{"id":1496,"date":"2008-11-11T00:01:26","date_gmt":"2008-11-11T06:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1496"},"modified":"2010-10-22T20:41:32","modified_gmt":"2010-10-23T02:41:32","slug":"random-illustrator-feature-isabelle-arsenault","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1496","title":{"rendered":"Random Illustrator Feature: Isabelle Arsenault"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

I’ve been reading a copy of My Letter to the World and Other Poems<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, a handsomely-designed anthology of Emily Dickinson’s poetry with captivating illustrations from Canadian illustrator Isabelle Arsenault<\/strong><\/a> and published by Kids Can Press (in their Visions in Poetry series). The book has been nominated for the prestigious Governor General Literary Award<\/strong><\/a> of Canada 2008 as well as a Cybils<\/strong><\/a> award here in the U.S. And I’m so taken by the illustrations by Ms. Arsenault that I contacted her to ask if she’d like to share some today with our readers. Lucky for me, she said yes, as well as agreed to share some other bits of art work with us. <\/p>\n

I really don’t even want to say much, except to tell you from which poems these illustrations come. I’d rather let her beguiling art speak for itself. However, I will add a few words from Isabelle herself, what she told me about the experience of creating the illustrations for this title: <\/p>\n

For this specific project I’ve been working with a mix of collage, ink, crayon and acrylic. It was very inspiring for me to create images based on poetry, and especially Dickinson’s. I found her imaginary world fitting well my style and aspirations as an artist.<\/font><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Opening this post is Isabelle’s illustration from “I cannot live with You.”<\/strong><\/a> The next two (below) are from “Hope is the thing with feathers,”<\/strong><\/a> followed by one from “I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,”<\/strong><\/a> one from “There’s a certain Slant of light”<\/strong><\/a> (which Arsenault imbues with chilling hints of 9\/11), and another from “I cannot live with You.”<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“‘Hope’ is the thing with feathers — \/ That perches in the soul — \/ And sings the tune without the words — \/ And never stops — at all —“<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“And sweetest — in the Gale — is heard — \/ And sore must be the storm — \/
That could abash the little Bird \/ That kept so many warm —“<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“And then a Plank \/ in Reason, broke, \/ And I dropped down, \/ and down —“<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“When it comes, \/ the Landscape listens — \/ Shadows — hold their breath —“<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“And were You lost, I would — \/ Though My Name \/ Rang loudest \/
On the Heavenly fame — \/
And were You — saved — \/ And I — condemned to be \/ Where You were not — \/ That self — were Hell to Me —“<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

* * * * * * *<\/center><\/font><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The above illustration is from Marie-Danielle Croteau’s Le Coeur de monsieur Gauguin<\/a><\/em><\/strong>, which “won a few major awards in 2005 (such as the GG literary award of Canada)<\/em>,<\/font>” Isabelle told me. “This was my first experience with {a} children’s book, and it has been translated in English since then by Tundra Books<\/strong><\/a>. That project made me reconsider my style and the main focus of my production to create more for…kids<\/em>.<\/font>” <\/p>\n

Next is “an image from another children’s book<\/em>, <\/em>R\u00eaves d’Enfance<\/strong><\/a>, featuring poems by Gilles Tibo and images by a selection of illustrators {from} 2005.<\/em><\/font>” <\/p>\n

{Be sure to follow the R\u00eaves d’Enfance<\/em> link, Jules adds, to see a great book cover.}<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

“The two following images are editorial pieces. They reflect my typical gouache, collage, and crayon approach. One is about ‘early retirement,’ and the second one ‘the Stanley Cup battle,’ {both from} 2007.”<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n


\n<\/p>\n

“I now have two kids,<\/em><\/font>” Isabelle told me, “and I can’t deny their influence on my work and ambition as an illustrator. I wish to work more in the children’s book illustration field and on other illustrated book projects. Other influences? … Beatrice Alemagna<\/strong><\/a>, Frederique Bertrand<\/strong><\/a>, Dominique Goblet<\/strong><\/a>, Anne Herbauts<\/strong><\/a>, Jean-Fran\u00e7ois Martin<\/strong><\/a>, G\u00e9rard DuBois<\/strong><\/a>, Alain Pilon<\/strong><\/a>, and many more.<\/em><\/font>”<\/p>\n

Many thanks to Isabelle for stopping by and sharing her beautiful work with us today! I look forward to what she brings readers next. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’ve been reading a copy of My Letter to the World and Other Poems, a handsomely-designed anthology of Emily Dickinson’s poetry with captivating illustrations from Canadian illustrator Isabelle Arsenault and published by Kids Can Press (in their Visions in Poetry series). The book has been nominated for the prestigious Governor General Literary Award of Canada […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-picture-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1496"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1496\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}