Sturbridge artist Lisa J begins new chapter as children's book illustrator

Acclaimed professional illustrator Ralph Masiello was visiting the Saw Dust Coffee House & Dessert Bar in Sturbridge when he was struck by what he said were "these very realistic nice pencil drawings on the wall." He asked the owner of the coffee house who the artist was.

Masiello, who lives in Charlton, subsequently got to meet the artist, Lisa J of Sturbridge, and saw more of her work. "I was thoroughly impressed," Masiello said. However, "I was surprised she hadn't done any book illustrations."

Now she has.

A new chapter

Masiello put Lisa J in touch with prolific and award-winning children's book author Jerry Pallotta of Scituate, for whom Masiello has illustrated several books over the years.

Pallotta brought Lisa J aboard to draw the illustrations for his new chapter book that is expected to be published right at the start of the new year. The book is a sequel to Pallotta's chapter book "Ocean Cousins," and details further childhood adventures that Pallotta has with his huge family of 70 first cousins while growing up on the ocean in Scituate.

"It's finished. It's complete. It was great working with Jerry (Pallotta). He's been doing this a long time," Lisa J said recently.

"She (Lisa J) was wonderful to work with. She had good ideas," said Pallotta.

The chapter book is a potentially exciting new chapter in Lisa J's life.

"I think she's gonna do well. She'll get a lot of attention when that book is published," Masiello said.

'It was hard for all of us to move on from that'

Lisa J had received local recognition as an artist, but in a 2021 interview with the Telegram & Gazette she talked about how she left drawing in 2010 "because I was still dealing with demons that I never properly dealt with as a child, and I had to right many wrongs before returning to the drawing board — so to speak."

There had been "physical/emotional/verbal abuse and it was hard for all of us to move on from that," she said of her mother, brother and herself.

Lisa J is "a name I chose a long time ago, when I was about 14," she said.

"I was still in the midst of dealing with so much in my life, I knew what my last name represented — and I hated the pain attached to that, so I went by Lisa J (J which stands for my middle name Jean named after my mother Nancy Jean). Also, it was and always has been important to me that I know I was self-made, and I did this without anyone else. I never took art classes, only what public school offered, and every class was so easy that I became bored. Lisa J represented just ME, that made me feel good."

She has also previously been a waitress, bartender and a model, transitioning into restaurant management and also writing food reviews.

By 2017 she was ready to come back as an artist.

Putting things in perspective

Since then her work has been seen in installations and gatherings and Lisa J does a lot of private commission work and illustrations for local residents and companies, from wall art to logos.

She married in 2020 and lives in Sturbridge with her husband, her three children, her husband's two children, and "a cat and dog."

It's a happy, teeming household, although Lisa J had some medical issues a few months ago. "I'm fine now. You just never know. Going through all that put things in perspective," she said.

One form of art that Lisa J specializes in is hyperrealism, where the art resembles a high-resolution photograph, except that it isn't a photograph, it was created by the artist and there are certain aspects of the presentation that can spin its own interpretation.

Masiello saw Lisa J's hyperrealism work. "She's very talented. Hyperrealism, that's a skill set that's kind of rare. It takes a great amount of observation," he said.

The illustrations for Pallotta's book are not hyperrealism, but comic art. But Masiello said he knows talent when he sees it.

"I like helping other illustrators out if they don't have a connection. I honestly don't do it very often. I'm very picky, but Lisa has the chops," he said.

Pallotta said Masiello told him, "Hey, I met this really cool illustrator."

Lisa J said Masiello, "discovered me."

'Ocean Cousins'

Pallotta has written more than 90 children's books of different kinds, and visits about 150 schools a year. He said he was looking for a new illustrator for his sequel to "Ocean Cousins."

After introductions and meeting, Lisa J drove to Pallotta's beach house in Scituate where the book takes place when he was a child so she could get an artist's-eye view of the landscape and seascape.

"All the cousins go out on adventures. I got to draw all these great little fun things. Cute little stories of cousins growing up on that beach there. I was able to understand what I was drawing," she said.

A chapter book for children is, as the name suggests, divided into chapters. Pallotta said the new book has 40 chapters of 40 different stories, each of them illustrated, and is about 200 pages.

"I'm hoping to give her a picture book," Pallotta said of working with Lisa J again.

A picture book is a different kind of children's book with no chapters where the words and illustrations weave a story together in about 32 to 64 pages.

"I'm a picture book guy," Pallotta said.

"I know Jerry's very happy with the illustrating (by Lisa J)," Masiello said.

Pallotta said he grew up on the ocean with 14 sets of aunts and uncles and 70 first cousins, so there is plenty to write about for his "Ocean Cousins" chapter books.

The sequel to "Ocean Cousins" was originally planned for publication in September, but the date his now tentatively set for Jan. 1.

Which allows some time to work on the title. One idea was to call the book "Ocean Cousins 2" but now Pallotta said "Meet Me at Belly Button Rock" is in the discussion.

On the beach there is "a big granite rock that has a hole in it so it looks like a belly button rock. That might be the title when it comes out," Pallotta explained.

At schools Pallotta has asked children which title they prefer, "Ocean Cousins 2" or "Meet Me at Big Belly Rock." One needn't really guess which title the children go for.

'It's not an easy business'

The stories can be as short as a page and are about "family, the ocean, stuff like that," Pallotta said. One story recalls the time a rainbow was seen in the fog — people called it a "fogbow." Another remembers when the temperature was about 100 degrees and it started to hail. There's a story about catching lobsters, and "a guy who caught a giant shark."

Lisa J said the project took a long time and Pallotta re-wrote six stories, but she's pleased with the end result.

"I wish Lisa all the luck in the world. It's not an easy business, but it's rewarding in a lot of ways," Masiello said.

Masiello has been a professional illustrator since 1985, and his work has been seen in publications ranging from Golf Digest to the New York Time Book Review. He's also illustrated the covers of about 90 novels.

The first book he illustrated for Pallotta, "The Icky Bug Alphabet Book," sold 2.5 million copies. "I've visited over 3,400 schools," Masiello said.

"Maybe she'll get out and start going to schools," he said of Lisa J. "Lisa's book will be seen by a lot of kids. It's gonna get a lot of exposure."

Lisa J said she's also working on showcasing her hyperrealism and her own book for children.

She's written a story and is illustrating a book where animals carry a message.

"I'm in the process of drawing it, dealing with a lot of things in my personal life. I always wanted to help kids that have gone through trauma," she said.

The animal characters help children "address issues. It has to do with opening up your heart to people you might not be open to opening up your heart to. Opening up your heart and not judging things by what you think they are," she said.

Follow Lisa J on Instagram at: https://www.instagram.com/xx.lisaj.art.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Sturbridge artist Lisa J turns new page as children's book illustrator