{"id":2756,"date":"2013-09-03T00:01:33","date_gmt":"2013-09-03T06:01:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2756"},"modified":"2020-08-07T13:16:48","modified_gmt":"2020-08-07T19:16:48","slug":"color-commentary-with-debut-author-jessica-young","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=2756","title":{"rendered":"Color Commentary with Debut Author Jessica Young"},"content":{"rendered":"

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“But my black is peaceful \/ Like the still surface of a lake \/
And the spaces between the stars. \/ I guess colors are how you see them. . . .”<\/em>
(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

Appearing on shelves now, as of last month, from Candlewick Press is debut author Jessica Young’s<\/a><\/strong> My Blue Is Happy<\/a><\/strong><\/em>, illustrated by C\u00e1tia Chien<\/a><\/strong>. (Chien evidently was born in Brazil and now lives in California.) In this book, a young girl uses color to discuss emotions and, essentially, to ponder the notion that there’s not just one way to see or experience this world. Blue doesn’t have to mean sad “like a lonely song,” thanks very much, and who ever said red had to be angry and black had to be scary? (Shadows, schmadows. This young girl’s black is peaceful<\/em>, as you can see above.) <\/p>\n

Jessica’s writing is lyrical and perceptive, and young readers who feel slightly out of step with their peers will particularly welcome the protagonist’s delightfully left-of-center point of view. Or, as the School Library Journal<\/em> review wrote, “This child knows her own mind and feelings and isn’t about to have someone else’s associations color her world.”<\/p>\n

Hear, hear. <\/p>\n

(I also love how Esm\u00e9 Raji Codell describes this book<\/a><\/strong> as “oddly subversive … and surprisingly evocative.”)<\/p>\n

Jessica (pictured left), who is originally from Canada and an art teacher by day, is visiting this morning to chat with me about this book, as well as colors, perceptions, Ira Glass, Picasso’s Blue Period, art therapy, and much more. If 7-Imp were a review blog, I’d be required to get all in-the-interest-of-full-disclosure on you here and tell you that Jessica is a dear friend. She is, in fact, one of my favorite friends on the planet. She lives here in middle Tennessee, and it’s actually thanks to this blog that we met. But 7-Imp isn’t a review blog, as I explain here<\/a><\/strong> at the site. It’s really a fan site, a place where I talk about picture books that I like and see if the creators want to come visit. And I really like Jessica’s writing in this book, and I would even if she weren’t<\/em> my friend. <\/p>\n

So, let’s get to it, and we’ve got some art from Chien to pepper the post. I thank Jessica for visiting. (I’m getting out some of my favorite coffee mugs right now.)<\/p>\n

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Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Hi, Jessica! It’s your debut picture book. How does it feel?<\/font><\/p>\n

Jessica<\/font><\/strong>: It’s clich\u00e9, but the closest thing I can compare it to is having my first child. After waiting and worrying, consuming massive amounts of cottage cheese and kale, and stocking the freezer with meals to last for weeks, when the doctor passed him to me, I looked at him and said, “It worked!” I knew it was coming, but somehow I was still surprised. It’s an amazing feeling, holding something in my hands that started as a thought.<\/p>\n

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Jules<\/font><\/strong>: That makes tons of sense. If that has become clich\u00e9, it’s probably because it’s a very apt analogy. <\/p>\n

I know that you are always thinking about writing and premises and stories. (You’re one of the hardest-working writers I know.) Tell me about the seed for this particular story. When and how’d you first decide to do this story about colors and how people see the same thing differently?<\/font><\/p>\n


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(Click the second image to see the spread in its entirety)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

Jessica<\/font><\/strong>: The line between work and play is a little blurry. But thanks \u2013- it means a lot, especially coming from you! <\/p>\n

The story took a while to evolve. I think I started it around 2008 \u2013- at least that’s the earliest version I can find. I\u2019ve always been really affected by colors and interested in multiple perspectives and subjectivity. After I started teaching art, I remember looking at paintings from Picasso\u2019s Blue Period<\/a><\/strong> and thinking about blues music and how things like that color people\u2019s perceptions of blue. I wondered how a child might react to finding out other people\u2019s views of her favorite color. I wish I could remember the moment the title came to me, because that was really the beginning of the story.<\/p>\n

Jules<\/font><\/strong>: You have an art therapy background. (Your degree is in Expressive Therapies. Did I get that right?) Can you talk a bit about how any of those professional experiences (generally speaking) inform this text, if at all?<\/font><\/p>\n

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“But my green is as old as a forest \/
And the statue in the park.”<\/em><\/br>(Click to enlarge)<\/center><\/p>\n

Jessica<\/font><\/strong>: Yes, I got my Master’s in Expressive Therapies \u2013- using different creative arts in a therapeutic way. I remember learning about diagnostic drawing tests that are sometimes used to determine aspects of a person’s thoughts, feelings, and personality. Combined with other measures, they can be springboards for engaging people about their inner worlds. I think everyone\u2019s visual language is different, so you have to get to know people’s unique perspectives before you try to interpret what they’re saying. I didn’t intend for the book to address that, but reflecting on it now, I guess that’s pretty much what it’s about.<\/p>\n

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(Click second image to see spread in its entirety)<\/em><\/center><\/p>\n

Jules<\/font><\/strong>: Speaking of being hard-working and saying things that might sound clich\u00e9, as we were discussing above, what advice would you give to someone who says to you, “I want to write picture books”? (I know authors get asked this ad nauseam, but I think a good deal of 7-Imp’s readers are really interested in learning to write picture books, if they aren’t already writing them.)<\/font><\/p>\n

Jessica<\/font><\/strong>: It’s different for everyone, but here are some things that have really helped me:<\/p>\n

Inspiration: Familiarizing yourself with what’s already out there — and in doing that, thinking about why you like what you like. There’s a great piece by Ira Glass<\/a><\/strong> about making stuff and the discrepancy between the things you appreciate and the things you create.<\/p>\n