WILLIAM PENE DU BOIS

Wiliam Pene Du Bois, an American author and illustrator, was born on May 19, 1916, into a family that had been producing visual artists for generations. Though I have not now been able to locate the source of this quote, I did read once a remark he made about this unusual family propensity. He said that if a young DuBois showed the slightest inclination to deviate from the ancestral profession of artist, that person was immediately bundled off to art school, thus (hopefully) nipping all wayward aspirations in the bud.

Du Bois's style of illustration was unique, distinctive, and immediately recognizable. He was educated primarily in France, and that surely influenced his work, giving it a European---or at least a non-American---flair.

His writing was equally inimitable, and he received the Newberry Medal for "The Twenty-One Balloons". (He also received two Caldecott Honors for his illustrations.)

His imagination was without boundaries; today some commentators call his work "science fiction"..a sort of Jules Verne for the younger set.

He loved his koala bears,

but humans and animals of all kinds

populate his books. 

Many of his titles are still in print---and for good reason! I encourage you to re-aquaint yourself with this artist's charming and stimulating work.

http://www.bookrags.com/biography/william-sherman-pene-du-bois-dlb/

http://www.nytimes.com/1993/02/07/nyregion/william-p-du-bois-is-dead-at-76-author-and-illustrator-for-children.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Pène_du_Bois

RAGNAR NAESS OPEN STUDIO

If you are in the New York City area, 

visit potter Ragnar Naess's open studio

May 16 and 17 

107 Hall Street, Brooklyn, NY.

May 16 and 17, noon to 6 p.m.

718-636-8608

Ragnar Naess <ragnae@earthlink.net>

POSTERS OF THE MONTH

My free poster for the month of May is now available at my website: http://www.wendy-watson.com. When I first started this project, my intention was to create an original, never-before-seen piece of art for each poster. Then my infamous hiking accident broke my nose and interrupted my life.  By the time I managed to get back to work, I was two months behind schedule on my commissioned work. Alas, the original art for the posters went by the wayside; the posters have been created from already-published work---at least so far. 

My readers have been quite creative in using these posters. Shown above, from the Brooks Memorial Library in Brattleboro, Vermont: the display that the children's librarian created, using my January poster. 

All posters...for the months of January...

...February...

...March...

...and April (as well as May) remain on my website Poster Archive, ready for free downloading. Help yourself!   http://www.wendy-watson.com