7-Imp’s 7 Kicks #400, 3D-style: Featuring
Susan Eaddy, Maggie Rudy, and Karina Schaapman
October 5th, 2014 by jules
It’s the first Sunday of the month, which usually means I feature a student illustrator. But I’m breaking my own rules and doing something different today.
I wrote a review last month for Chapter 16, which is a daily online journal about books and author events in Tennessee. I reviewed Julie Hedlund’s My Love for You Is the Sun, illustrated by Nashville artist Susan Eaddy, pictured right, and published by Little Bahalia Publishing last month. I’ve enjoyed reading Chapter 16 for years, so it’s particularly great to contribute to the site. That Chapter 16 review is here.
Regular 7-Imp readers know that I like to follow up these reviews I write at other places with picture book art. So, for today’s post, I asked Susan if she’d be interested in sharing some photos of what it’s like to create her illustrations. I thought it’d be fun to see Susan’s process in particular, because Susan works in clay. She shared generously, including some images of final spreads, and all of that is below.
But there’s more! Because I love to share as much picture book art as possible, I’ve also got illustrations from a couple of other new books. I mentioned in the Chapter 16 review that 2014 has given us a handful of picture books illustrated, like My Love for You Is the Sun, in what can best be described as a sculptural technique — not the traditional, two-dimensional illustrations we typically see in picture books. There is Yuyi Morales’ Viva Frida, for example, rendered in stop-motion puppets, paints, photography, etc. Yuyi will visit 7-Imp soon to share images from that. Or Loretta Holland’s Fall Leaves, illustrated in 3D paper vignettes by Elly MacKay, who will also visit 7-Imp soon. And remember Princesse Camcam’s Fox’s Garden, featured in this post? Yep. That one, too.
This year, we’ve also seen Karina Schaapman’s The Mouse Mansion, originally published in the Netherlands in 2011 but coming to the States next month from Dial. And there’s Maggie Rudy’s I Wish I Had a Pet (pictured above), published by Beach Lane Books in July.
Karina’s and Maggie’s three-dimensional tableaux are pictured below. Last up—because she sent so many images, which makes me happy—are the photos Susan sent, and I thank her for that.
Here’s to 3D art. Let’s get to it …
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The Mouse Mansion (without text):
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written by Julie Hedlund:
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Blowing kisses in your ears, / It wipes away your salty tears.”
Susan: “See how the mane changed? The art director thought
the first manes looked too ‘wormy.'”
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Susan: “You can see how many audio books I go through during the building stages!”
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Finally, want to see Susan create a spread (really, really fast)? Here we go:
I WISH I HAD A PET. Copyright © 2014 by Maggie Rudy. Spreads used by permission of Beach Lane Books, New York.
THE MOUSE MANSION. Copyright © 2011 by Karina Shaapman. U.S. Edition 2014. Spreads used by permission of the publisher, Dial Books, New York.
MY LOVE FOR YOU IS THE SUN. Text copyright © 2014 by Julie Hedlund. Illustrations copyright © 2014 by Susan Eaddy. Published by Little Bahalia, Milwaukee. All images related to this book are used by permission of Susan Eaddy.
Author photo of Susan Eaddy used by her permission.
Note for any new readers: 7-Imp’s 7 Kicks is a weekly meeting ground for taking some time to reflect on Seven(ish) Exceptionally Fabulous, Beautiful, Interesting, Hilarious, or Otherwise Positive Noteworthy Things from the past week, whether book-related or not, that happened to you. New kickers are always welcome.
1) October.
1½) That my 10-year-old collects acorn caps in October.
2) The Boxtrolls. Totally off the wall and slightly demented and very entertaining.
3) I got our tickets to see Shakey Graves live in Nashville in a couple of weeks:
4) My girls and I are usually reading a small stack of novels at once (maybe a bad habit?), but once we started Laura Amy Schlitz’s A Drowned Maiden’s Hair, it trumped everything else and it turned into a reading frenzy. I swear, I nearly kept them home from school on Friday (but didn’t) just so we could finish it. ‘Cause WHAT A GOOD BOOK. It was a re-read for me, and I knew they’d hang on every word. Which they pretty much did.
5) My friend. Featured on the local news!
6) It was really wonderful to visit Karen MacPherson’s blog and talk about Wild Things! Her work was important to our research, and she has a great site for children’s book fans.
7) The Southern Festival of Books is next weekend. It’s, hands down, the best thing about Nashville in the Fall.
What are YOUR kicks this week?
I can not wait to see My Love For You Is The Sun in real life. Her illustrative process is definitely unique. The video is fantastic!
I can understand your daughter collecting acorn caps. I used to do the same thing. They still fascinate me.
My Kicks:
1. Multiple rainbow sightings the past two days.
2. Rain
3. Iris blooming in the autumn. Love these little natural surprises.
4. Colored leaves and the patterns they make after they fall.
5. Friends
6. Wonderful books for children
7. Strolls with Xena
Wishing you all a peaceful week.
Margie, she puts the acorn caps on the little dolls she sews. Or she tries (and hopes they stay). … I bet you have a lot of turning leaves now where you live. It’s slooowwwllly happening here in the South. Hug Xena for me.
(BUT, I might add, it was chilly enough yesterday to make the first hot chocolate of the season. Mmm.)
Fabulous post! Being a dimensional illustrator myself, I work mostly in plasticine( modelling clay) and sometimes polymer clay and mixed media, it’s so great to see an post featuring these wonderfully talented illustrators. Yay!
I love visiting your blog each morning before I hit the studio, for a daily dose of inspiration.
Thanks!
Suzanne Dell Rizzo
Skink on the Brink(written by Lisa Dalrymple, Fitzhenry & Whiteside) winner if the 2014 SCBWI Crystal Kite Award, Canada
Gerbil, Uncurled( written by Alison Hughes, Fitzhenry & Whiteside) Spring 2015
And I thought collage was tedious! These two illustrators are amazing. I can’t imagine the hours of work that went into each book especially The Mouse Mansion. A great way to start Sunday.
Jules, Chuck kept talking all day about The Box Trolls. I hope to see it soon. And the book festival? I want to attend!
Margie, love the color leaves and their patterns too. Enjoy your strolls with Xena.
My kicks:
1. CYBILS nominations opened on October 1. Nominate your favorite books.
2. Dinner with friends last night. They are like family.
3. Seeing Gone Girl with bookclub friends.
4. Time with grand girl.
5. Wedding reception today for my friend’s daughter (part of kick 2).
6. Crisp mornings and warm afternoons.
7. Reading The Boys in the Boat.
Have a great week.
Wonderful illustrations! I have a soft spot for Julie Hedlund’s and Susan Eaddy’s “My Love for You is the Sun” — Susan’s illustrations are so amazing, and Julie’s lyrical text is a joy. Thanks, Jules, for featuring this book — and for introducing me to the other two amazing illustrators. My TBR list just increased!
I love these, especially Susan Eaddy’s clay art. I also love Salley Mavor’s fabric illustrations in Pocketful of Posies, winner of the 2011 Golden Kite Award for Picture Book Illustration.
Good morning, Imps!
Hi Susan, Maggie, and Karina!
I love the picture of the mouse and the bird. So cute.
And the critter in the long knitted sweater(dress)!
Jules: I wrote, “Does she make anyone wear the acorn caps?” and then saw your response while reading the comments. 🙂
Margie: Send some rainbows this-a-way!
Suzanne: I like the cycle of inspiration – someone inspires someone else, that person makes something which in turn inspires the next person…
Hurrah for all involved in the Cybils. Have fun!
Kicks for the past week:
1) Casting
2) Auditioning
3) Applying
4) Recording
5) Uploading
6) Appreciating
7) Writing
These are fascinating, exquisite little worlds. Must get these books! With thanks and awe from a fellow miniature lover.
Hello, Kickers!
I loooove these 3D/sculptural/dimensional illustrations, Jules! You’ve featured some before, I’m pretty sure… Ah, yes, here we are for one example (Carin Berger). And also this one (from Chris Sickels — it almost killed me to read at the time: visual-pleasure exhaustion syndrome). Oh! And Jayme McGowan and her buskers…!
(Including three links in a single paragraph probably just pushed me into the 7-Imp sp*minator, didn’t it???)
The only downside to these works, in fact, is the sensory frustration of not being able to, y’know, HANDLE the actual objects, or to walk around them and see them from the other side, etc. But just knowing they must have existed at some time, and maybe still do, somewhere in studios and garages and galleries… well, there’s a certain satisfaction there, too!
(Btw, Suzanne — your stuff is great, too! When I saw the Kowabunga! one the first thing I thought of was, Oh, man, now that is ART.)
Kickin’ good musical selection there, Jules. And thank you for the Drowned Maiden’s Hair rec… sounds like a wonderfully haunting/haunted read!
Love everyone’s Kicks today, now that I’m going back through them again. For some reason I thought LW’s, regarded as an acronym, spelled out a sort of Celtic oath (or moan, I’m not sure): “Caaruaw…!”
Just a few kicks from this quarter and then I must take advantage of fall finally fall fall fall…
* Clearing out the DVR by bingewatching MOVIES instead of TV shows.
* Focusing on the speckles of good sometimes dotting the most horrific news landscapes.
* My younger sis just passed a major birthday milestone. We couldn’t go to the NJ bash, but I’ve been loving the photos people have sent us.
* Just the right stupidly silly video at just the right moment.
* Terry Pratchett (Thief of Time, currently)
Have a great week, all!
Wow! Love all the artwork this week. Incredible the dedication and skill to create all of this. Especially he mouse giving the turtle a bath, the mouse bakery, and the horses.
Jules – Thank you for the Shakey Graves video – sent me down a rabbit hole interwebs journey and now I’m hooked! Happy to hear The Box Trolls is good, looking forward to seeing it. I love that your daughter collects the acorn caps, we used to use them as cups and bowls for toys.
Margie – rainbows and strolls with Xena sound so lovely.
Jone – How was Gone Girl? Great weather for wedding receptions. And I am loving our incredible weather too – its a nice way to ease into fall.
LW – sounds like another typically busy week for you – good luck as always!
JES – “speckles of good dotting most horrific news landscapes,” love that phrase. Hope all is well!
My kicks this week:
1) Sunshine.
2) Lunch with a good friend.
3) Seeing a friend/mentee get sworn in to the bar.
4) Drinks with friends.
5) An all-day costume softball tournament yesterday. We were m&m’s and skittles.
6) The PBS Makers series, the episode on Women in Comedy, fascinating stuff.
7) Emma Watson. Saw her speech at the UN, (on video) very good stuff.
7.5) Dodgers! Really hoping they sweep the Cardinals!
Have a wonderful week everyone, full of fall color & warmth!
Jules, thank you for featuring Susan’s amazing artwork today! And for introducing me to these two other jawdroppingly talented illustrators. The Mouse Mansion made my head explode (in a good way).
I am happy to say I will be with the one and only Susan at the Southern Book Festival next weekend and we’re coming to your session! I am so looking forward to meeting you.
My kicks for this week:
1) Is it too self-serving to say this post?
2) Making a steak dinner to celebrate my mother’s 70th
3) Apples picked and eaten from a tree
4) Sharing margaritas with a friend on the rooftop patio of Rio Grande in Boulder
5) My critique group
6) The half-draft of my new PB manuscript
7) An outdoor run
Happy Sunday everyone!
JES: May the Celtic battle cry of “Caaruaw!” serve you well when needed.
Rachel: Thanks! Have fun playing softball. Congrats to your friend.
Julie: Rock that manuscript, and the run!
Hi, Suzanne! Nice to hear from another 3D artist, and thanks for the kind words too.
What a good week, Jone. Family, good food, good books.
Hi, Beth!
Hi, Tracy! I love Salley’s work too. She visited 7-Imp a few years back, and boy howdy did I enjoy seeing all the art: http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=2039.
Little Willow, happy writing and break a leg at auditions.
Hi, Elisa!
John, miraculously spam didn’t try to eat your comment for breakfast. Yes, there have been 3D illustrators here before (including Knoxville illustrator Lisa Horstman way back in ’09 — yay for Knoxville, too: http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=1733). … Happy birthday to your sister, John!
Rachel, a friend of mine tells me Shakey Graves once had a part on Friday Night Lights, but I’ve never seen that show. She keeps calling him The Swede from Friday Night Lights (I think??). I do recall, actually, reading once that he was once an actor or tried to be or something like that. Glad he turned to music. … Oh, Emma’s speech! I can’t believe I haven’t listed it as a kick yet. I told my family last night (as they were discussing LEGOS) that there should be a new Emma Watson, Feminist Action Hero LEGO. … Also, I gotta see that Women in Comedy series. Thanks for the reminder.
Looking forward to meeting you, Julie! Also, I don’t think kick #1 is self-serving at all. And now I want a margarita.
Have a great week, everyone …
p.s.
Caaruaw!
Oh Jules! Friday Night Lights is an AWESOME tv show! Check it out if you get the chance. One of the best married couples on tv – Coach and Mrs. Coach. And Shakey did play The Swede on it, and was also in SpyKids: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1413209/?ref_=nv_sr_5
His show in Pdx is sold out in November, but I am going to try to score tickets.
I want to live in Susan Eady’s imagination NOW.
Honestly, maybe even just her studio. Can I hang over her shoulder and watch her work forever????
WOW.
Rachel, okay, I’m sold. I’ll watch it! I keep hearing great things about it.
Tanita: I’m lucky enough to have been in said studio. She even has a LAIR for her cat!
Considering my love for both mice stories and dollhouses, I can safely say I would have been obsessed with The Mouse Mansion as a kid.
Salley Mavor does lovely things with acorn caps and little dolls in her illustrations for Pocketful of Posies.
Hi, Cecilia. The Mouse Mansion will be out in November, I think, so you might wanna grab a copy. My own children have read my F&G approximately eleventy billion times, since they love these tiny worlds, too.
I truly appreciate this blog.Thanks Again. Keep writing.