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Tucker’s Spooky Halloween
Appearances
Friday morning – Beachland Elementary School
Friday Afternoon – Oseola Magnet School
Saturday – Kid’s Street in the Festival Marketplace
Website: www.lesliemcguirk.com
Leslie McGuirk founded the design studio of McGuirk’s Quirks, and her lively earth-friendly images have created a marketing phenomenon in Japan, where she is a well-known artist. Her private label line, called “The World of Leslie McGuirk”, was developed in conjunction with the client Takashimaya, a high-end Japanese department store. All of her designs have an animal and environmental themes, which were inspired by her years of working as a global research volunteer for Earthwatch. Leslie has taught dolphins language in Hawaii, measured the effects of global warming in Trinidad and Tobago, and helped preserve a bird sanctuary on the island of Majotica, Spain. Over 800 products featuring these nature based designs have been selling in both Japan and the United States.
She has written and illustrated nine children’s pcture books, for publishers around the world, including Penguin Putnam and Candlewick Press in the USA, Kodansha in Japan, and MacMillan and Walker Books in the UK. The characters from her books have been in development, both in Europe and in the USA, to be made into animation. The Pip The Penguin Series of lift-the-flap board books have been translated into several languages, and are sold in over 60 countries. Snail Boy was published by Candlewick Press and Walker Books in the UK in 2003. There are four books about Tucker, her West Highland White Terrier: Tucker Flips!, Tucker Over The Top, Tucker off His Rocker, Ho Ho Ho Tucker!, and the newest ones, Tucker’s Spooky Halloween and Lucky Tucker. Tucker is currently under contract with Candlewick Press to be made into an animated series.
Leslie McGuirk grew up in Bronxville, New York, and graduated from Sarah Lawrence College, where she studied fiction writing. She did not receive any formal training in art, and her picture books were rejected for thirteen years before finally getting published in Japan. Her experiences with rejection, and her desire to keep her creativity alive, gave her an unusual perspective on the process of having a creative life. Her workshop on this topic is called The Quest for Inspiration, which she has taught to groups such as corporate CEO’s as well as underprivileged school students. Her belief is that we all need to rekindle our personal creativity. If we re-learn how to wake up our sensory selves, she believes our lives wil be richer and more rewarding. Her book based on her workshops is called Baloney Ponchos and Other Recipes for Inspiration.
In Tecate, Mexico, Leslie is a regular guest presenter at the world famous Rancho La Puerta Spa, where her class is a big hit. She also speaks regularly at the Golden Door spa in Escandido, California, and the Red Mountain spa in St. George, Utah. She also taught on a Silver Seas cruise ship traveling around South America.
Her illustrations have been frequently used in the advertising world. Her clients have included Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Proctor and Gamble, Sheraton Hotels and Resorts, Harvard University, and NTT.
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