Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast

The illustrator of one of my favorite picture books ever, the 1997 Caldecott Honor winner Hush!: A Thai Lullaby by Minfong Ho, is here this morning for a breakfast chat. Woodblock artist Holly Meade has illustrated almost thirty picture book titles in her career, launched in 1992, including what I thought was one of 2008’s most outstanding picture books, David Elliott’s On the Farm, published by Candlewick. (My ’08 review is here).

But Hush! put Holly on the map, showing us her expert sense of composition, her playful perspectives, and the warmth, humor, and uncluttered sophistication inherent in her artwork. That title was rendered in beautiful, brightly-colored cut-paper-and-ink illustrations, but these days Holly works in woodblocks — and has been for about seven years now. As you can see in that handsome On the Farm spread above, rendered in woodblock prints and watercolor, Holly’s work is simply beautiful. I’m happy to have her here this morning over coffee to tell us a bit more about her prints, as well as share some from her gallery in Maine, Reach Road Gallery. She gave me free reign to choose images from the gallery site, and let me just say that it was very hard to narrow down my favorites. But I did — and included them in this interview. To start us off, here are two I really loved:

Holly’s very latest illustrated title, written by Tom Brenner and released in July by Candlewick, is And Then Comes Halloween, which Kirkus describes as “{t}he way Halloween should be.” As the title indicates, the book is a joyous sensory celebration of early Fall and the counting-down to Halloween (the children, having brushed candy from their teeth, even immediately dreaming of next year’s plans as they doze on Halloween night): “WHEN nighttime creeps closer to suppertime, / and red and gold seep into green leaves, / and blackberries shrivel on the vine . . . / THEN hang dried corn, / still in husks all crinkly and raspy, / sounding like grasshoppers. / WHEN Papa stacks firewood under the eaves, / and a V of geese squawks its way south, / and chilly morning air turns noses pink . . . / THEN cut out paper witches on brooms and dangle skeletons in doorways…” Holly’s watercolor and collage illustrations shine from the page. (Click to enlarge this spread.)

Holly’s breakfast-of-choice this morning for our short interview is a veggie frittata and coffee. I think I make a pretty wicked-good cup of coffee, if I may say so myself, but I’ll be giving this frittata my first go. Let me get that started, while Holly gives us some of the basics. I thank her for stopping by.

7-Imp: Are you an illustrator or author/illustrator?

Holly: Author/illustrator, with the emphasis on illustrator.

7-Imp: Can you list your books-to-date?

Holly:

• This is the Hat by Nancy Van Laan
• Small Green Snake by Libba Moore Gray
• Sleep, Sleep, Sleep by Nancy Van Laan
• Rata-Pata-Scata-Fata by Phillis Gershator
• HUSH! by Minfong Ho
• Pie’s in the Oven by Betty Birney
• Cocoa Ice by Diana Appelbaum
• Boss of the Plains by Laurie Carlson
• John Willy and Freddy McGee by Holly Meade
• Steamboat! by Judith Gilliland
• When Papa Snores by Melinda Long
• The Rabbit’s Bride by the Brothers Grimm
• A Place to Sleep by Holly Meade
• Goose’s Story by Cari Best
• Queenie Farmer by Ann-Jeanette Campbell
• On Morning Wings by Reeve Lindbergh
• That’s What Friends are For by Florence Parry Heide and Sylvia Van Clief
• Blue Bowl Down by C.M. Millen
• Peek! by Minfong Ho
• HOP! by Phyllis Root
• QUACK! by Phyllis Root
• Inside, Inside, Inside by Holly Meade
• Virginnie’s Hat by Dori Chaconas
• Sky Sweeper by Phillis Gershator
• On the Farm by David Elliott
• And Then Comes Halloween by Tom Brenner

To come:

• If I Never Forever Endeavor by Holly Meade
• In the Wild by David Elliott

7-Imp: What is your usual medium, or -– if you use a variety -– your preferred one?

{Ed. Note: Pictured below is Holly’s Go to the Well, three-color linoleum and woodblock print, 2009. I love this so fiercely I can hardly begin to say, but I digress. Click here for Holly’s other 2009 prints.}

Holly: The majority of my illustrative work has been done in cut paper collage. In the early books, I tore sheets of pantone paper to make the pictures. Later I cut a variety of hand-made and found papers. As time went on, more and more I watercolored the paper before cutting — and sometimes also stamped the paper with a pattern or texture before cutting. All these pictures begin with a drawing that is then translated into cut shapes, then arranged and adhered with cello mount (a two-sided sticky paper). Several of the books I’ve illustrated were done with gouache, also watercolor and ink. Recently, I’ve used woodblock prints as a medium. This method involves cutting an image into a woodblock; rolling the block with ink; printing it, using oil-base ink onto watercolor paper; then adding color with watercolor paint. I try to choose a medium that will best complement the text.

7-Imp: Where are your stompin’ grounds?

Holly: I live at the edge of a field at the edge of the ocean. The water passage I look at is called Eggemoggin Reach, and Deer Isle sits beyond. It’s fairly quiet and beautiful, a lovely place to work and live in.

{Ed. Note: Pictured right is Holly’s Man in Gorilla Suit, three-color linoleum print, 2007. Click here for more 2007 prints.}

7-Imp: Can you briefly tell us about your road to publication?

Holly: My school background is in painting {and} printmaking. When it came to choosing a work life that would support me and still allow me to make pictures, children’s book illustration came to mind. I took my portfolio to Little, Brown and Company in Boston, and that led to my first job.

7-Imp: Can you please point us to your web site and/or blog?

Holly: I have a website, www.reachroadgallery.com. This site does not represent the illustration work I do but the prints I make apart from children’s books — and the gallery I have open during the summer months here in Maine. {Ed. Note: Here it is pictured in Winter, to help cool us all off.}

7-Imp: Any new titles/projects you might be working on now that you can tell us about?

Holly: I am currently working on a book written by David Elliott, titled In The Wild. This is my second one with David (On the Farm), and I’m very excited about it. The words are a pure pleasure to read, very fun, and it gives me the opportunity to make pictures of animals, like a jaguar, buffalo, orangatan, etc. A second book I’m just finishing up is one I wrote called, If I Never Forever Endeavor. This is a story about a small bird and his internal dabate over whether to attempt that first flight from his safe nest — or not. Both books are done combining printing and watercolor, though in very different ways.

Our table’s set, coffee’s on, and I’m hoping my frittata won’t flop. (Well, sure, it’s a cyber-frittata, but mmm. I really must try one of these one day.) Thanks again to Holly for stopping by, and let’s keep at it with—despite the title of this post—our five questions over breakfast…

1. 7-Imp: What exactly is your process when you are illustrating a book? You can start wherever you’d like when answering: getting initial ideas, starting to illustrate, or even what it’s like under deadline, etc. Do you outline a great deal of the book before you illustrate or just let your muse lead you on and see where you end up?

Holly: I covered this somewhat in a previous question. I can add that the visual ideas spring from the author’s words and from my experience of what the writer speaks of. Reference materials are important, as much of what I’m asked to illustrate I haven’t directly experienced (a Japanese monastery garden, a water buffalo in a Thailand jungle, a crocodile in a southern swamp, etc.)

I start out a book by breaking the text down into the required thirty-two pages. Then sketch and sketch and refine until I have a “dummy book” of black-and-white line drawings. This I send off to the designer and editor for advice and direction. Next, I submit an example of a finished illustration. When that’s approved, I carry on making the pictures for the entire book.

{Ed. Note: More on Holly’s woodblock-printing process is here at her gallery site.}

2. 7-Imp: Describe your studio or usual work space for us.

Holly: Also referred to in a previous question — at least the natural environment, which includes a lot of neighbors that are animals. From my studio window, I’ve had the great pleasure of seeing fox, deer, porcupine, bear, moose, and racoons. My workspace is a high-ceilinged room with large windows, looking out over a field to the ocean. The space is comfortably messy with works in progress, a room never quite large enough for the materials I fling around in it. I have a Whelan Press with a large turning wheel that travels a roller over blocks for printing.

3. 7-Imp: As a book-lover, it interests me: What books or authors and/or illustrators influenced you as an early reader?

Holly: I loved The Little Mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen. Not the Disney version, but the original where our heroine throws herself into the sea at the end to win an immortal soul. My childhood version was illustrated by Gustav Hjortlund.

4. 7-Imp: If you could have three (living) illustrators—whom you have not yet met—over for coffee or a glass of rich, red wine, whom would you choose?

Holly: I would enjoy sharing a cup of tea with illustrator Warwick Hutton. His loose watercolor and ink illustrations have won my adult heart. He has illustrated a number of fairy tales, Greek myths, and Old Testament stories, all books I cherish.

5. 7-Imp: What is currently in rotation on your iPod or loaded in your CD player? Do you listen to music while you create books?

Holly: Music…Native American flute music and Bach’s arias and choruses are my best working companions, with some blues thrown in on occasion.

{Ed. Note: Pictured just below is Holly’s Prayers Going Up, a four-color woodblock print, 2007. Click on the image to be taken to Holly’s gallery.}

7-Imp: What turns you on creatively, spiritually or emotionally?

Holly: Beauty, truth (not always beautiful), goodness.

7-Imp: What sound or noise do you love?

Holly: Lapping water, thunder cracks, a howling lonely wind, my daughter singing, cold trees creaking in winter, the song of the veery and the woodthrush, unguarded laughter…Oh, there are many sounds to love….

7-Imp: What sound or noise do you hate?

Holly: Sounds to dislike…all the “beeps” of modern life…the beeping of vehicles backing up in Home Depot, the beep when you pass through the doorway of some stores, car beeps when you leave the key in the ignition, and on and on. Also! Recordings that tell me my call is important.

7-Imp: If Heaven exists, what would you like to hear God say when you arrive at the Pearly Gates?

Holly: “Welcome,” of course.

All print images from Reach Road Gallery and gallery photos taken from the web site, courtesy of Holly Meade. Photos of Holly courtesy of Ms. Meade and Candlewick. All rights reserved.

Image of The Little Mermaid from www.chifonoj.dk/den_lille_havfrue.htm.

ON THE FARM. Text copyright © 2009 David Elliott. Illustrations copyright © 2009 Holly Meade. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.

AND THEN COMES HALLOWEEN. Text copyright © 2009 by Tom Brenner. Illustrations copyright © 2009 by Holly Meade. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.

VIRGINNIE’S HAT. Text copyright © 2007 Dori Chaconas. Illustrations copyright © 2007 Holly Meade. Reproduced by permission of the publisher, Candlewick Press, Somerville, MA.