314-504-3478
Saint Louis, MO
Young Readers Covers
I enjoy all my work, but I'm particularly excited when called upon to illustrate a Young Readers cover. Also known as Middle-Grade Fiction, the books assigned to me are humorous tales with a wry twist. I've done a number of them for acclaimed author Greg Trine, who...
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Music Art
Scales On a scale of one to ten, my musical knowledge is perhaps two. I play guitar, and sometimes pretty well, but I'm mostly a self-taught amateur who has a decent ear for chords. My only real foray into serious playing is that I like to learn new scales. I learn by...
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Space Whimsy
The Fun Frontier Our granddaughter started Kindergarten last week. One of the first things to ascertain from a five year old is "what they want to be when they grow up". Her career choice is "Space Teacher". The school took a photo of her holding a blackboard...
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Reunion
Happy Days I've been involved with planning a grade school reunion. High school reunions are more common, but in recent years grade school reunions have gained popularity. I won't say what year, but the illustration might get you in the neighborhood. Hint: Go-Go...
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New and Improved?
A New Me All my social media, website, and portfolio sites were branded with a photo of me beset by a green bird (see below). The selfie was taken several years ago, upon which I added the whimsical avian upon my shoulder. Responses were great and it served well. I...
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I’m No Einstein, But . . .
Smart People I read biographies. I'm fascinated by lives, and sometimes imagine myself in the shoes of those I study. That wasn't easy to do with Albert Einstein, whose Walter Isaacson bio I recently finished. I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but had little grasp (to...
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Matilda’s Woes
Work "Sweet is the sleep of the laborer, whether he eats little or much, but the full stomach of the rich will not let him sleep." Ecclesiastes 5:12 This jives with my experience. Saturdays are often designated as my "work around the house day", which means yard work...
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Autumn and Birds and Feet
The Birds I enjoy them. They're quirky, they bop around, yank live bait out of the ground, and they fly. I like almost everything that flies. Wasps, not so much, airplanes, yes! As Summer lingers, along with 90+ temperatures, we are looking forward to autumn. Even as...
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Canine Whimsy
The Dog I recently wrapped up illustrations for a children's book about Santa's dog. It's called Santa's Dog. More about the book when we approach Christmas. You can catch a peek at the cover on my FB page https://www.facebook.com/EdKoehlerIllustrator/. Right now I...
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A Wolf, Goat, and a Cabbage Got into a Boat
Leonardo struggled with Math. So says biographer Walter Isaacson, citing DaVinci's notebook entry doubling 4,096 to get 8,092. I take satisfaction in knowing the great thinker didn't get carrying the one. I recall standing at the blackboard as a befuddled second...
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A League of My Own
I don't recall that our grade school baseball team had a name. Our uniforms were white with red trim, caps, and stockings, emblazoned with St. John's across the chest. I suppose we were simply called St. John's. We were in the CYC league and played other Catholic...
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Oh, Tannenbaum!
Wie treu sind deine Blätter! Even if you don't speak German you may know the song. Roughly translated, that line is "How faithful are your leaves!" A Tannenbaum is a fir, or evergreen tree. This song was a standard in the predominantly German neighborhood in which I...
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Galileo, Galileo!
I'm in an astronomical mood once again. Some time ago, earlier this year, I drew Astronomy Girl, that big-headed kid gazing up at the stars. That was followed by last month's Corn Moon, the big orange moon waking from a daytime sleep to light up the night. Today it's...
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The Element of Surprise
One of the joys of being a children's book illustrator is the frequency with which I get to create whimsical animals. I'm not a nature artist in the traditional sense, so I don't often paint realistic flora and fauna. My animals lean cute, or as I tell my clients, I'm...
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Circle Game
As I continue to play with these simple circles, I'm kind of surprised by what I come up with. All these simply start with a circle. No preliminary sketches, and truth be told, no actual idea. First I drew two circles. I picked the green and blue from my custom color...
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