I decided to walk over to a couple of my bookshelves and snap some photos of a few of my resources. Books on words and images-- I especially love books where the authors and illustrators reveal their processes through essays of their own writing or interviews. My favorite resources though are the works of art themselves or poems and stories. Thus my studio is packed with children's books, poetry books, and art books filled with pictures
that I sit down to leaf through while eating my lunch or sipping a cup of tea after shoveling a foot of snow off the sidewalk. A trip to the art museum is another way to stir my muse, both visually and verbally. And my greatest resource of all has been my children. I have several notebooks filled with observations of them as they grew up. (They are 14 and 17 now!) Whenever I am feeling out of touch with the voice and nature of children, I return to these journals and read through quotes and notes. In fact that is where the idea for
Winter is the Warmest Season came from-- my son had noted that in summer we drink cold drinks and in winter we drink hot drinks, in summer we turn on air conditioning and in winter we sit by hot fires, etc. It was such a logical way of viewing the world that it had to become a story!
I decided to walk over to a couple of my bookshelves and snap some photos of a few of my resources. Books on words and images-- I especially love books where the authors and illustrators reveal their processes through essays of their own writing or interviews. My favorite resources though are the works of art themselves or poems and stories. Thus my studio is packed with children's books, poetry books, and art books filled with pictures
that I sit down to leaf through while eating my lunch or sipping a cup of tea after shoveling a foot of snow off the sidewalk. A trip to the art museum is another way to stir my muse, both visually and verbally. And my greatest resource of all has been my children. I have several notebooks filled with observations of them as they grew up. (They are 14 and 17 now!) Whenever I am feeling out of touch with the voice and nature of children, I return to these journals and read through quotes and notes. In fact that is where the idea for Winter is the Warmest Season came from-- my son had noted that in summer we drink cold drinks and in winter we drink hot drinks, in summer we turn on air conditioning and in winter we sit by hot fires, etc. It was such a logical way of viewing the world that it had to become a story!
4 comments:
I love seeing pictures of other people's bookshelves. It always feels so homey:)
Those shelves look like heaven to me. I clicked your images so I could better read the titles and then copied down several to add to the list I started after Mark's post. My book buying spree will do me some serious damage.
Lauren,
I love hearing the anecdote about your son triggering your idea for WINTER IS THE WARMEST SEASON. And great collection of books on your shelves!
I, too, love how your son's comments were the inspiration for WINTER IS THE WARMEST SEASON! Who knows when something is going to trigger an idea. How wise to keep notebooks filled with observations about your kids.
Post a Comment