One more photo of Joan Walsh Anglund and me, the crabbier, snarkier version of Joan. (The photos in this post were taken by Danielle Pousette). It was such an amazing weekend.This is a circle that started when I was about 10 years old and never even imagined it would be completed with me being invited to do this! I always loved to draw and make things, but when my mother gave me A Friend Is Someone Who Likes You along with the matching doll, I couldnt believe it! It was like Wait--What??? You can make a LIVING doing this??? And that little book focused me like a laser on what I wanted to do for the the rest of my life. I would save my allowance and buy each new book as it came out and I would study those drawings as if I were studying for my final medical exams, copying the drawings and trying to understand how she got so much meaning and love into so few, perfect words. A long time ago, maybe 20 years or so, I put out a book called The Art And The Artist, a story of my life and career, and in it I showed a book I had drawn for my mother in a little notebook when I was about 11, called A Little Book About Books. It was my first attempt at stealing from Joan Walsh Anglund. I sent a copy of The Art And The Artist to Joan with a note telling her what a huge influence and inspiration she had been to me. She immediately wrote back and a friendship was born! When I had a magazine--- the Home Companion--- we featured a different artist every issue. My friend Barbara Martin, who was the editor, said she thinks I started the magazine just so I could interview and have a nice long conversation with Joan again! That article appeared, with lots of amazing sketches and photographs in the 1999 April/May edition. Still to this day when Im working on a drawing , I will think How would Joan draw this cat? Or this tree, or this house? To me, her drawings are perfect in their graceful lines and pure simplicity. I sometimes get carried away with my drawings, going on and on, not knowing when to stop. For Joan, its second nature to say exactly the right thing and to illustrate it with exactly the right drawing--- never too little, never too much. She gets it exactly right, every time. Perfect --- just like Joan.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 14:02:02 +0000
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