me and publ.d by Disney, April, 2014. The story follows Irish American Adeline and her Japanese/Irish American son Koji as they navigate the bigotry and hate that led to the illegal imprisonment of all Japanese Americans on the U.S. west coast (excluding Japanese Americans on Hawaii. The "powers-that-be" deemed them too many and too valua

ble to the economy to imprison enmass). The story is based upon the real-life story of my great aunt Adeline Conlan Asai and her daughter Mary, both illegally interned at the Manzanar Concentration Camp in California. Mary was the mother at the time of three very young children who were also imprisoned. Big hugs and thanks to my lovely wife Kris for modeling as Adeline. I think she had fun, though, and she sure looks very fine in her 'forties 'do. Pencil, 2012.

Double page final art illustration for "Monster Who Ate My Peas", written by Danny Schnitzlein, illus.d by me and publ.d by Peachtree. What I wanted to achieve in this one is the experience most kid's have had where their parents, or any grown-up for that matter, simply can't see what is so very obvious to a child. Whether it's something very serious like abuse or something very surreal like a pea-eating monster in the living room. What we can see here is that the grown-ups are busy eating and the only person not oblivious to the drooling mountainous behemoth, (besides Ralph the dog who's just turned his back on the ridiculousness of the whole thing), is the hero's sister. She's too busy offering her veggies to the beastie to care much about how nasty he looks. Most kids will tell you that the coolest stuff always happens out of the corner of your eye.  They also know that the world is just a far more complex and weird place than most grown-ups can acknowledge. We're just too busy focusing on the "important" stuff, such as having careers, paying bills or watching "Dancing With the Stars" to notice what's really going on. That's why we spend so much time on Facebook. Give's us a nice, false sense of boundaries and proportion. Silly us! Water color, gouache, 2000. 

This is a preliminary double-page sketch for "Gaijin-American Prisoner of War", a graphic novel written and illus.d by me, to be publ.d by Disney/Hyperion- April, 2014. The book covers the story of Japanese/Irish American Koji and his Irish American mother, Adeline, as they are sent to a prison camp outside of San Francisco during World War 2. This art was part of the package put together back in 2008 and 2009 to sell the idea to a publisher. At that time I was shooting for a 92 page book and sketched about 40 pages of the book.  I went through three different re-draws of this same level prior to Disney winning the bidding war on the project. Woot Disney! Since signing the contract for the book in 2009 I've re-written/re-drawn the book in varying levels of detail 3 more times. In the process, "Gaijin" has become a 148 page book. I am now working toward finishing the final art for a January 2013 deadline. Wish me luck! Pencil, 2009.

A sketch of Granuaile O'Malley, Irish Cheiftainess, and Elizabeth the 1st, Queen of Britain, for "The Pirate Meets the Queen", written and illus.d by me, publ.d by Phylomel/Penguin&Putnam. I did these sketches on two separate sheets of a small sketch book while sitting in on a lecture for instructors at the College for Creative Studies in Detroit. Being of Irish descent and having inherited a fond

ness for the heroic struggle of the "under dog" from my Dad, I tend to favor Granuaile's part in the story of the struggle between their cultures and the meeting of these two great women. Even so, I fully recognize and honor the tremendous energy and genius of both figures. I envisioned Granuaile dressing in a sailor's (or pirate's as the British preferred to call her) garb. She was the daughter of a chieftain, Dubh Dair (Gaelic for Black Oak). In her early teens she took up the family's trades- fishing, shipping and raiding British merchant ships, which they called "maintenance by sea". This all to her mother's disgrace. When her father died and the British over ran the O'Malley coastal holdings, Granuaile took her people to island havens, one in particular called Clare Island and from there continued her efforts to take back what was hers. Eventually, upon the arrest of her son and the need to find protection from other Anglo/Irish sea lords, Granuaile sailed all the way to London to ask the favor of Elizabeth. What a fantastic moment that must've been- the meeting of these two great women. Upon acquiescing to the Crown and making a promise to refrain from further attacks on British shipping (a promise she didn't keep) Granuaile was granted a British title and her son set free. Some take this action by Granuaile grounds to label her a traitor to the cause of Irish nationalism. Perhaps so. But, being an ocean away and hundreds of years apart, I just find her to be one of the most extraordinary historical figures I've ever encountered. Pencil, 1999.

Sketch and final art for the cover of "The Monster Who Ate My Peas", written by Danny Schnitzlein, illus.d by me & publ.d by Peachtree. I recall sketching a less scary monster but the publisher wanted this guy. I followed their direction and kids still dig the big, green, tentacled behemoth. The proof's in the pudding because the book is still on the shelves after 11 years and has won multiple awards including the children's choice picture book award from the kid's of both Indiana and Virginia. Pencil, water color, gouache, 2000.

Did anyone have peas for Thanksgiving meal? Final illustration for page 8 of "The Monster Who Ate My Peas", written by Danny Schnitzlein, illus.d by me, publ.d by Peachtree Publ.. This is the story's hero contemplating various magical incantations for making peas go away- hence the arrival of the veggie eating monster. Water color, gouache, 2000.