7 Questions: An Interview by Julie Everett: Question 1

These are the rough color sketches that were my first attempt at getting my story "The Dot" out of my head and onto paper. If you know the book, you'll see I stuck pretty close to both art and text.

The following is the first question from a Q&A prompted by creative teacher extraordinaire, Julie Everett of Nebraska. I responded while in Bologna, Italy. I'll be sharing the questions and answers in my blog over the next week or so.
So... here goes:

1) Where did you
get the idea for The Dot?

Well, the answer to that one is actually in two parts.

I think the phrase “I can’t draw” - which I have heard countless times – has always surprised me – and has inspired me. My immediate response is “You just haven’t hung out with ME long enough!” I think that is what goes through any teachers or coaches mind when they hear “I can’t....” It just means we have to double up on some creative ways to get there.

So the theme had been brewing for years.

The catalyst for The Dot book was a mark I made in my journal. I make a habit of drawing and writing – as well as reading – before I go to sleep at night. Like many of us do after a long day, I can only get a few sentences read, a few words written or -- the very beginning of a drawing created before I have drifted off into sleep.

This one particular eve --back in 2001- in my 200 year old home in Dedham, MA, I set marker to paper and promptly feel to sleep. My Extra Fine Sanford Sharpie made contact with the white paper and began to drink in, ever so slowly, the ink. When I awoke perhaps an hour or so later, I was startled to see what my marker had left behind. A dot! A big black dot! I set the journal to one side and turned off the lamp.

Well, in the light of day, as the morning sun streamed through the windows falling upon my still-opened journal, I saw the dot.

It struck me that this was no ordinary dot.

It was mighty impressive.

What had started out as an unintentional “mistake” had ended up being a breathtaking dot! I quickly grabbed my marker and wrote “The Dot” above the dot and below I wrote “by Peter H. Reynolds.” I leaned it on my mantle above the fireplace and looked at it as the weeks went by and the story of a brave girl who makes an unexpected dot came in to focus.

The mission had found its story. The Dot was born!

The book was published by Candlewick Press in 2003.

Stellar Girl

I found this among my archives.
This is dated on the reverse side of this wooden shingle
(from a barn restoration in Barnstable, Cape Cod -- 1988. Strange for me to think it is over twenty years old. Feels like yesterday. It was the beginning of my connection to the star theme. I enjoy painting on wood. It is a good reminder that any surface is a possible place to create art. I like painting on eggs, cardboard, cloth, walls, floors, windows, mirrors...

I'd like to do more experimenting and
bring more of that experiementation into my books.

Halloween 1969

I was eight when I drew this in school. Seemed like a good one to share this Halloween Week! This was created by drawing the yellow and brown with crayon and then using a big brush to cover the whole thing with black paint. The paint rolled off the waxy crayon. Cool effect!

Rose's Garden

My FableVision Team just put the finishing touches on the animated "Telefable" version of my new story "Rose's Garden." My good friend, colleague, and children's book author/artist, John Lechner, lent his directorial and artistic direction to the project.

Rose Kennedy Greenway park grand opening is this weekend. Tonight we'll be unveiling the telefable at the kick-off gala. Senator Kennedy might be there if he is feeling up to it. Caroline Kennedy will be there - as well as 350 other guests. A high school student, Jennifer Sanchez, from Boston, will be reading the story live to the audience. The story is dedicated to Rose Kennedy. The character in my book is also named Rose, but she is really based on the spirit of the park. The mission of the Greenway is to bring diverse neighborhoods together, to provide a wondrous place to pause and reflect in the midst of a busy city, a place that took vision and patience, creativity and hard work to make real. My story weaves these together and encourages those who read it to bring more color to their own neighborhoods.

There will be a book version coming - but probably not until Spring of 2010. Such is the reality of traditional publishing. My experience though is that when you do what you love and love what you do - time flies.

Stellar Alignment

Here's another peek into my hypnagogic journal.

He Was Me

Here's another animation - a four minute animated film I made a few years ago. I was inspired by a boy whose voice we were recording at FableVision - a rather straightforward software demo. His voice was terrific!! I thought I'd write something to honor that voice - and quickly record it before his voice changed! I realized that my hurry to catch him before he stepped out of that warm and wonderful child voice and into the deeper, more serious adult voice - world - THAT was the story. Watch He Was Me and tell me what you think.

Dusty Dreams

Short and sweet tonight. (remember that you can click on the image to enlarge it) This is a never-before-shared image from one of my hypnagogination Journals.

The Creative Compost Heap

I enjoy going "art diving" in my computer. I search for ".jpeg" or ".gif" files and just sift through the hundreds - thousands - of images I have accumulated over 10 years. Some images are from 30-40 years ago - things I have found in the boxes in my "museum" (in the cellar) and scanned. 

Here is an idea I brainstormed while working on a project. "Frannie Williams: Audio SuperStar Supreme." Has a ring, no? A girl who starts recording books - adding music and sfx -- her books get kids reading more - she becomes a sensation -- hits the road - recording kids' stories around the world. I can almost see the book now. And the TV series! 

When I help a FableVision client envision a solution for their mission, my brain switches to "high-speed" then to "puree." I will often come up with a dozen ideas (or more) before I get to the final client approved one. I try to save all my ideas, whether on notecards or on the backs of envelopes, scraps of paper or the side of a coffee cup. I hate to see an idea thrown out!

 "Frannie" is one those "idea scraps" that got tossed on to my creative compost heap. 

As you might know, a compost heap - once big enough - will start generating energy and heat. Up here in New England, I have seen the steam pouring off hearty heaps. It is quite a sight!

 I feel the same way about all my ideas: piled high. They are not forgotten. They are part of an organic eco-system of creativity - throwing off energy - combining with new ideas - generating fertile, rich soil in which to plant the seeds of new ideas. My blog is part of that co

mpost heap. All the files on my computer. All the books I have published. All the stories in the "shoe boxes under my bed." All the conversations I have ever had. All my memories. 

All my visions, hopes and dreams. 

When you hear, "Go Green" - also think of your own creative compost heap. Throw a doodle on it and think of me. 

Throne of Books

This is some of the art I did for the upcoming 10th Anniversary Literary Lights for Children sponsored by the Boston Public Library. The event will honor some stellar creative folk: Susan Cooper (who visited us at The Blue Bunny!), Christopher Paul Curtis, Laura Amy Schlitz, Chris Van Allsburg (who I ate dinner with at his marvelous house)! I was honored at the same event last year and was tapped on the shoulder to provide the invitation art for this year! I called this piece: "The Throne of Books." I am in the process of making it a Giclee print.

I Love My Voice!

Here's an image I created on a big pad of paper during a visit to the Lunt School in Falmouth, Maine in 2006. My friend, Maribeth Bush, who is the stellar guidance counselor at Lunt,  took a photo of this page from the pad I left behind. I almost had forgotten about this, so I'm happy Maribeth sent it along. She has a much better memory than I do and can probably tell us what prompted the art, but I do know that this is theme I love exploring. In "The Dot," Vashti's teacher prompts her to sign her work. I am always reminding people to be proud of their work, their name, their contributions and ideas - their voice! Reminding others helps remind myself.

I'm still learning to love my voice. 

More on that to come.