{"id":1508,"date":"2008-11-24T00:01:19","date_gmt":"2008-11-24T06:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1508"},"modified":"2011-07-01T15:20:46","modified_gmt":"2011-07-01T21:20:46","slug":"seven-questions-over-breakfast-with-amy-bates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1508","title":{"rendered":"Seven Questions Over Breakfast with Amy June Bates"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AmyAmy June Bates<\/strong><\/a> has illustrated many books in her career, but it wasn’t until I saw a copy of The Dog Who Belonged to No One<\/strong><\/em><\/a> by Amy Hest<\/strong><\/a> (published by Abrams this September) that my attention and interest in her work was piqued. It’s not that this is the first beautiful set of illustrations she’s ever done. Hardly and far from it. It’s that I finally realized that I’ve been a fan for years, frankly, but hadn’t quite put her name and her work together. Yes, humor me here. It was my own Amy Bates Epiphany, and I’m glad I had it. <\/p>\n

I then contacted her to see if she’d like to show us even more of her art work and chat over a 7-Imp cyber-breakfast, and lucky for us all, she said yes. Really and truly and madly and deeply, I’m just so excited<\/em> to show you her art work today. I’m rather giddy, and I haven’t even<\/em> had my coffee yet. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

And why is that? Well, for one, I’m a big ‘ol nerdy N.C. Wyeth<\/strong><\/a> fan, as well as a fan of the types of illustrators with whom he worked and from whom he learned (Howard Pyle<\/strong><\/a>, for one). And Amy’s work has a similar Wyeth spirit to it, if you will, in my humble opinion (and you may not be surprised to see below in the interview that she cites illustrators such as Wyeth and Pyle as influences): She manages to capture so much drama in each spread, as well as a radiance, an idealism of sorts (depending on the book, of course), and great warmth. It would be difficult, I would think, to pull off the sort of timelessness she does and the feeling that you’re reading a classic when you see her work — while, at the same time, not being too saccharine about it. But Amy does it. She manages to strike that balance — and do so engagingly. There’s certainly a place for the illustrators with a more cutting-edge and postmodern style, too, and I’ve got a long list of the contemporary ones working in that vein whose work I love, but when you want eloquence and grace—when you want realism with an illustrator who can pull off spot-on body language and facial expressions from her characters—you can go to Amy. And be quite pleased. Her work is simply beautiful, and she seems to get better with each book. <\/p>\n

Here are some spreads from the aforementioned The Dog Who Belonged to No One<\/strong><\/em><\/a> by Amy Hest<\/strong><\/a>, certainly not the only new book Amy has illustrated — but the one new title I’ve seen that made me want to contact her. (More on her other new titles in the interview below.) <\/p>\n


\n

“And once there was a wisp of a girl named Lia.”<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n


\n

“The dog who belonged to no one spent his days quite alone, exploring the narrow streets and wide boulevards of town after town…Lia pedaled very hard…To make herself feel less alone, she thought up stories as she pedaled.”<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n


\n

“As day turned slowly to night, the dog who belonged to no one tried to outrun the night…run, run, run…but a small dog could not outrun the night.”<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n


\n

“Lia pedaled and pedaled to the edge of town, right to the porch, where her parents were waiting, and a small dog was waiting, and the soft light was on.”<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

And then, for this interview, Amy up and sent me these gorgeous sketches and illustrations from a publication of Swan Lake<\/em> that never saw the light of day. Why? O! Why? This will remain a mystery, I suppose, but I’d gladly buy a book with these illustrations if it were to appear on a bookshelf one day: <\/p>\n


\n
\n
\n
\n
\n<\/p>\n

And what are we going to have for breakfast while we chat? Well, seven cheers for Amy, ’cause she is a kindred spirit, inspired by the sheer awesomeness that a really<\/em> good breakfast can be:<\/p>\n

“Mmm, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day,” she told me. “Ideally, a cheap stack of buttermilk pancakes dripping with hot syrup and a lovely pool of fresh melty butter on top — at the diner down the street.<\/font> Or how about breakfast at my place with oatmeal in or out of the bowl, possibly in your hair, compliments of my one-year-old. And a caf\u00e9 au lait. That I am not sharing.” I get that. I really do. So, I’ll bring my own caf\u00e9 au lait. Glad to do it. Let’s get the basics from Amy while we set the table here for our seven questions over breakfast, and I thank her for stopping by. <\/p>\n

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

7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Are you an illustrator or author\/illustrator?<\/font><\/p>\n

Amy<\/font><\/strong>: Illustrator. <\/p>\n

{Ed. Note: Pictured here is Amy’s version of Alice and The White Rabbit, not necessarily for publication: “My own work. [I was] playing around with time and place.”}<\/em><\/p>\n

7-Imp<\/font><\/strong>: Can you list your books-to-date?<\/font><\/p>\n

Amy<\/font><\/strong>: About forty books. The last five are:<\/p>\n