e was at Winthrop University!

Did you figure out where I was last week? I had the great honor to travel to Winthrop University in South Carolina to meet and talk to the design/illustration students and faculty there. Winthrop is a medium-sized, public university in the gorgeous little town of Rock Hill, just south of Charlotte, North Carolina. It couldn't have been a better weekend as the dogwoods and azaleas were in full bloom, the sky was a perfect blue, and the weather was warm enough for students and doggies to simply hang out.The campus is absolutely lovely - especially Hardin Garden.The design of the garden is based on the Golden Ratio, so makes a wonderful learning demonstration.I had the great pleasure to have David 'Doc' Brown as my guide. Doc created the illustration program as it is now, based on narrative illustration. His program is a writer/illustrator's DREAM, covering things like fairytales & folktales, heroes & anti-heroes, and sequential illustration. We met several years ago at an SCBWI conference, so were very much of like minds. I got to hang out with several of his classes, including print-making and portrait painting.And I got to see the graduating students' exit show. Here they are posing with Doc around their show's poster. What a great group of talented people! The university rolled out the red carpet for me and I felt so loved there - I met several people I hope will become friends. Truly, it was a truly wonderful visit and I hope to go back. If you're not familiar with Winthrop University, check it out. They're doing some pretty special things there.