Illustration Friday: Round

It's about time I posted something new, isn't it? Gosh, the past couple of weeks somehow flew by with work and assorted holiday comings and goings—it's rejuvenating to have a day to draw, and to catch up on my blog visits. It's been almost a year since I started my blog, and when I don't have time to tend to it, I miss all of you!

My entry for the topic "round" on Illustration Friday is an homage, of sorts, to The Polar Express, a holiday favorite of mine. In fact, I love it so much that, on my forays into antique shops and websites, I'm often on the lookout for antique sleigh bells like the ones in the book. There are some gorgeous ones, but they're usually  brass, not the silvery (nickel?) ones in the story. A couple of years ago, after my father-in-law passed away, we were sorting through some things in his home and I came across this single, old sleigh bell. Right away, it reminded me of the one that Santa gives the boy at the end of the book. So, with apologies to Chris Van Allsburg, here's my sleigh bell—for all of us who truly believe.