{"id":1779,"date":"2009-09-02T21:55:16","date_gmt":"2009-09-03T03:55:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1779"},"modified":"2009-09-02T21:56:41","modified_gmt":"2009-09-03T03:56:41","slug":"my-post-at-the-end-of-a-long-day-in-which-i-treat-myself-to-beautiful-art-and-share-it-with-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=1779","title":{"rendered":"My Post at the End of a Long Day In Which I Treat Myself to Beautiful Art and Share It With You"},"content":{"rendered":"

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This is illustrator Julie Paschkis’<\/strong><\/a> cover art (click to enlarge) for Rachel Rodr\u00edguez’s<\/strong><\/a> new picture book biography of one of the 19th century’s boldest artists, architect Antoni Gaud\u00ed. Building on Nature: The Life of Anton Gaud\u00ed<\/strong><\/em><\/a>, published by Henry Holt this month, is that other<\/em> picture book biography I promised<\/strong><\/a> to cover this week, but I’m not going to say much. And that’s because it’s been one of THOSE long, way-too-busy days that wears one out. I think pausing to soak in some Paschkis-art—beautiful, always<\/em> beautiful—is just what I need right now: Julie’s art reminds me to slow down and take it all in better. <\/p>\n

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But I do<\/em> have enough energy to say: This book is beautiful. Rodr\u00edguez and Paskchis are the same wonder duo who brought us Through Georgia’s Eyes<\/strong><\/a><\/em>, the gorgeous biography of Georgia O\u2019Keeffe, and this book possesses the same strong writing (the spare, immediate, poetic text) and Julie’s impressive ability to evoke the subject’s vision “without ever seeming like mere imitation” (as Kirkus<\/em> put it for Through Georgia’s Eyes<\/em>.) For the art for this title, Julie traveled to Barcelona to see Gaud\u00ed’s architecture and his homeland. And it shows in her detailed and luminescent art, a most reverent tribute to the architect known for his unique, graceful designs and who obtained natural forms in his work: “Gaud\u00ed’s buildings curve and arch. They sparkle and glitter and whisper with joy,”<\/em> writes Rodr\u00edguez. <\/p>\n

And so does Julie’s art. As you may remember from last year<\/strong><\/a>, I’m a big fan. I thank her for sharing some illustrations today from the book, along with some sketches for us Illustration Junkies. Let’s just soak in the beauty, shall we? Just what we need at the end of a long day, I say:<\/p>\n

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“He designs a gate for his friend G\u00fcell’s country home. A dragon perches atop diamonds and squares, baring his fangs and slithery tongue. Gaud\u00ed’s creations get braver. For G\u00fcell’s Palace in town, Gaud\u00ed builds a curving ramp to a basement stable. Horses clomp down to it. Upstairs, sunlight enters a domed ceiling. The family enjoys their salon beneath a starry sky.”
(Click image to enlarge.)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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Julie’s sketch (click to enlarge) for the left side of the above spread.<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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“A long bench snakes around a playground. Gaud\u00ed’s workers smash old tiles, glass, and plates to bits. They decorate the endless curving bench. Gaud\u00ed praises his talented craftsmen. Visitors pour in to celebrate Gaud\u00ed’s vision of Catalonia.”
(Click to enlarge.)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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Julie’s sketch (click to enlarge) of the above illustration.<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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“Gaud\u00ed grows older, and still he works on his Holy Family Church. He uses the lessons from all his other buildings and dedicates his final years to it. Tile and Venetian glass encrust soaring towers. Inside, light filters through a stone forest.”
(Click to enlarge.)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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Julie’s sketch (click to enlarge) of the above illustration.<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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“Gaud\u00ed’s buildings curve and arch. They sparkle and glitter and whisper with joy. They stand waiting for you to see with your very own eyes.”
(Click to enlarge.)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

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BUILDING ON NATURE: THE LIFE OF ANTONI GAUDI. Text copyright \u00a9 2009 by Rachel Rodr\u00edguez. Illustrations copyright \u00a9 2009 by Julie Paschkis. Published by Henry Holt and Company, New York, NY. All sketches and images reproduced by permission of the illustrator. All rights reserved.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is illustrator Julie Paschkis’ cover art (click to enlarge) for Rachel Rodr\u00edguez’s new picture book biography of one of the 19th century’s boldest artists, architect Antoni Gaud\u00ed. Building on Nature: The Life of Anton Gaud\u00ed, published by Henry Holt this month, is that other picture book biography I promised to cover this week, but […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nonfiction","category-picture-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779","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=1779"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1779\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}