Friday, July 27, 4-7pm

Dennis McGregor is an illustrator, designer, songwriter and musician. He’s also a children’s author, and You Stole My Name, his second book, landed in Sisters a couple of weeks ago, after many months of anticipation. It’s now available at Paulina Springs Books.

Sisters Gallery and Frame Shop, in conjunction with Paulina Springs Books, is hosting an official Book Release Party during the July 27 Fourth Friday Art Stroll, from 4 to 7pm.

McGregor will be signing books at the book store, and prints at the gallery. They are adjacent to each other at 252 W. Hood Ave. in Sisters.

You Stole My Name is a children’s coffee-table book, but adults seem to be just as crazy about it. The book began innocently enough a few years ago, when McGregor painted a turtle climbing on a fence. Just for the heck of it, he put a bird on said fence, and realized that the bird was a turtle dove. “How did a bird that looks nothing like a turtle get named after one?” he wondered.

That led to the greater question about what other members of the animal kingdom shared their names – and one painting followed after another. Eventually, McGregor had enough for a book that stars CatFish, RhinocerosBeetle, TurkeyVulture, and the cover duo, BullFrog. Inspired by these unlikely pairings, he wrote verses to accompany the paintings, and eventually titled the whole shebang, You Stole My Name.

“Sales are booming,” said McGregor. “I fulfilled the Kickstarter orders for nearly 800 books, and people are loving it! If you look at my Facebook page, I am showing a strange phenomenon where people are photographing their kids with the book, and sending me the photos,” he said, rushing out the door to play a gig at a local organic farm. “I’m loving it!”

“We are so excited to get the book,” said Cynthia Claridge, co-owner of the bookstore. “People visit the gallery, see the paintings, and come next door for the book,” she said. “In fact, I’ve purchased five copies – one for each of my own grandchildren.”

You can see and purchase original paintings, prints and note cards at Sisters Gallery and Frame Shop, and books at Paulina Springs Books. Art and music are also available at dennismcgregor.com. As for the man himself, he continues to seek a perfect balance between music, painting, and working the land he owns near Sisters.

– Helen Schmidling