This summer was packed with good stuff, but almost none of it was spent in the studio. It’s the nature of summer with a kiddo! So instead of studiously working on my stories at my desk, I get the urge to paint the first thing that comes into my mind. I was lucky to get to do that this summer. Example: the painting of the brown van up there. I even made that frame, which turned out to be so satisfying and I was kind of shocked that it actually worked! I made it with this stuff called Apoxie Sculpt, and then painted it with gold paint. I highly recommend sculpting with this stuff, it’s super fun. (That painting is a surprise for my sister. Surprise, Bobo!)
One of the great things about spending the summer with a child to show you around the world is that we slow down. Instead of scrambling around trying to get things done, my son shows me things I never noticed before, or things I had forgotten about. Even in my hometown! I don’t know who coined the expression “filling the well” in terms of getting creatively re-inspired, but I love it. I feel like this is what summer does for me nowadays.
In art school, we had this thing called Wintersession. It was during the six weeks after the holiday break but before the final semester started, in the bone-chilling time of year. We were allowed to choose a class outside of our major, just to get a feel for whatever subject we chose. Some of my picks were ceramics and one called “the waking dream” in which we made art based on our dreams which we wrote down every morning upon waking.
I used to feel sort of guilty or unmoored in the summers in New Jersey, seemingly away from my north star of children’s book making. Then in an aha moment this summer, it occurred to me: I need Summersession! It’s hot, my son is out of school, lots of folks are traveling. It’s my time to sculpt and paint my dreams, even if they seem off-topic. So I think I would call this year’s “class” Favorite Things: painting delightful stuff and sculpting my own frames. 😊
It wasn’t all off the topic of children’s books though — I signed copies of Only and was invited to participate in a promotion for using your library card! (See above: proudly displaying our household library cards). We also visited the fantastical South San Francisco public library, which is dreamy. Stop by if you’re in the area! It’s close to the SFO airport. Here are Only and Neither on their visit:
Speaking of Neither, is has come to my attention that it has been banned and challenged in certain counties of the US. I have known this for a while but didn’t really know how to process it. My feeling is that banning books doesn’t help anyone, and it’s hard to wrap my mind around the idea that my book would scare people enough that it would be removed from bookshelves so people will not be allowed to read it. As Americans, we talk a lot about valuing freedom, and banning books ain’t it, people! So. On Monday I’m going to be partaking in the Stand With the Banned Read-Out at the Princeton Public library. I feel lucky to live in a Book Sanctuary city, where we are allowed to read freely.
Thanks for reading!
More soon!
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