One of the most fun parts of my job as an Author/Illustrator is reading to kids in schools and libraries. The Greater Salt Lake Library system sent out a call for artists to hang shows in their many libraries across the Wasatch Front- I sent them a link to my website and here we are- the children's section of the main library in Salt Lake City. It's a remarkable piece of architecture, and a community center for a growing metropolitan area of over two million people. The show will be up all summer, June 4th to mid August. So this is a big thing. I've concentrated on my thirty plus kid's books, but, having been an outspoken editorial illustrator for a lot of years, there's a lot of that too. Robyn Green, the head librarian, said: "Good. It'll make 'em think."
Below are some pictures of the framing process in my studio. My framing is done by Mary Schawb of Avenues Frames- a to the trade framer in our old 19th century neighborhood in Salt Lake. For the show we found some very affordable ready mades from Dick Blick and Mary cut mats- a lot of these are digital and were printed on my Epson 1430 on heavy matt paper.
Interior of the Main Library. We'll be hanging the show today (May 31st) and I'll post another entry with exterior shots and the art in place.
The studio, actually, never looked better, so here are lots of pics:
We framed north of sixty illustrations.
Eleanor Early, who'll be starting at SVA in the fall, framing an original. This is a brush & ink drawing that will later have color added on the Mac. I'm including both the drawing and the color print to show the process. Art from "What Little Boys are Made of" Balzer & Bray, an imprint of Harper Collins, 2012.
Packing: New York Times broadsheet from April '18 to show people what it is we actually do here...
Sideways poster, three Newsweek cover originals, two L.A. Times Magazine covers, Linus the Vegeterian T-Rex, Wow! Subway! & dartboard.
My son, Izzy, to show the scale. We built the house fifteen years ago in the fashion of the NYC lofts of my younger days (but with heat). Open and airy.
We included quite a few originals, brush and ink drawings and a lot of watercolors from the pre- digital era.
Here's George, a Rent-a -Brit who is traveling the Western Hemisphere doing chores in exchange for room & board. He's the son of a friend of Linda Pratt, my literary agent (Wernick & Pratt), and she lent him to me for a week. I couldn't let him go without seeing Utah's redrock country, so we took a three day camping road trip to Mars. That's another post I'll get to just for fun.
Here's the show announcement. OK. Now we pack up everything and put it up.