{"id":4375,"date":"2017-06-18T00:01:19","date_gmt":"2017-06-18T06:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4375"},"modified":"2017-06-17T18:43:56","modified_gmt":"2017-06-18T00:43:56","slug":"7-imps-7-kicks-539-featuring-dow-phumiruk","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/?p=4375","title":{"rendered":"7-Imp\u2019s 7 Kicks #539: Featuring Dow Phumiruk"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nIt’s a pleasure to have Dow Phumiruk’s<\/a><\/strong> artwork here at 7-Imp today. Her illustrations for Jeanne Walker Harvey’s<\/a><\/strong> Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines<\/a><\/strong><\/em> (Christy Ottaviano Books\/Henry Holt, May 2017) mark her debut in picture books. <\/p>\n

This picture book biography starts with Maya’s childhood in “her house full of light and open spaces.” Her parents, Harvey explains, had fled China for the U.S., and her childhood was filled with art. Having been inspired as a child to study architecture one day, she studied overseas. It was during her last year of college that she entered the contest to design the Vietnam War memorial. Her design—entered anonymously, as all of the submissions were—was chosen out of 1,421 entries:<\/p>\n

“Simple yet strong. Creative and new. But when they found out Maya was the winner, the judges were shocked. She wasn’t famous. She was a young woman still in school. …”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n


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(Click to enlarge cover)<\/em><\/center>
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\nThe book also goes into the public backlash over her decision to build a “long, polished wall”; that is, some people objected to her very design. “Maya was young, but she was brave,” Harvey writes. “She didn’t back down.” <\/p>\n

“The clean lines in Phumiruk\u2019s deliberately sparse, light-infused spreads,” notes the Booklist<\/em> review, “and the placement of slender, pillar like passages of text reinforce the breathtaking beauty of Lin\u2019s sleek landmark.” These finely-detailed illustrations are sharp, nearly photographic in nature, and both author and illustrator communicate great reverence for the subject matter, this accomplished architect and artist. <\/p>\n

Below are some spreads from the book, as well as an image from a work-in-progress piece and a selection of other images. I thank Dow for sharing today.
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“On long walks alone, she searched for birds in the forest. Maya sat still as a statue, hoping to tame rabbits, raccoons, chipmunks, and squirrels.”
— From <\/em>Maya Lin
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/em><\/center>
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“One day when Maya looked at the patterns of light and lines on the ceiling of her college library, she imagined she would become an architect who created buildings
with art, science, and math.”
— From <\/em>Maya Lin
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/em><\/center>
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“The first time Maya visited the finished wall, she searched for the name of the father of a friend. When she touched the name, she cried, just as she knew others would. Thousands came that Veterans Day to see and touch and remember. Salutes, hands on hearts, honoring. And every day since then, visitors have done the same.”
— From <\/em>Maya Lin
(Click to enlarge spread)<\/em><\/center>
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(Click all but first image to enlarge)<\/em><\/center>
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\nMAYA LIN: ARTIST-ARCHITECT OF LIGHT AND LINES. Copyright \u00a9 2017 by Jeanne Walker Harvey. Illustrations \u00a9 2017 by Dow Phumiruk. Published by Christy Ottaviano Books\/Henry Holt, New York. Illustrations—ad all other artwork—reproduced by permission of Dow Phumiruk.<\/em><\/p>\n

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> When someone who has come 7-Imp-kickin’ many times before (such as, Dow) publishes her first illustrated book. <\/p>\n

2)<\/strong><\/font> Time with my girls in the summers. <\/p>\n

3)<\/strong><\/font> Strong networks of friends. <\/p>\n

4)<\/strong><\/font> Sherman Alexie’s new memoir<\/a><\/strong>. <\/p>\n

5)<\/strong><\/font> So far, so good with my picture book grad course this summer.<\/p>\n

6)<\/strong><\/font> Those students who get really fired up about the picture books I’m asking them to read. <\/p>\n

7)<\/strong><\/font> Setting up that one<\/em> last set of shelves in a house that still feels new. It may have taken nearly a year, but every thing<\/em> in the home now has a place. <\/p>\n

What are YOUR<\/font><\/strong> kicks this week? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s a pleasure to have Dow Phumiruk’s artwork here at 7-Imp today. Her illustrations for Jeanne Walker Harvey’s Maya Lin: Artist-Architect of Light and Lines (Christy Ottaviano Books\/Henry Holt, May 2017) mark her debut in picture books. This picture book biography starts with Maya’s childhood in “her house full of light and open spaces.” Her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-seven-good-things-before-monday","category-picture-books"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4375","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=4375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4375\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blaine.org\/sevenimpossiblethings\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}