{illustration} A rare find...

So speaking of rabbits, the velveteen kind to be exact - I have an interesting & cool vintage find to share. Last year I stumbled on a book called, Best in Children's Books- a compilation of stories edited by Doubleday press in 1960. I started thumbing through it because it included The Velveteen Rabbit (which is probably the most influential book of my childhood). As a bonus, I was literally giddy when I saw that Maurice Sendak (who is a favorite illustrator of mine) had illustrated it!  Do I even have to tell you that I I bought the book just for these illustrations?

Sendak's early drawings are my favorite & I really love his interpretation of this story.   I thought a few days before Easter would be  perfect time to share them. Hope you have a great weekend! Happy Easter! 

{La Petite Magazine} Sayer's Book Corner # 9

All curled & cozy in bed while reading bunny books- does it get any better? With Easter right around the corner, we have been diving into my vintage pile of rabbit books for some hopping adventures. Sayer's all chilled out & reading Whitman Giant Tell-A-Tale Book: Peter Rabbit, illustrated by Rod Ruth (1963). Let's hop down memory lane & check out  a few more... 

 Wonder Books: 

Sonny the Lucky Bunny, pictures by Art Seiden (1952) & The Hungry Bunny, pictures by Bea Rabin Seiden (1951)

Little Golden Books: 

Duck and his Friends pictures by Richard Scarry (1949) & Rabbit and his Friends by Richard Scarry (1953)

One of my all time favorite books is, The Velveteen Rabbit  by Margery Williams. I still think about this book when I'm making plush critters in my studio & wonder if a child will ever make my creations real. 

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become REAL. It doesn't happen all at once. You become. It takes a long time. Generally, by the time you are REAL, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are REAL you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand." (page 17)

Hope you have a wonderful Easter weekend! 

You can view all of Sayer's Book Corner at La Petite Magazine as well - #9 is here.

{Music Monday} Collaborations & Connections...

I may have mentioned before that was involved in dance classes for pretty much all of my childhood & teen years. Actually an injury is what shifted my attention to painting & art. So, I honed my musical ear towards more instrumental music before my artistic shift. I appreciated experimental music & collaboration from a really early age because of my dance background I think.

I love to learn about artists & the connections that they have with one another. Coincidentally or maybe not- I often tend to like the work of artists who are friends & in different disciplines. I found out about John Cage (musician/composer), Merce Cunningham (dancer/choreographer) & Robert Rauschenberg (fine artist/painter/sculptor) at the same time oddly enough- in college while I was an art major. I was really enamored with the school they all went to called Black Mountain College & dreamed of going to a place where all disciplines were combined. These three guys became favorite artists of mine not only for their work, but for their personalities & attitude about creating.

photo credits: here & here

On my lunch break research tangent, I looked up John Cage because of the NPR tiny desk concert today & stumbled on this little gem. I didn't realize that he composed music for the film, "Works by Calder". Alexander Calder is one of my favorite artists as well & one of the reasons I started making mobiles 6 years ago. I felt it was appropriate that when I was packing & shipping mobiles today, I should be listening to this.  Happy Music Monday!

Rabbits & Eggs...

Happy April!  Rabbits are hoppin' & eggs are dyed - it's getting quite festive in the klt:shop!