Year of the Crocodile

Well I never!

I've had a fantastic surprise in my inbox ... the Society of Illustrators has selected four of my images for Illustrators 56. The artwork (from Crocodile Shoes, my unpublished book) will be on show at the Museum of American illustration in New York City starting in early January. I hope to be able to see it in person when I go visit (my first trip back to NY in over a decade—talk about timing!). There will also be a lavishly printed annual, coming out later in the year. More on that soon.

Thank you to the Society of Illustrators, for giving me such a good reason to celebrate on this damp grey weekday (Champagne, and lots of it. You are welcome to join me!!). And congratulations to the other artists selected for this show... a very inspiring lineup indeed.

OK, it's time to get back to work now. Nose to grindstone, shoulder to wheel, eyes front! But you, lovely reader, may want to look at these:

•Charlotte Zolotow (children's author and editor who died a few days ago): remembered here and here

•Masako Kubo making a print (1:35 video) 

•Parov Stelar dancin' up a storm. More happy energy: this is what I'm doing today, between sketching and sipping bubbly!

Brussels+Montreuil road trip...

Just a quick reminder that Sàrmede's "Immagini della fantasia" exhibit will now be on display in Brussels.  At the European Parliament!  The opening takes place tonight at 18:00, at the ASP area on the third floor (balcony side).  Definitely worth a peek, if you're in the neighbourhood... I wish I could be there too! (more details, here).

And if you still need something more to do— well, you could always drop in to Montreuil: the Salon du Livre Jeunesse begins tomorrow morning, 9:00 sharp! 

Have fun!!

PS.  The beautiful poster/invitation for Immagini della fantasia is by Octavia Monaco

Immagini della fantasia

Le immagini della fantasia—the 29th annual exhibit of children's book illustration—is now in full swing.  I am happy to say that I was able to go to Sàrmede to attend the opening.



The guest of honour this year is Linda Wolfsgruber —who is also the creator of the poster above. Indeed,  there was a mini-retrospective of her work within the overall exhibition, from her earliest picture books to her more recent prints. It was a real treat to see the originals, they are stunning and luminous.

Altogether, over 300 images are on display, by illustrators from all over the world.  Some of the illustrations can be seen here and here.  The theme this year, as you can see, is Tales from India.



These 300+ images also had work from students and newcomers to the world of children's books, including me.  My illustration (mentioned previously) can be seen in the photo below.  Click here for a closer look at it and other work from newcomers.



All in all, a very good crowd turned out to attend not only the opening but a whole weekend of workshops, entertainments, encounters (including a very thought-provoking panel discussion with half a dozen of the artists), and other events.

Some of the illustrators who were able to make it to the opening weekend included: Simone Rea, Guido Scarabottolo, AnnaLaura Cantone, Alessandra Vitelli, Gabriele Clima and of course Linda — among many others.  Rock stars! ;-) I was also happy to catch up with friends and class-mates whose work was selected in this exhibit, notably Rossana Bossu, Laura Borras, Olga Tranchini and Francesca Zoboli. Good to see all of you...

The exhibit will be in Sàrmede until 15 January, and after that it goes on tour. The details will be on the website, but in general it goes first to other cities in Italy (Rome, Florence, Naples, Bologna for the book fair) and then all over Europe (Barcelona, Vienna, Paris, Stuttgart...) — and beyond (Florida and Istanbul)!!

Catch it if you can — highly recommended (even if I do say so myself!).

PS.  See here for more pics of the opening, and here for a few more views of Sàrmede.

Summer sketching

Summer is here:  let the sweltering commence!  In my sketchbook (totally ignoring the scorching heat) a giraffe  serenely munches a cool fresh leaf.   Me, on the other hand?  Melting.

Any tips for beating the heat?  Other than Mind Over Matter™??  Now would be the time to send them.

In the meantime, if you have energy to click:

• Le chat du rabbin (aka The Rabbi's Cat), by the wonderful Joann Sfar, has been released in France as a feature-length film— and won the top prize at Annecy!  I hope it gets a worldwide release.

• Do you know the Jacket Museum?

• And lastly:  Bernard Lodge, printmaker from Brighton.

Stay cool, Reader.  

Carnevale

It's Mardi Gras, and all over the world — Rio, Venice, Prague, Cologne and above all New Orleans — the festivities are under way. In these dreary late winter months, a reckless and jubilant celebration is just what is called for.  Bottom line, Spring is right around the corner—and not a moment too soon! Can I get an amen?!

Also:

• If you are into this kind of thing, you might think about making a mask for the occasion.  Mr. Spoqui (already mentioned here) is having another competition. Recycled masks, this time. You've got until  March 31st...

• Another competition, this time centered on clouds.  So playful and clever! (from Gerstenberg, the German publishing house...via Miss C.)

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Eyes on the prize

Things have been so busy these days! A lot of plans in the works right now and who knows what will happen?  Certainly not me.  I usually manage to get from point A to point B eventually.  But sometimes it's via points Q and N and even Y.  Or, as I like to call it, The Scenic Route™.

Speaking of which, here are a few little detours — very scenic, I promise you! — you can take today:

The Bologna Book Fair (which takes place a few short weeks from now) has announced the winners of this year's Ragazzi Awards.  The winning children's books are divided into the categories of  Fiction, Non-Fiction, New Horizons (for entries from countries further afield), and Opera Prima (for artists' first works — talk about hitting it out of the ball park the first time around!). Félicitations, everyone!

Mouse's Houses.  Just because. (More here, if you must).

Les Fables, at the Galerie Camera Obscura in Paris:  photos (dark and evocative) on the theme of fairy tales and fables, and the thin barrier between that world and ours. Includes images by the wonderful Sarah Moon! Thanks to lovely Hazel for passing along the invite...

And finally, today's thought for the day comes from Randall Munroe:

"Take wrong turns.  Talk to strangers. Open unmarked doors. And if you see a group of people in a field, go find out what they are doing. Do things without always knowing how they'll turn out... There are so many adventures that you miss because you're waiting to think of a plan.  To find them, look for tiny interesting choices.  And remember that you are always making up the future as you go."

See you at point B!

Resolutions

(from 1963)
The new year has started a bit slowly for me (on account of injury! hospital!! yipes!!!), and I feel I am just now catching up to the calendar. Is it too late to be thinking of resolutions for the year to come?  Well, if you too are mulling over your resolutions, good intentions and promises to yourself, you could do a lot worse than considering these rules, from Corita Kent:

Corita Kent, better known as Sister Corita, was an artist, an activist and a nun who was active — indeed, ubiquitous— in the 60's and 70's.  She grew up in Los Angeles and entered the Immaculate Heart convent when she was just 18. She continued her studies, learning printmaking and getting a Master's in Art History from USC.  Her vivid serigraphs combined strong colours, text (in handwriting or inventive typography, way ahead of her time), all combined in bold and startling compositions.

(from 1968, quote from Peter Beagle)

Corita was also —perhaps above all— a teacher, teaching art for 30 years at Immaculate Heart College.  She was, in fact, my teacher's teacher (Hi, Mrs. Slike!) and so I've always thought of her as my 'art grandmother'. Corita was often spoken of, and our art room was emblazoned with her prints—beautiful celebratory works in their incandescent colours.  They would have been affordable back then;  now they are included in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Los Angeles County Museum of Arts, the Library of Congress, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and countless others all around the world.

All these years later, reading excerpts from Learning by Heart (her book on teaching, published posthumously in 1992), I see that many of her ideas and methods were in turn used by my own teacher way back when. It all sounded so familiar, but always seemed fresh and new.

(from 1968, quote from Theodore Roethke)

She was a woman of contradictions, according to what I've heard and read— someone after my own heart!  Outspoken and candid and charismatic, but nonetheless cloistered, her circle of friends included Charles and Ray Eames,  Saul Bass, Ben Shahn,  Buckminster Fuller, Henry Miller and even Alfred Hitchcock—often they would drop in on her classroom or invite students to field trips.  A person who took vows of poverty and chastity, but famous for both her art and her politics (appearing on the Johnny Carson Show, the cover of Newsweek and in Time Magazine...) 

(from 1965, quote from Ugo Betti)

It would be impossible to do justice to the life and work of Corita in this puny little blog post.  But I urge you to read some of the links which I include below*, if you are interested to know more. And there is a recent book— Come Alive!:  The Spirited Art of Sister Corita, by Julie Ault —a serious and insightful monograph that examines her work in context.   And above all, to look through her collection of serigraphs and other art— it was hard to choose just a few to show!

Lastly:

(from 1970, her book, Damn Everything But the Circus—a silkscreened alphabet larded with quotes and poetry and artwork).  The full quote, from e. e. cummings, reads:

damn everything but the circus

damn everything that is grim, dull, motionless, unrisking, inward turning.

damn everything that won't get in the circle, that won't enjoy, that won't throw its heart into

the tension, surprise, fear and delight of the circus—

the round world, the full existence...

Good thoughts to start the year!!

*LINKS:

Eye Magazine (excellent article by her biographer), Design Observer, AIGA, Dear Ada, Drawn, Daddy Types, Under Consideration, L.A.Times (a book review), and  ArtNet.

and of course:

The Corita Art Center.

Click!  Then get to work....

Il pleut!

It is a damp and drizzly day today, so I give you another sketch of Omelette, with his trusty eggshell umbrella.

The day looks to be filled with down-pourings and puddle-stompings—but if you get tired of watching the raindrops roll down your window-pane, you could do worse than clicking on some of these links:

Sarmède, in the Veneto region of northern Italy, is home to an art school (founded by the wonderful Czech artist Stepan Zavrel) and to an annual illustration exhibit.  Beatrice Alemagna, whose picture books are sublime, is the guest of honour this year.  She is in good company: there are over 300 illustrations by 38 artists— including Martin Jarrie, Kitty Crowther, Violeta Lopiz, Madalena Matoso.  And so many others!  Anna Castagnoli (illustrator and keeper of the marvelous Italian blog on children's books, Le Figure dei Libri)  has written an introduction (in English) for the catalog.
The exhibit runs until 19 December— wish I could go!

Urban Outfitter has asked 10 artists to do 10 bookmarks for them— they are here.  I especially like Joe McLaren's contribution.

And finally, in keeping with this drippy day, here are some spreads from the out-of-print picture book, Monsieur Cloud, Nuagiste.  Illustrated by François Roca in black and white, it is about a cloud expert (a nephologist) who is hired to make rain by a crooked umbrella manufacturer hoping to make a fortune.  But all does not go as planned...of course!  via Gone Fishing.

OK, back to watching raindrops...

Calendar time

It's calendar season!

This image is by Thomas Baas, part of a recent exhibit of calendar illustrations.
Now extremely prized and very hard to come by, these calendars were produced every year for about two decades by Alain Lachartre, an illustrator and graphic designer and founder of the legendary agence-atelier Vue Sur La Ville.

Images are by an all-star cast of illustrators (over 200 of them, all told) including Loustal, Marc Boutavant, Benoit Jacques, Gary Baseman, Pierre Le-Tan and many others.  It was an open assignment with the only condition being that the calendar itself had to be incorporated into the illustration. With wonderful results!

Originally presented last summer at Cité de l'Architecture in Paris, I was able to see it recently at the gallery at Parsons Paris art school.  I look forward to seeing more of the offerings here in the coming season...

Also: Camilla's calendar is now available.  As we all know!

Arche Kinder Kalendar is a gorgeous calendar filled with poetic images resulting from an exhibit organized by Internationale Jugendbiliothek, gathering together 150 of the best illustrated poems for children. They have chosen twelve of them for this calendar  (via Topipittori).

National Public Radio's 2011 calendar has a dream team of illustrators creating images for it, including Matte Stephens, Jeremy Holmes, heads of State, Lab Partners and many more.

The Tolkein calendar has images by Dutch artist Cor Blok, originally created in 1960.  Both modernist and child-like, they are inspired by Blok's take on the Bayeux tapestry and applied to the imaginative universe of J.R.R. Tolkein.

Finally, for those of you who love owls, here is a free downloadable and customizable calendar, featuring artwork (yes, of owls!) from 30 different illustrators.  From My Owl Barn.

Warm and cozy

Hamlet the pig has made another appearance in my sketchbook!
Just a little comfort and warmth on this chilly autumn day...

In other news:
As I mentioned before, Serge Bloch recently designed a set of postage stamps.  They are called "Sourires" and are now —finally!— available from La Poste.  Get 'em while they're hot!

Places to go

A few places you might like to visit if your time permits:

Josef Palacek: the wonderful Czech illustrator — a marvelously poetic vision in his children's books amply rewarded by prizes at Bologna Book Fair, IBBY, Teatrio... There is surprisingly little about him on the internet, but I found more images on Natascha Rosenberg's blog...

Analogue: a gallery and bookshop in Edinburgh— I wish I lived nearer to it! They have had some interesting exhibits I'd like to have seen, including Jean Jullien, Marcus Oakley, Nigel Peake and Tom Gauld.  See their flickr for more!

Armenian tales and legends: illustrated by the Russian illustrator Victoria Semykina.  Quel talent!  Also here and here and on tzeh (fabulous Russian illustrator's collective).  And I think this is her blog (in Russian).

Enjoy yourselves!

Kveta Pacovska!!

Kveta Pacovska has an exhibit of her artwork— original drawings, prints, posters and her books (dating back to the early '60's) at Les Libraires Associés, in Paris.  A few nights ago, there was a vernissage for it, and I was lucky enough to be able to attend it — and even luckier to have a chance to meet and chat with Kveta herself!

82 years old and still going strong as ever, she has just put out a new book.

Couleurs du Jour (Editions Grandes Personnes, 2010) is an amazing achievement.  A bit over 5 inches square and almost as thick (it's the cube of paper you see in her hand above) , it is a 90-page accordeon-fold book which measures over 10 meters when opened!  It's hard to give a sense of it in photos, but it took up a whole wall of the gallery space. when displayed.  PLUS, it's printed on both sides — and larded with little paper doors and windows and mirrors, so that the pages are interacting with each other.

It's a bit like a kaleidoscope, in a sense — same elements, but different every time you look at it. And (it goes without saying) the images are just brilliant.  I will be showing more soon...

It is a wordless book, but the driving idea of Couleurs du Jour is that colours are chosen according to their sound, and each day of the week has its own sound and colour— Monday is green, Tuesday is blue, and so on.
Of course —according to one's mood, age or point of view — the colours could change.

That is how Kveta saw things when she was 10 years old...



If any of you have the chance to go, the exhibit runs until 30 October at:
Les Libraires Associés
3, rue Pierre l'Ermite
75018 Paris

It's open every day, but by appointment.
Phone:   01.42.57.20.24.

PS. Kveta Pakovska does not have a website but to find out more look here:  Ricochet article (French only) and Links list.

((((((Thanks, Kveta!!!))))))

Places to go

A few places to go, if time is hanging heavy on your hands:

Getting back to the Phantom Skill: rediscovering the lost skill and singular pleasure of drawing by James McMullan. The first article in the weekly "LINE BY LINE" column in the New York Times, by a great working illustrator and artist.

Anja Mulder's beautiful corner of the internet.

Five Books —Every day, an eminent writer, thinker, academic picks five books from their own field of expertise. You too can be an expert! The ones that caught my eye: Michael Morpurgo (former chidren's laureate) on books for children; Richard Walters on screenwriting (he was my professor once upon a time!); Alain de Botton on Illuminating Essays; Calvin Trillin on memoirs; Mary Beard on ancient history in modern life. And much much more...

Croquis Parisens — a book of spare and elegant line drawings of Paris by Lionel Koechlin. Alain Beaulet, the editeur, offers many other interesting books and prints, too.

The Browser — I just discovered it: "writing worth reading".

But really, it's time to go and draw...