CREATING MISS MUFFET

I recently created an experimental piece that was inspired by a character in a colleague's manuscript. I began as usual with one of my "rag doll" figures, roughing in the character's pose, and the physical setting.

My next question was, what does this little Miss Muffet look like? I tried her first as a mouse. That didn't feel satisfying.  

I tried her again as a little humanoid. She immediately came to life for me!

Although I usually create my art using only pencil, pen, inks, paints, and paper, this time I turned to my computer for some of the steps.  Here, I've scanned both Miss Muffet and the original sketch, and then replaced the rag doll figure with the Miss Muffet figure, using Photoshop.

I printed out the sketch, and worked on it further with pencil. The paper I used was an inferior grade of paper, which gave a slightly blurred effect that intrigued me. I often use an inferior paper when experimenting and trying out new ideas. It seems to free me up from any worry about "wasting expensive paper," and it allows me to make as many false turns as I want or need. Inferior paper also often gives unexpected results, as here, which I can later use deliberately in creating a piece.

I scanned and printed out the reworked sketch, and colored it with watercolors. Scanning and printing out the sketch obviously gave me the possibility of easily making several trials, experimenting with different palettes, and even different media, for the color.  Rescanning and printing out on the inferior paper also gave a pleasing blurred effect to the whole piece.

I liked my little Miss Muffet enough to put her on my most recent promotional postcard. Even as I publish this post, she is winging her way across the country to my list of art directors and editors. Bon voyage, Miss Muffet!

WHY WRITE FOR CHILDREN?

Photo of a fan with "Jakob Jakobsen", the Danish edition of my book "Jamie's Story." 

This very young man hasn't yet learned to email, so it's his mother who sent me this photo, and told me how much he loves this book. (And yes, she gave me permission to use it in this post.) Over the years, many adults have told me how much one of my books meant to them as a child. Perhaps this fan will also, one day, do the same. 

Is there any better reward for one's life work than this?

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.

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.

BACK TO THE SOURCE

 So much of my work has been inspired by, based on, drawn from, New England---the New England I grew up in, and also lived in for many years as an adult.

 The landscapes and life-styles...

... the details of the smallest flowers, fruits, and seeds...

...the inhabitants, large and small---all are part of my very core essence.

After many years living in the Southwest, with very few excursions back to New England, it is time for me to return to my roots for an extended visit. And though much has changed---there, and in the world at large---I hope to find that some of the old landscape, some of the old creature friends of my childhood, some of the old life there, exists still. 

New England, here I come!

MEANINGLESS

I keep a small notebook and pencil under my pillow to capture all those brilliant ideas that show up in the middle of the night.

I can pull out the notebook, jot down my inspirations without even opening my eyes or turning on a light, tuck the notebook back under my pillow, and resume sleeping with hardly a moment's interruption. In the morning I open the notebook, remove the inscribed pages (which surely will be filled with gems of insight), and file them in the appropriate places.

The other morning when I opened the notebook to see what my midnight unconsciousness had produced, this was the page that awaited me. Yes...one word: 

"cucumbers" 

I had no idea what I was thinking...what the word meant...what the brilliant thought could possibly have been. The appropriate spot in which to file this gem was clear: WASTEBASKET. 

Reminder for the day: Some things really are worthless.

AUCTION! PLUM CREEK CHILDREN'S LITERACY FESTIVAL

I have just donated this piece of art from my book Holly's Christmas Eve ...

...plus a signed copy of the book to go with it...

...to the Plum Creek Children's Literacy Festival's online benefit auction of original art. Go to the site https://www.32auctions.com/plumcreek2016 
and prepare to salivate over all the wonderful original art from children's books that will be available. This is your chance to acquire beautiful art at often very reasonable prices, while helping to promote children's literacy. The auction begins September 1. I'll be bidding---hope you will too!

SOMETHING'S MISSING

This little Oaxacan goat family recently arrived in my mailbox---I ordered them from the National Museum of Mexican Art, in Chicago. My parents had a dairy goat herd when I was a child, and I have a special fondness for those animals, so when I heard of this work of art, I could not resist. But when I unwrapped the figures and set them up...something was missing. I didn't know what.

Adding to the mystery was a separate little parcel containing..."Of course! Tails!" I thought. I'm familiar with these wooden Mexican folk art creatures; many figures have detachable tails. 

Except these goats were sitting down---there was no room for a tail. Nor a place to attach the tails. And besides, this is not what goat tails look like. "The museum made a mistake," I decided, and I wrapped up the tails and mailed them back. A few days later I received a phone call from the Museum. "We did not make a mistake," said the Museum."Those are not tails; they are..."

..."horns!" And suddenly, something was no longer missing. Just so, in creating a piece of art, there is that one small element or addition that---sparked by some stray comment or idea---can make all the difference.

DAD'S STUDIO - PRINTER'S LOUPE

One of the objects I kept when dismantling my Dad's studio was this brass printer's loupe, made in Germany. I quote here Wikipedia's description, for those who may not be familiar with this device:
"A loupe (pronounced 'loop') is a simple, small magnification device used to see small details more closely. Unlike a magnifying glass, a loupe does not have an attached handle, and its focusing lens(es) are contained in an opaque cylinder or cone, or fold into an enclosing housing that protects the lens when not in use. Loupes are also called hand lenses."

A printer's loupe is usually small---this one, when folded up, is about the size of a large postage stamp.

Opened, it holds the lens at the correct distance for focusing on a detail of a printed page. This built-in positioning eliminates having to fuss with and adjust the position of the lens while also trying to inspect the printed image.

Place the opened loupe on the printed area, and by then looking through the top of it...

...it is possible to see the dot pattern that makes up an offset reproduction (the usual technique by which most images are reproduced today), as well as other details. Being able to look at the printed area so closely helps with color correction, and with improving the overall reproduction.

When finished, fold it up and tuck it away for the next time.This loupe probably originally had a fitted leather case in which to store it--now lost. Loupes are still being made, and some of them are more complex than this one. But the modern loupes are plastic, and aren't always designed to fold up. I love the heavy solid feel of this little brass version, its collapsibility, and the fact that it did its job in Dad's studio for over 70 years.

LISTEN, LOOK

I was recently contacted by Ali Seidabadi, an Iranian editor and author. Seidabadi is promoting a series of picture books that are being published by Tiny Owl, a British publishing house; he would like to bring them to the attention of an American audience. The books will be translations of picture books from around the world, and Seidabadi is involved with a series of Iranian books.

Today I received one of the books from the Iranian series: "A Rainbow In My Pocket", by Ali Seidabadi, illustrated by Hada Haddadi. Author and illustrator are both highly respected in Iran.

When I read the words other people have written, or look at the pictures they have made, I feel as though my soul is reaching out and clasping hands with their soul. The words and pictures in this book are different from what I usually see and hear in an American picture book. But I also recognize the commonalities, and feel an understanding of Iranian culture that I didn't have before. The pages are intriguing...free... playful...resonating with the creative love and humanity that children's book writers and artists all over the world pour into their works.

It's not just professional creators who can speak to us in this way. Everyone has something of themselves to tell or to show, whoever he is, wherever she comes from. Everyone wants to be heard and seen. Today, let's listen to someone's story or look at someone's picture, in whatever medium it comes. It might be from an Iranian on the other side of the globe; or from a stranger a few states away; or from the person sitting next to us. Listen. Look. Reach across the divide. Help bring us closer together.

http://tinyowl.co.uk/ali-seidabadi/
https://www.facebook.com/ali.seidabadi
http://tinyowl.co.uk

JULY 4, 2016

Boiled potatoes, still hot...with skins, or without...

...diced celery...

...lemon juice...

...olive oil...

...mayonnaise...

...all together give you

*Fourth of July Potato Salad*

YUM!

DAD'S STUDIO - BRONZE POWDER

When I dismantled my Dad's studio earlier this year, I kept a few objects that had special meaning for me. One of them was this little tin of bronze powder. As a special treat for me when I was a small child, Dad would tip out some of this powder onto a china saucer, add banana oil to the proper consistency---and like magic, there was gold paint, ready for me to brush on as the final embellishment to an image I had created.

The tin is still half full...

...and the powder is still as sparkling and magical as it was when I was five years old. Just like the impact Dad still has, even after his death, on my life as an artist.