About Lisa Desimini
Lisa Desimini graduated from The School of Visual Arts in 1986. Since then, she has written and
illustrated over thirty books for children. Her book My House was a New York Times Best
Illustrated Book of the Year. I Am Running Away Today won an honorable mention at the
Bologna Book Fair in a category judged by children. Love Letters by Arnold Adoff was a Publisher’
s Weekly Best Picture Book of the Year, a BCCB Blue Ribbon Book and a School Library Journal
Best Book of the Year. A video adaptation of Dot the Fire Dog was produced by Weston Woods.
Her work has also graced the covers of many book jackets, including Barbara Kingsolver’s The
Bean Trees, Pigs In Heaven, and Animal Dreams, the John Nichols trilogy, Walk Two Moons by
Sharon Creech and the new Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris.
Lisa is known for exploring new mediums. She has worked with oil paints, acrylic, collage,
photography and sculpture. Sometimes she combines all of these techniques on the computer;
scanning paper, fabric, fresh fruit, her hair, wigs, marbles, her paintings and photos, pipe
cleaners, Popsicle sticks, dish towels, coconuts, and just about anything else she can think of.
Then with a Wacom tablet and Photoshop, she can draw and paint, change size and shape and
color, create shadows…there’s no limit!
Lisa loves to visit schools and universities to talk about her books and techniques. She lives with
her husband Matt Mahurin, who is an artist and filmmaker. They are working on their second
collaboration. My Beautiful Child was their first book. They divide their time between NYC and
Northport.
Visit her website at: www.lisadesimini.com
Lisa Desimini graduated from The School of Visual Arts in 1986. Since then, she has written and
illustrated over thirty books for children. Her book My House was a New York Times Best
Illustrated Book of the Year. I Am Running Away Today won an honorable mention at the
Bologna Book Fair in a category judged by children. Love Letters by Arnold Adoff was a Publisher’
s Weekly Best Picture Book of the Year, a BCCB Blue Ribbon Book and a School Library Journal
Best Book of the Year. A video adaptation of Dot the Fire Dog was produced by Weston Woods.
Her work has also graced the covers of many book jackets, including Barbara Kingsolver’s The
Bean Trees, Pigs In Heaven, and Animal Dreams, the John Nichols trilogy, Walk Two Moons by
Sharon Creech and the new Southern Vampire series by Charlaine Harris.
Lisa is known for exploring new mediums. She has worked with oil paints, acrylic, collage,
photography and sculpture. Sometimes she combines all of these techniques on the computer;
scanning paper, fabric, fresh fruit, her hair, wigs, marbles, her paintings and photos, pipe
cleaners, Popsicle sticks, dish towels, coconuts, and just about anything else she can think of.
Then with a Wacom tablet and Photoshop, she can draw and paint, change size and shape and
color, create shadows…there’s no limit!
Lisa loves to visit schools and universities to talk about her books and techniques. She lives with
her husband Matt Mahurin, who is an artist and filmmaker. They are working on their second
collaboration. My Beautiful Child was their first book. They divide their time between NYC and
Northport.
Visit her website at: www.lisadesimini.com
Lisa Desimini -- November 8, 2008
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Post Activity Recap
Whispers From Beyond opened with yours truly Steve Spinosa reading a chapter from the late
Michael Crichton's enviormental thriller State of Fear, followed by Kate Landis reading Fritz
Lieber's short story The Girl with The Hungry Eyes (which was made into a Night Gallery episode
in 1972). We took a five-minute break, then I introduced Lisa Desimini to the group, who enjoyed
speaking to us about her work. Reading and Drawing have both been her lifelong passions
since childhood. She went to the same school of arts as OUR Mike Piazza (3 years behind him)
then began shopping her portfolio of drawings to various publishers (some said she should do
magazines, and some said she should do book covers, but SHE wanted to do both). Her artwork
was first published in the New Yorker, then she eventually moved on to book covers. She has
enjoyed reading the Sookie Stackhouse vampire series, and said she was looking for more
series to read, because they're so addictive...lol. Immediately group members responded with
enough reading suggestions to set her up thru 2009! She explained that she does most of her
artwork on the computer, creating backgrounds & scanning in images, then sending the works
as JPG images via email. Publishers also email her titles of books that her work would be
perfect for, then she asks for the manuscripts via email. She says that the best thing about her
profession is that she can stay in her pajamas all day, either reading the manuscripts in bed or
creating the covers on the computer. And since her husband is also a free-lance artist, he
understands when she needs to be alone to do her work. Plenty of questions were asked and we
wrapped up by about 9:30 giving her plenty of time to sign books for folks before taking the train
home. The evening continued at the Stateline Diner for most of our group. Join us next month for
our 3rd annual Holiday Party featuring our Paranormal Panel starring Sandy Schlosser & The NJ
Devil Hunters!!! (Steve)
The SFSNNJ met at the Ramsey Borders (at the store manager's request) for Whispers From
Beyond and Face The Fiction. Our guest speaker, in our attempt to keep things interesting and
everchanging, was artist, illustrator, and author Lisa Desimini. Lisa is the artist responsible for
those amazing covers on Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire books -- among many other
covers. Visit her website at www.lisadesmini.com.
For me, my night started at the Mahwah train station where I picked up our guest. In the
approximately 3 minute drive from there to the store, Lisa and I talked about her very intriguing
style as an artist. We discovered we were both huge fans of Ms Harris' Sookie books and I also
found out Lisa knows SFSNNJ friend and former guest (twice if you count that she was on a panel
in October 2007 and then came back for Suspense Central to discuss her book Hell's Belles with
us), author Jackie Kessler. When we got to the store, Lisa had about 20 minutes or so to
decompress from her train ride and get settled in to talk to us about her work with Charlaine
Harris, Cynthia Rylant, Arnold Adoff, J. Patrick Lewis and many others.
I commented in the car how her art often looks like collages made out of felt, cut up paper, all
kids of things and seemed to have a 3 dimensional quality to it. Lisa described her process of
scanning all kinds of things, paper, fabric, her own hair, etc into the computer for use in her
artwork. She then uses a Wacom tablet to create her art on the computer. She also loves painting
with oil paints, something she and Mike P (a fellow graduate of the School of Visual Arts) agree
on!
As Steve mentioned in his recap, Lisa told us about how she became the artist she is today. You
will see a little bit of that in the YouTube video as soon as I download it from my camera!
I special ordered a children's book written and illustrated by Lisa, which she very obligingly read
to us, called Trick Or Treat, Smell My Feet!
After we exhausted her with our questions, we gave her suggestions for books to read, AND she
signed book covers for us (she also signed my copy of Trick Or Treat, Smell My Feet! for me),
we disbanded so I could take her to the train. Unfortunately, we were enjoying our conversation in
the car so much that by the time Lisa got up to the platform, the train was already pulling away!
Not a problem since I had planned to take her back into NYC since I didn't know how the train
schedule ran on Saturday nights from Ramsey.
Please note next month's Face The Fiction is also our 3rd Annual Holiday Party with the
Paranormal Panel (as Steve noted), but our location has been moved to The Lutheran Church of
the Redeemer in Ramsey, NJ. Tell all your friends! (Jo)
Whispers From Beyond opened with yours truly Steve Spinosa reading a chapter from the late
Michael Crichton's enviormental thriller State of Fear, followed by Kate Landis reading Fritz
Lieber's short story The Girl with The Hungry Eyes (which was made into a Night Gallery episode
in 1972). We took a five-minute break, then I introduced Lisa Desimini to the group, who enjoyed
speaking to us about her work. Reading and Drawing have both been her lifelong passions
since childhood. She went to the same school of arts as OUR Mike Piazza (3 years behind him)
then began shopping her portfolio of drawings to various publishers (some said she should do
magazines, and some said she should do book covers, but SHE wanted to do both). Her artwork
was first published in the New Yorker, then she eventually moved on to book covers. She has
enjoyed reading the Sookie Stackhouse vampire series, and said she was looking for more
series to read, because they're so addictive...lol. Immediately group members responded with
enough reading suggestions to set her up thru 2009! She explained that she does most of her
artwork on the computer, creating backgrounds & scanning in images, then sending the works
as JPG images via email. Publishers also email her titles of books that her work would be
perfect for, then she asks for the manuscripts via email. She says that the best thing about her
profession is that she can stay in her pajamas all day, either reading the manuscripts in bed or
creating the covers on the computer. And since her husband is also a free-lance artist, he
understands when she needs to be alone to do her work. Plenty of questions were asked and we
wrapped up by about 9:30 giving her plenty of time to sign books for folks before taking the train
home. The evening continued at the Stateline Diner for most of our group. Join us next month for
our 3rd annual Holiday Party featuring our Paranormal Panel starring Sandy Schlosser & The NJ
Devil Hunters!!! (Steve)
The SFSNNJ met at the Ramsey Borders (at the store manager's request) for Whispers From
Beyond and Face The Fiction. Our guest speaker, in our attempt to keep things interesting and
everchanging, was artist, illustrator, and author Lisa Desimini. Lisa is the artist responsible for
those amazing covers on Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire books -- among many other
covers. Visit her website at www.lisadesmini.com.
For me, my night started at the Mahwah train station where I picked up our guest. In the
approximately 3 minute drive from there to the store, Lisa and I talked about her very intriguing
style as an artist. We discovered we were both huge fans of Ms Harris' Sookie books and I also
found out Lisa knows SFSNNJ friend and former guest (twice if you count that she was on a panel
in October 2007 and then came back for Suspense Central to discuss her book Hell's Belles with
us), author Jackie Kessler. When we got to the store, Lisa had about 20 minutes or so to
decompress from her train ride and get settled in to talk to us about her work with Charlaine
Harris, Cynthia Rylant, Arnold Adoff, J. Patrick Lewis and many others.
I commented in the car how her art often looks like collages made out of felt, cut up paper, all
kids of things and seemed to have a 3 dimensional quality to it. Lisa described her process of
scanning all kinds of things, paper, fabric, her own hair, etc into the computer for use in her
artwork. She then uses a Wacom tablet to create her art on the computer. She also loves painting
with oil paints, something she and Mike P (a fellow graduate of the School of Visual Arts) agree
on!
As Steve mentioned in his recap, Lisa told us about how she became the artist she is today. You
will see a little bit of that in the YouTube video as soon as I download it from my camera!
I special ordered a children's book written and illustrated by Lisa, which she very obligingly read
to us, called Trick Or Treat, Smell My Feet!
After we exhausted her with our questions, we gave her suggestions for books to read, AND she
signed book covers for us (she also signed my copy of Trick Or Treat, Smell My Feet! for me),
we disbanded so I could take her to the train. Unfortunately, we were enjoying our conversation in
the car so much that by the time Lisa got up to the platform, the train was already pulling away!
Not a problem since I had planned to take her back into NYC since I didn't know how the train
schedule ran on Saturday nights from Ramsey.
Please note next month's Face The Fiction is also our 3rd Annual Holiday Party with the
Paranormal Panel (as Steve noted), but our location has been moved to The Lutheran Church of
the Redeemer in Ramsey, NJ. Tell all your friends! (Jo)
Lisa Desimini talks to the SFSNNJ at Borders Books
Lisa Desimini answers our questions
Storytime with Lisa Desimini