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This week we’re going to take a break from featuring a children’s book illustrator (but will get back on the illustration track next week with Dan Santat<\/strong><\/a>) and feature the work of Nashville artist (and serious Haven Kimmel<\/strong><\/a> fan), Sher Fick<\/strong><\/a>. To the left here is her self-portrait. Sher, who received her B.F.A. in Fine Art (Painting\/Sculpture\/Art History), has worked as an art teacher, muralist, freelance artist, and museum curator. She has also worked on projects with Nashville artist Adrienne Outlaw<\/strong><\/a>. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n “One of my greatest joys as an artist,” Sher says, “has been creating art specifically for children — especially interactive work. In 2007, I was on a team of artists that created Mr. McGregor\u2019s Garden for Cheekwood<\/strong><\/a> Art & Museum\u2019s ‘Once Upon a Garden’ exhibition. We created an oversized vegetable garden where children could interact as if they were Peter Rabbit<\/em>. In late 2007, I was asked to create my own sculpture for this year\u2019s ‘Happily Ever After’ exhibition. The design, building of the model, and construction of my Rapunzel Tower took up a total of seven months. After the exhibition ended in September, we have installed the tower in our backyard as my daughter\u2019s play castle.”<\/p>\n Here is Sher’s picture of the tower below, complete with a crowd of onlookers, and you may remember, dear readers, that I shared a picture of the tower<\/strong><\/a> back in June when I stumbled upon it at Cheekwood (I’ll re-post that pic below as well). I’m so glad to now know the artist behind it. Isn’t it lovely? And how lucky is her daughter that it’s now her play castle? Very. <\/p>\n Encaustic Paintings and Mixed Media Constructions…{are} an ancient form of art experiencing a revival thanks to Jasper Johns and a few other Modern {Artists} brave enough to explore the media. Encaustic = beeswax, damar crystals (not resin!), pigment, and a fusing implement to create luminous works of art.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n If you let your mouse sit on the image, you’ll see the title.<\/p>\n This is Sher’s contribution to Cheekwood’s current scarecrow exhibit<\/strong><\/a>, which I posted about<\/strong><\/a> last week as well. Meet Vincent Van Crogh: <\/p>\n And here’s a sample of Sher’s line work: There’s more information on Sher and her work here<\/strong><\/a>, and one upcoming traveling museum exhibition in which she’ll be participating (2009-2011) will be TAKE CARE<\/strong><\/a>: The Art & Science of Bioethics, which includes several other Nashville area artists. Many thanks to Sher for stopping by and sharing her work!<\/p>\n 2* Speaking of books, I just checked out Linn Ullmann’s<\/strong><\/a> new one, A Blessed Child<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. I really loved Before You Sleep<\/em><\/strong><\/a> (it’s kind of magical realism, Norway-style), and liked her other two fairly well, so I’m eager to see what this one’s like.<\/p>\n 3* Also speaking of books, I’m on the judging panel for Science Fiction and Fantasy<\/strong><\/a> for this year’s Cybil Awards. Woo!<\/p>\n 4* I started working on the Lead Belly<\/strong><\/a> archival collection at work, and it’s fascinating. <\/p>\n 5* I went to a “happy hour” for Cornell library employees and met some new peeps.<\/p>\n 6* Saturday afternoon I went with some new co-worker friends to an Apple Harvest Festival at a local nursery\/orchard<\/strong><\/a>, complete with a little petting zoo (alpacas are so soft!). We strolled around the orchards and I ate a wicked good piece of apple pie.<\/p>\n 7* And after that, the husband and I went to see the Suffer Jets<\/strong><\/a>, Ithaca’s roller derby team, narrowly defeat the Hellions of Troy<\/strong><\/a>. It was my first live roller derby meet, and I am smitten.<\/p>\n 2). On Saturday at the same festival, I hosted the session of children’s poet Charles Ghigna, a.k.a. “Father Goose.”<\/strong><\/a> He and his wife were tremendously lovely people, and I enjoyed introducing him and hearing him speak. I invited him to share some poetry one Friday here at 7-Imp, and I hope he does so. I meant to get a picture of us and forgot altogether, but here he is at his session:<\/p>\n And then…<\/p>\n 3). I headed on over to hear Sherman Alexie<\/strong><\/a> speak. He was a big ‘ol hoot, as in, MY GOD, HE WAS FUNNY, and I finally got a copy of this<\/strong><\/a>, which everyone in the world but me has read, I think, and got it autographed for my daughters (for when they’re older). I also asked him about his World Heavyweight Champion Poetry Bout title (remember Sara’s post<\/strong><\/a> about it?) to which he replied with pride, “four years in a row.” Here’s my not-so-impressive (too far away) picture of him speaking:<\/p>\n I also got to see some former Knoxville peeps, including (briefly) author Alan Gratz<\/strong><\/a>. There were all kinds of great sessions I had to miss, all kinds of talented authors there. Ah well. One year, perhaps the festival will not coincide with my kick #6. <\/p>\n 4). I finally saw “Iron Man.”<\/strong><\/a> Duuuuuuuude. Now those<\/em> are some super special powers. Makes the other superheroes look like punks. And how perfectly cast is Robert Downey, Jr. in that role? <\/p>\n 5). Look at this nice thing<\/strong><\/a> illustrator Jarrett J. Krosoczka said about us. And thanks also to Janet Lee Carey<\/strong><\/a> for the same nomination. <\/p>\n The last two kicks, which really should be the first:<\/p>\n 7). Because she is not unlike a monkey on crack, unlike my very cautious first child, and likes to dive over and into furniture and such, she got this doozy of a goose-egg bump on her forehead the other night after standing backwards in a rocking chair and flipping foreword into the leg of an end table. Just in time for her birthday party. SCORE. This picture doesn’t do justice to the sheer size of that thing. I know she looks drunk here, but fear not. <\/p>\n The kick here is that she’s healing and, amazingly, that bruise turned out to be pretty negligible the next day. I’m very grateful she’s okay. <\/p>\n HERE’S A GREAT KICK THAT, YES, I’M YELLING AND DESERVES A MARQUEE TAG: <\/p>\nJules:<\/font> Welcome to our 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. <\/p>\n
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encaustic paintings and images<\/strong><\/a>, a style in which she often likes to work. Here’s how she explains it: <\/p>\n
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1* That Adrienne<\/strong><\/a>! I lent her my ARC of Octavian Nothing Volume 2<\/strong><\/em><\/a> when she came to visit this summer. She just mailed it back to me with M.T. Anderson’s autograph in it. I’m certain it wasn’t there before. Thanks, Adrienne (and Tobin)!<\/p>\n![](\"http:\/\/blaine.org\/jules\/poster08.jpg\")
1). Friday night, I attended what could be described as none other than a fancypants dinner (as Laurel Snyder<\/strong><\/a> very amusingly called it) for select authors at this weekend’s Southern Festival of Books<\/strong><\/a>. I was quite nervous but survived. I met up with my former grad school prof\/advisor, whose name is Jinx, whom I adore, and from whom brilliance and warmth and kindness just radiate. Hadn’t seen her in a while, so that was fun. And I got to meet the new prof<\/strong><\/a> who took her position after she retired, who is very wonderful and very fun. We enjoyed wine and a deliciable (as my daughter would say) dinner and lots of laughs at the lovely War Memorial Auditorium<\/strong><\/a>. At one point, we were standing next to Patricia<\/strong><\/a> and Fred McKissack, yet I didn’t have a chance to speak with them. Can anyone give me a loud and resounding “D’OH!”? I believe Ann Patchett<\/strong><\/a> might have also been in the room. I adore her books. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n6). My youngest turns three on Tuesday, and we’re partying down this weekend (we’re partying hearty today, in fact. Wish you could all come over for PUNCH and CAKE. I’m yelling these with much enthusiasm, ’cause they’re TWO OF THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE). This is, selfishly, why I opened this post with Sher’s “Birthday Girl” piece of art work! And…<\/p>\n