a couple years ago i was asked by my daughter's school to be one of many who decorate child-sized chairs for the school's annual auction held as a fundraiser each year. they wanted each of the chairs to have a children's book theme and i was given the 'the very hungry caterpillar' by eric carle.
i donated my time, the chair, the paint supplies along with a new book by eric carle. yes, i know all the copyright laws - and they are there for a good reason - but in this case the chairs everyone decorated were auctioned to raise money for a not-for-profit school. a worthy cause if there ever was any.
the distinct style mr. carle has is created thru many layers of paint and paper. to achieve a similar look i painted dozens of sheets of vellum paper with swaths of color over a period of a couple of days, letting each layer dry in between coats.
rather than photocopy or trace any of the work i slowly and meticulously hand cut each piece until it resembled particular pieces of the caterpillar then modpodged them on to the child-sized reading chair.
incidentally, eric carle is one of our family's favorite children's authors/illustrators. we were thrilled when last spring break we had the chance to visit his museum in amherst, massachusetts. the town itself is also a nice place to stop over - a small college town it offers many cafes, restaurants and little shops along main street.
parked out front was the museum's car. sophie just had to touch it. there is a small cafe onsite and an auditorium where they regularly have presentations by storytellers and speakers. they thought of everything here. it was amazing.
large original paintings by eric carle adorn the outer gallery, the only gallery where photography is allowed. inside the other galleries we saw many original works of leading children's picture book authors/illustrators. my favorite exhibit was that of the original hand-drawings from the classic 'charlotte's web' by e.b. white. revision after revision shown until the final inked drawings that i remember so well from the first time i read that book.
even the bathrooms have custom tiles of all of the animal characters in carle's books. sophie loved naming each of the animals. i loved that the bathrooms were so clean and infant/family friendly.
the highlight of the museum for our family was the hands-on art studio where they offer classes for local children. however, as a museum guest you are invited to spontaneously stop in and create a project they have prepared. the day we visited the project was to make small hand-held stick or marionette puppet creatures from found objects and paper. only glue sticks and wire available to hold everything together, but it was a fun challange that we embraced.
heidi made a bird and mamie made a sea otter. below, you'll see my lobster. we were on the east coast - i had seafood on the brain.
as a mom, and one who worked full-time up until very recently, i often have many irons in the fire. it would be so much easier to say no when asked to donate my time to a cause or not bother to take the time to go off the beaten path so my family can experience different parts of our world and culture. but it's worth it to me to say yes. the color and wonder that enhances our days is only as bright and imaginative as we allow it to be. yes, it's a balancing act. but paper sea otter and reading charlotte's web are worth it, don't you think. what creative adventure will you say yes to today?
{wednesday} april 23, 2014