ESSENCE

Out walking recently in this spring weather, I came upon a maple leaf that was lying on the sidewalk. It looked like a soggy bedraggled remnant from the previous fall.

But when I picked it up, I realized it was not a bedraggled and fragile remnant, but a piece of lace as delicate and resilient as a spider's web.

Like this leaf, we are pummeled, blown, washed, thrashed, frozen, and thawed, by time and life, until all extraneous matter is worn away, and only our enduring essence is left.

LEO LIONNI

Leo Lionni...author, illustrator, designer, art director, multi-talented creator...was born in the Netherlands on May 5, 1910, and died October 11, 1999 in Italy. He studied and worked as a painter and in advertising in Italy; then from about 1939 to 1962 he lived in the US, where he worked as a prominent advertising artist and art director.

Ad art for Container Corporation of America

His body of work exhibits an astounding versatility.

Fortune Magazine was one of his biggest clients.

Ad for Olivetti Typewriter

His work was often a startling break from the realistic images... 

Art for Colored Paper ad

...that dominated much of advertising at the time.

It would take a book-length post to cover all of the diversity and extraordinary vision this artist displayed in his work.

It wasn't until Lionni moved back to Italy around 1962 that he turned to the creation of children's books. By this time he had already honed his art to an exceptionally high level...

...and he brought all of that training, skill, and power, undiminished, to this new-to-him field.

Illustration from "Fish Is Fish"

The control, confidence, strength of his illustrations---and the whimsy, freedom, imagination, and child-like accessibility---burst forth from every page of his books.

Illustration from "Frederick"

So simple, so full of color (even in grays and neutrals)---so full of wit, joy, and energy---

Illustration from "It's Mine"

---art of this caliber in children's books is hard to find. A discussion of Lionni's storytelling gifts would fill yet more posts. I hope you will use the links below to find out more about this wonderful artist.

http://todaysinspiration.blogspot.com/2009/09/cover-story-fortune-magazine.html

http://www.printmag.com/daily-heller/designers-who-play-with-colored-paper/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Lionni

http://www.randomhousekids.com/brand/leo-lionni/about-leo-lionni/

PROMISE

Hope is emerging wherever I look.

Buds, springing from bare branches...

...expand gently, floret by floret...

...into full-blown racemes.

Ideas, too, seem to spontaneously bud...

...open up...

...spread wide their petals into the complete and fragrant vision.

Later will come the fruit.