{"id":2548,"date":"2013-04-14T00:01:31","date_gmt":"2013-04-14T06:01:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2548"},"modified":"2013-04-14T00:01:52","modified_gmt":"2013-04-14T06:01:52","slug":"7-imp%e2%80%99s-7-kicks-326-featuring-elisa-kleven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2548","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #326: Featuring Elisa Kleven"},"content":{"rendered":"

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As evidenced by today’s post, I’m still in the celebrate-Spring mode. (For those of you Imp readers who still have snow, I share this in an attempt to warm you.) And I can’t think of a better way to celebrate than by featuring author\/illustrator Elisa Kleven’s<\/a><\/strong> newest picture book, Glasswings: A Butterfly’s Story<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (to be released by Dial this week), which Kirkus<\/em> calls a “joyously optimistic book.” And Elisa’s visiting today to say a bit about it and share lots of art, as well as a few early sketches. <\/p>\n

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This is the story of Claire, who is a Glasswing butterfly (Elisa opens the book with an informative note on these types of butterflies and how they pollinate), whose “wings, as clear as windows, let the world shine through.” After a sudden gust of wind carries her away from her family, she ends up in the city, lonesome and frightened. While on the look-out for some flowers, she befriends a pigeon, an ant, and a ladybug. Her friends show her an empty lot, a community garden where the people of the town are clearly trying to create a spot of beauty in a world of concrete. Claire is in her element, of course, and daily she pollinates the flowers, while her friends stick around and do their part, too, to help the flowers grow and the garden thrive. She still dreams of her family and is eventually reunited, but during her stay she takes on the glow of her surroundings, the vivid colors reflecting in her clear wings. It’s a tale of exuberance, the story of not only the cultivation of a garden and small ecosystem in an urban setting, but also the story of the cultivation of friendships and the pleasures of a community working harmoniously toward a common goal. <\/p>\n

And who better to tell such a story than Elisa? Her mixed media collage art here is teeming with life and rich with texture and details (as always). I’d rather let the art speak for itself, and she shares plenty of it today, so let’s get to Elisa now. I thank her for stopping by today. <\/p>\n

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Elisa<\/font><\/strong>: The first time I saw a photo of a Glasswing butterfly<\/a><\/strong>, a bright yellow flower shining through its transparent wings, the image flew right into my imagination, where it stayed, coming out from time to time in doodles or scribbled story ideas. <\/p>\n

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As I researched Glasswings<\/em>, I learned some enchanting things about them: They are, for example, known affectionately as “Espejitos” or “Little Mirrors” in the Latin American countries where they’re found. And, like other butterflies, they are able to migrate long distances and are instrumental in keeping flowers alive and well through pollination.<\/p>\n

My fascination with Glasswings’ intriguing combination of fragility and sturdiness, fluidity (their wings change color and shape with every shifting movement), and productivity eventually inspired my butterfly character, Claire. Though clear, light, and airy, Claire is also a great force for change in the concrete city in which she finds herself lost. Even at her most vulnerable, homesick, and invisible (her wings “as gray as the sidewalk”), Claire remains true to herself as a creature who loves and needs flowers and beauty. And in so doing, she transforms both herself back into a flowery butterfly — and the empty lot she’s made her new home into an oasis for all to enjoy. <\/p>\n

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Cover sketch<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

One last detail about the creation of Glasswings: A Butterfly’s Story<\/em>: While I worked on it, I was inspired by these words from the great Polish poet, Czes\u0142aw Mi\u0142osz<\/a><\/strong>: “To whom do we tell what happened on earth, for whom do we place everywhere huge mirrors in hope they will be filled up and stay so?”<\/p>\n

I like to think that Glasswing butterflies tell their stories with their mirror-like wings, collaborating not only with the flowers they pollinate but with everything around them.<\/p>\n

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“Claire was a Glasswing butterfly.
Her wings, as clear as windows, let the world shine through.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

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“When she swooped down low to the forest floor she seemed as feathery green as the ferns. And when she fluttered among the flowers, sipping nectar,
Claire looked like a flower, too.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

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“‘Claire, we can’t see you!’ her family called. ‘Here I am!’ said Claire, but she was lost in the swirling clouds. On and on she tumbled, scared and lonely.
Finally the wind let her go.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

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Early sketch and final art:
“She fluttered down to a strange new world, a city of concrete and corners.”<\/em>
(Click each to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

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“‘I hope I’ll find some flowers here,’ Claire said hungrily.
‘And I hope that my family will find<\/em> me.”
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

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Sketch and final art:
“Claire looked around for a spot of color. Up above she saw three big ones, lined up in a row. ‘Oh!’ said the ladybug. ‘You’re as read as me, now!’ ‘And now you’re as yellow as a taxi!’ cried the pigeon. ‘And now you’re as green as a soda can!’ the ant exclaimed. ‘Are you a magic butterfly?’ ‘I wish,’ said Claire.
‘I’d fly right home. But I don’t know the way.'”<\/em>
(Click each to enlarge; Note: This second image is not the final<\/em> art)<\/center><\/p>\n

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“‘Stay with us, then,’ the pigeon suggested. ‘No butterflies ever visit us,’ said the ladybug. ‘They just pass overhead, on their way to somewhere else.’ ‘Would you like something to eat?’ asked the ant, offering Claire a tortilla crumb. ‘Thanks, but I only eat nectar,’ said Claire. ‘From flowers.’ ‘Flowers?’ asked the pigeon.”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

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“‘What are flowers?’ asked the ant. ‘I know what flowers are!’ said the ladybug, flapping her wings. ‘I ate some tasty aphids on some flowers just this morning.
Follow me, I’ll show you.'”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

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“A family of Glasswings was fluttering near. ‘Look at that big patch of color!’ they cried. ‘Look at that flowery butterfly! She looks just like our …
Claire!<\/strong><\/font> We’ve been looking for you!'”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

GLASSWINGS: A BUTTERFLY’S STORY. Copyright \u00a9 2013 by Elisa Kleven. Published by Dial Books for Young Readers, New York. All images here reproduced with permission of Elisa Kleven.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Note for any new readers: 7-Imp\u2019s 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. <\/p>\n

* * * Jules’ Kicks * * *<\/strong><\/font>
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1)<\/strong><\/font> The way Elisa’s artwork always wakes my brain up. <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> Spring. <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> Delicious meals cooked by talented friends. <\/p>\n

4)<\/strong><\/font> Meeting people in person whose work I admire. <\/p>\n

5)<\/strong><\/font> My strong, resilient, and kind friends. (Hello, Brain Trust.)<\/p>\n

6)<\/strong><\/font> Cocoa pancakes. For dinner even. You know you wanna make some<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

7)<\/strong><\/font> Look. Sam<\/a><\/strong> covers a jazz\/blues classic (for a show I don’t watch, so I’m glad they released this video so that I can hear her). I love what she does with the percussion at the end of the cover. I always<\/em> love what Sam does with percussion. <\/p>\n