maurice sendak retrospective in Philly

I think we may need to make a weekend of it and go see where the wild things are.

“You have to find something unique in [each] book…. And that’s what you hold onto, and that’s what you add to the pictures: a whole Other Story that you believe in, that you think is there.”

—Maurice Sendak

eric carle in Japan

Silas' nonna just got back from three weeks in Japan. And while the whole trips sounds exceedingly good. If I had to choose just one day I wish I were there, it would have to be the day she visited the Adachi Musuem of Art. She went there to see the exceptional gardens. The exhibition of children's book art was a pleasant surprise. She brought us back a lovely book of haiku with illustrations by Suzuki Toshio. The originals are on display at the museum. I would love to see them and other works by Japanese children's book illustrators. Of course, I don't have to go all the way to Japan to see Eric Carle's illustrations, I can visit his Museum of Picture Book Art, a little closer to home.

still riffing on vinyl

Vinyl outdoor banners that is...

These are long gone from NYC's 2007

Urban Forest Project.

But aren't they gorgeous.

fall is here

Time for colorful displays of red, yellow, and orange right? Unfortunately most of the street trees I see on my daily Baltimore treks go straight from undernourished green to shriveled brown. If these amazing banners were still posted downtown, I think they could partially satisfy my cravings for color. As things stand, I think we're going to have to make a weekend pilgrimage to the NCR trail to see leaves in full regalia. I wish I could tell you I snatched up one of the vinyl bags made from the Urban Forest Project banners, but no I totally missed the boat and now they're all gone. Nevertheless, I think they're worth revisiting. By all accounts, the Urban Forest Project was a huge success and generated tons of support and involvement in TreeBaltimore's initiative to double the size of the city tree canopy. Maybe the next time this event or some similar initiative comes around, I'll Bmore on top of things and get out there and plant something.

visting the aquarium

My son loves the sting rays at the aquarium because they fly in the water. If you ever visit the Baltimore Aquarium, I think you'll agree; they're like the fluttering heart of the place. This is an illustration based on some sketches I did for him earlier this week.

legitimate reasons for being late to work:

Stopping to watch construction with young son is always a legitimate excuse for being late to work. This morning we were greeted by a giant backhoe at our backdoor. The construction workers  sipped their coffee and waited patiently for our departure so they could start ripping things up. I loved this cover of a early soviet era children's book I found this morning. It seems to nicely capture the sort of morning we had today. 

With titles like "Mommy's Bridge", these books celebrate the contributions of working women. While it is a bit of a stretch to pull these thoughts together in one post, there is a connection... I spend a lot of time thinking about being a working mom and how to put that into a context my young son can understand and appreciate. I've found most contemporary children's books sorely lacking in celebrating the contributions of working moms. There's plenty of titles about how mommy always come home (so don't freak out OK?) but very few about what she does while she is away. Sometimes you have to look back in order to see the path forward I guess. 

three views of red riding hood

From Berlin based clothiers little red riding hood. The series of artist designed silk scarfs each tell the tale in a unique, beautiful way.

photographer frederik broden

Goodies on my desk, postcard from Frederick Broden  I wish I knew who designed the fabric. 

goodies for grandmoms

I guess it ruins the surprise to post this. I've been playing with making digital collages of my son using some favorite photos. I'm either going to make some note cards for me and the grand moms or maybe do photo transfer on fabric to do a story quilt.... something I've never done. The nice thing about saying that I'm going to do it here as opposed to just saying it my head... chances are I might actually do it. I kind of like this cropping, but it would probably have to be in a collage context with several other images for it not to feel accidental. So no time like the present, I better get to researching photo transfer on fabric. Feel free to help me up the learning curve with some nice links. If I end up just doing note cards I won't use this cropping. The grand moms will want to see his cute face.