my influences as a story teller

As a child, before I could even read, some of my favorite books were the “Little Critters” series by Mercer Mayer. I struggled with reading and didn’t like it much. However, the first person narrative in the Little Critter books, told from the voice of a kid, seemed to make it easier. The pictures alone could tell the story and the facial expressions were all telling, not to mention how fun it was trying to find the tiny creatures hiding on every page.

As an adult, going back and reading those classics to my own children, I realize now just how sincere and humorous the first person child narrative is.  Looking at the pictures from an illustrator’s perspective, I now appreciate his sense of line quality, his knowledge of form and structure, as well as his ability to simplify color and light. Mayer’s work has had a profound impact on my own work.

                Another major influence on my quest to become a picture book author and illustrator has been Matt Faulkner.  His dynamic compositions, unique perspective and mastery of utilizing vibrancy in his renderings would be admired by any artist.  In addition to his stunning visual work, Faulkner’s writing takes on thought provoking subjects. In his “A Taste of Colored Water” he exposes children to a solemn time in our history when blacks and whites could not even drink from the same drinking fountains.  Matt has also been a great personal influence.  I have met him on several occasions at conferences and workshops where he has given me insight on my work as well as shared secrets of his own thought process and crafts.

                When writing, I try to remember Mayer's straight-forward and honest writing style and still try to work in the deeper concepts like Faulkner. When drawing and painting, I try to emulate Mayers line quality and simplified color sense and still include Faulkner’s lessons about vibrancy, composition, and prospective. I strive to reach the level of mastery that both have achieved in drawing, form and structure; all the while, trying to put a twist of my own style into my work without forgetting to make the story fun and exciting for kids. (And maybe even grown-ups).

You can check out some of Matt Faulkner's work at http://www.mattfaulkner.com/

Corporate censorship

During the renaissance most of the art was paid for by "the  church" or wealthy religious patrons which is why (as any art student knows) that we see mostly biblical work from that time period. Today most of the artwork the general public sees is paid for by large corporations and media conglomerates. This is what we call pop culture. There are lots of artists out there making great art but only a small fraction of that reaches the general public at large. I've often wondered if there were other types of art during the renaissance that just didn't survive because they were not deemed worthy of a public audience by the governing powers.
Maybe there was some genius years ahead of his time experimenting with abstraction or surrealism but the work was never validated, never recorded and destroyed because his work didn't represent the values of the Church.
In two or three hundred years from now will art historians be calling us the era of corporate censorship.

How do you define art???

There is a lot of discussion throughout history in the art world about how to define art. Arther Danto, an art critic and philosopher, says the definition of art changes and is defined by the "art world" (I am paraphrasing.). I'm not sure I agree with that. It leaves out too many people. Art affects all walks of life, whether they are involved in the "art world" or not.
I believe art is defined by its creator's intentions. If a being is acting with the intention of creative expression, that being is creating art.

Story telling can empower a child's imagination...
but a child can give a storyteller inspiration!