THE BLOG
My Take on Valentine’s Day
Deena Riley commented, on this blog, that she wanted to hear my take on Valentines Day. I had no thoughts on Valentines Day until I saw my husbands collection of ties hanging on one hanger. Here is a picture of my husband’s ties. That’s a lot of years worth of ties. That’s a lot of years living with an illustrator. That’s a lot of years putting up with framing on the kitchen table, paintings that leak out of the studio into the family room and an awful lot of, “can you show me how to work this crazy computer”? That’s a lot of ties. Happy Valentine’s Day.
I Flew to New York this Past Week
I flew to New York this past
week for the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators International Conference. I got a great deal on an economy ticket.
I saw a view of the Empire State Building from the rear window of the Bedford Hotel.
I once again, tried to capture Lin’s likeness.
I said hi to Stephen Mooser.
I learned how to say “you rock” in sign language.
I arrived at another time and place with Shaun Tan.
I said hi to Tomie DePaolo and told him I’d admired his books through the years.
I laughed with Meg Rosoff and complemented her on her presentation as we passed on Lexington.
I met my agent.
I sketched random people at the conference.
I met a few old friends and made some new ones.
I listened to the not out of date, not worthless, adventure telling Margret Petersen Haddox.
I marveled how mothers and daughters acquire the same traits and can turn a page of notes at precisely the same moment, with the same motion and finesse.
I tried to take a picture of Mo Willems as he ran back and forth in front of an audience of 999 admirers.
The conference was once again amazing and inspiring. I had a great time in New York and got to get out of the Utah inversion and breath some fresh New York air. Hmmmm.
Engaging the Elusive Illustrator
“Hard to comprehend or define, hard to isolate or identify <a haunting aroma>”
Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary
A haunting aroma of turpennoid, frozen oil paints in a kitchen freezer, dried watercolors, kneaded erasers and pencil shavings; that might be the first thing to assault your senses when searching for the elusive illustrator. You might smell them before you see them. Having been isolated in a studio, the ellusivator may be startled that someone is actually trying to engage them in conversation, so approach the creature slowly. You might want to start with a slight nod of the head. Avoid making eye contact right at first and do no stare at its unkempt appearance. Smile and ask, “So you’re an illustrator?”
The ellusivator may answer, after clearing its throat with a garbled “What?” Speech may be hard to process for those newly out of the studio environment. If approaching a children’s book elusivator, keep your vocabulary on a level they can quickly interpret such as, “I see you remembered to brush your teeth this morning.” If the ellusivator does not run, then you can follow with deeper questions, “Do you use a paint brush to make your illustrations or do you use new fangled soft ware and computers?” “What is your favorite brush?” “May I take a look at your sketch book?” Most children’s book ellusivators are happy to share their sketch books with strangers. Do not be startled if you find yourself within the pages. Just smile and say, “You are very good at capturing likenesses.”
Disengaging the Ellusivator
After engaging the ellusivator you may have a hard time disengaging. You may walk away and find the ellusivator is following you from a distance but if you keep weaving and dodging, the ellusivator should tire and go back to it’s sketch book. You may find it hard to believe but children’s book ellusivators can deliver a great school visit, engaging the little ellusivators that attend your school.
The Multipurpose Coarse Kosher Salt
If I need a bit of Kosher Salt for a recipe, I run up to my studio to grab it from my taburet, taberet, taberete (have you ever tried to spell taboret?). The salt makes a nice rub for some meats. Why is it in my art studio? Because it also makes a very nice texture in some watercolors. Today there is freezing rain outside for the first time ever in Utah, planes running off the runway, cars traveling up and over the car ahead of them, so I ran into my studio to get my trusty Coarse Kosher Salt. I sprinkled it on the skating rink that had formed on my front porch and drive way. It’s still slick out there.
James Gurney asked to see photos of our book cases that held his books, “Color and Light” and “Imaginative Realism”. Here is my photo. His books are in good company: “Drawing With Your Artist’s Brain” by Carl Purcell, “Howard Pyle”, “Painting With Your Artist’s Brain” by Carl Purcell, “Frank Schoonover”, “A Sketchy Past/The Art of Peter de Seve”, “Creative Illustration” by Andrew Loomis, “Emma Jo’s Song” by Faye Gibbons, “Drawn to Life” by Stanchfield, a couple of how to Adobe CS2 books and my dictionary. How do you look up a word in the dictionary when you can’t spell the word in the first place? So there you go James Gurney. His books are great. They are written by an artist, for an artist. He makes things easy for my artist brain to understand and a freezing rain day is the perfect day to (paroose) them. Try looking that up in the dictionary.
The Multipurpose Coarse Kosher Salt
If I need a bit of Kosher Salt for a recipe, I run up to my studio to grab it from my taburet, taberet, taberete (have you ever tried to spell taboret?). The salt makes a nice rub for some meats. Why is it in my art studio? Because it also makes a very nice texture in some watercolors. Today there is freezing rain outside for the first time ever in Utah, planes running off the runway, cars traveling up and over the car ahead of them, so I ran into my studio to get my trusty Coarse Kosher Salt. I sprinkled it on the skating rink that had formed on my front porch and drive way. It’s still slick out there.
James Gurney asked to see photos of our book cases that held his books, “Color and Light” and “Imaginative Realism”. Here is my photo. His books are in good company: “Drawing With Your Artist’s Brain” by Carl Purcell, “Howard Pyle”, “Painting With Your Artist’s Brain” by Carl Purcell, “Frank Schoonover”, “A Sketchy Past/The Art of Peter de Seve”, “Creative Illustration” by Andrew Loomis, “Emma Jo’s Song” by Faye Gibbons, “Drawn to Life” by Stanchfield, a couple of how to Adobe CS2 books and my dictionary. How do you look up a word in the dictionary when you can’t spell the word in the first place? So there you go James Gurney. His books are great. They are written by an artist, for an artist. He makes things easy for my artist brain to understand and a freezing rain day is the perfect day to (paroose) them. Try looking that up in the dictionary.
I Left My Studio and There Were People.
So I left my studio and there were people… at the Dicken’s Festival. It was like being in a little village. There was the lady from New York who designed jewelry and was now working free lance making and designing her own jewelry. There was the man selling sauna’s who use to be in a Christian Quartet who had the gift for conversation. There was the couple from Florida who had a vegetable cart with all sorts of stuffed vegetables. They looked like they were out of Bob Crachit’s England. The lady of the cart had an aversion to being photographed. I grabbed my sketch book and started sketching her discretely. I told her the sketch turned out cute. She was a bit apprehensive. When she saw the sketch she smiled and said, “Alright it’s cute.”
She came over later with a photo of her grandchild on her ipad. Her granddaughter did not have an aversion to the camera. The lady of the cart asked if I would do a sketch of her granddaughter. The man of the cart had shown me a picture of the grandchild earlier and I was happy to sketch her. I took the finished sketch over to the lady of the cart and she was very pleased. She came back over to my booth and bought one of the “Emma Jo’s Song” a picture book written by Faye Gibbons and with my illustrations. She had me autograph it to and for her grand daughter. It’s good to leave the studio and discover people.
If you missed seeing my latest watercolor on canvas at the Dicken’s Festival, it will be hanging at the Local Colors Gallery. The gallery show opening will be this Friday, January 18, from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. The gallery is celebrating its first year at this location in Sugar House. Come help us celebrate.