Changing things & planting seeds

🌱 ISSUE 04. 🐛 MARCH 2024

Hello, my friends both new and old! It’s been a while, and you may not recognize the name this is coming from. That’s part of the reason for my long silence—that, and the hibernation that comes with a flurry of activity!

With all this warmth, it certainly makes sense to be excited about spring. I adore the chill of winter and the sparkle of snow, but my daffodils are up and the hyacinths are raising their heads. We’re all ready! I’ve already started planning my garden, with a fancy spreadsheet full of seed starting dates. We’re building some raised beds and hopefully growing all kinds of flowers and berries and fruit trees. And the equinox is only a few days away! I hope it will be a lovely time for everyone full of friends, family, and lots of light.

I won’t go on too long today. There’s seeds to start and paintings to make, and my arms are full.

🌸 Changes big and small

It turns out the hardest part of changing your name is telling everyone. Back in January, after long years of trying to squish myself into my old name (Jordan! The one you all met me as!), I finally found one that suits me better. I let it settle, took it out for a spin at the big children’s book conference I went to in February, and discovered that I really, really liked the shape of it. It feels like it has space for me, finally. I’m excited to see who Julian is, and what they can become.

So, while Jordan is a wonderful name and served me very well for a long time, please meet:

Hi, y’all. I’m Julian and it’s a pleasure to re-meet you :)

Sidenote: how great is Julian Plum as a children’s book author-and-illustrator name? I feel like the possibilities are endless!

I’ve updated my website and all of my social media, so if you see me posting over on Instagram as @plumjules, that’s me! Thanks for sticking with me through all these changes. Y’all are simply the best.

🎨 The SCBWI Winter Conference

Back in February, I was lucky enough to go to New York City for SCBWI’s Winter Conference. This is an annual thing, and the one in 2023 was my first one ever! It was so much chiller to go for a second time. I brought a new portfolio, debuted my new name, and took some really amazing workshops! As always, I learned a lot, and I’m still trying to synthesize everything. My two biggest takeaways, though, were:

1. To make a career as a creative person, there’s no one magic formula for success. Being stubborn and repeatedly showing up with work is the best way to make things happen. That can be frustrating, but it’s also comforting in an industry where so much seems to operate on “right place, right time” rules! I can be stubborn and show up. I’m great at that!

2. If you’re practicing, you’re improving. Full stop. My portfolio for the 2024 Winter Conference was almost completely different from the one I brought in 2023. I think I only kept 2 illustrations! It was wild how much my work had grown in just a single year, and very heartening. We’re always getting better!

The things I learned from the conference are almost certainly going to trickle into my work and my writing for the rest of the year, so I’ll talk more about the specific workshops I took (with the incomparable Carole Boston Weatherford, who taught us about picture book pacing, and the very funny Steve Sheinkin, about structure and style in nonfiction!) later. Suffice to say, it was an incredible weekend, I love my little picture book community, and I can’t wait to keep putting in the work so I can hopefully come to you all with an announcement in a few months!

🐟✨Some downloadable phone wallpapers🐟✨🐟

That’s right!! The fish piece I was working on back in November (and the poster from December) is one of my new favorites, and I’ve made some little phone wallpapers out of it! Maybe I’m the only person who wants fish wallpaper but maybe you want one too? If you do, they’re all yours!

fish wallpapers!

Hopefully that link works— it’s my first time sharing something like this, so my fingers are crossed!

🧺 Markets and Shows

Winter isn’t really a time when markets happen unless you’re in the winter market up at Triphammer. I chose to take this slow time after the holidays as a chance to make new work but WOW do I miss seeing all your faces in person! I am so, so excited to get back to it with a ton of new work for you all, and an announcement of a show that I’ll be in (ahhhh)!

First up is my first-ever art show! It’s a group thing with a lot of incredible artists.

Symbiosis Show with the Finger Lakes Guild of Natural Science Illustrators
Trumansburg Conservatory of Fine Arts
Opening reception: April 6, 4–6 pm
Show: April 6–May 10

There will also be a sketch with the artists event on April 12 from 2–4 but I’m not yet sure I’ll be able to attend! Still, if you are, there are a lot of incredible artists in this show and I’m sure it’ll be a blast.

There’s a cool market coming up in May that I’ll talk more about in April when we’ve got more info but keep your eyes peeled, because it should be a really good one!

Really excited to see you all again. I’ve got tons of new work to share, including new shiny fish stickers, some springy cards, and more posters!

🪻 In the Garden

The spring equinox is coming up, and I’m already planning my menu for it.

My friends over at Oracle Chocolates, another Ithaca-area market staple, are making some amazing tasty things for Ostara and I can’t wait to pick my basket up. White chocolate rose bunnies? Golden turmeric eggs???

A fellow children’s book illustrator, Jacob Souva, has a lot of great and very helpful thoughts about analog vs. digital art, narrowing your choices, and not letting yourself undo too much.

I’m staring longingly at more flower seeds for my garden…. please tell me I’ve taken on enough.

Because I can’t stop learning things, I’m going to learn to play the fiddle! It’s been fun to poke around this archive of old fiddle tunes.

That’s all from me today, my friends! I hope the equinox treats you well; I hope you’ve been alright in my long absence, and if you’re new here, welcome! I’m excited to see you all again :)