ChatRabbit

My Favorites by Maurice Sendak

Liz — Thu, 10 May 2012 12:24:55 +0000

What a blow to lose Maurice Sendak this week. Somehow, he seemed like he would just always be there. I’m glad he was writing, working, and being his straight-shooting, famously cantankerous self right up ’til the end. He was the Book King. I knew this as a kid, too.

Here are two of my all-time favorite Sendak books from childhood. They made such a huge impression, that looking back at them now literally brings me back to being a kid.

First up: Some Swell Pup, or Are You Sure You Want A Dog?

Here’s my dog-eared (haha) copy from 1978. This book is genius, straight up. Every kid (and adult) who is contemplating getting a dog should be issued this book. That is from my adult-perspective view. But as a kid, I found this book hilarious and ridiculously frank. The good, the bad, and the ugly is explored with an unblinking eye.

The story begins when a “mysterious stranger”, who seems to be a dog himself, leaves a puppy on the doorstep of a brother and sister. The initial joy of owning a puppy soon turns to reality when the pup does everything “wrong”… and they do everything wrong.

This book was way ahead of it’s time, if you think about how many books use the “graphic novel” approach. This story is laid out like a comic book, and the details in each panel are spot on. The puppy pees. It poops. It shreds things. The kids fight over it, yell at it, hold it the wrong way, and get aggravated with each other. It’s real. And there is a happy ending, but it’s a realistic one. All is not happy until the kids really get what’s involved in having a dog. And they do, the hard way!

It’s so obvious! You’ve got to love! Love! Love!

Next up: Higglety Pigglety Pop! Or There Must Be More To Life.

I mean, really. Just the title. There was nothing like this on the bookshelves in the early 70s, when I first found it. I recall repeatedly borrowing it from my grammar school library and poring over the illustrations, and the surreal words. The story was weird. It had layers. The pictures felt real to me.

It was moody. And a bit scary. Jennie the dog leaves a life that’s just fine in search of “something more”. She becomes a nursemaid to a baby that won’t eat, and ends up stuffing the baby into her suitcase. But that’s OK, because there’s a lion that is interested in eating the baby, too. Eventually, Jennie ends up in a stage show, in which she eats a mop made of salami every night.

Jennie never returns to her good home. She writes to her old master at the end and tells him to come and visit, except she doesn’t know where she is. Traditional storytelling? Not on your life. I loved it.

Looking back at it now, I am struck by two things that hadn’t occurred to me before. One- I have loved scotty dogs forever. Jennie isn’t a scotty per se, but I think this is where my love of them came from. Two- as an adult, I find myself ensconced in the world of community theater. I write, direct, make costumes and sets, etc. Maybe it was this book that “set the stage” for this hobby. I remember being obsessed with the mini stage play that ends this book. The page turns were theatrical, like watching a little movie (and I know Sendak was himself a theater lover). I just adored it. And now I stage plays of my own. A little seed planted in childhood? Quite possibly.

I’m thankful there were alternative books like this on the shelves when I was a kid, and they will surely endure.

So maybe it isn’t really “the end”.

Motivational Words (and Frogs)

Liz — Thu, 10 May 2012 00:46:00 +0000

Here are the car logos from last post, installed in my studio. Donny Osmond, Lowly Worm, and an a chorus of wide-mouthed frogs find them inspirational. I will use them as cheerful reminders to stay motivated!

A Valiant Return

Liz — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:38:46 +0000

Hello out there! I have not had the chance to blog due to Circumstances Beyond My Control. But mercifully, things are getting back under control again, and so, let the posting begin!

I found these recently at an antique mall near me. They are, of course, metal logos that used to be adhered to cars. These two stuck out with me. I like the idea of a hunk of rolling metal being thought of as “Valiant” or “Dynamic”. That’s just good marketing! And great typography, while we’re at it. I decided that these terms were just as useful in my studio as they were on a car. So now, I shall attempt to keep up a valiant effort and create dynamic art and products!

I also like them because they remind me of this:

May this be a terrific spring for everyone!

Remembering J. Joseph Garrahy

Liz — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:27:35 +0000

I was so sorry to hear about J. Joseph Garrahy’s death today. He was the former Governor of Rhode Island. Back in 1977, when I was 10, I won an art contest and got to meet him at the State House. It was a big moment for Little Me. It was one of the first times that art had made things happen for me, if you know what I mean.

Then, the next year, Garrahy was the hero of the Blizzard of ’78! Everyone here remembers him as the guy in the plaid shirt and the “take charge” demeanor that helped us all dig out of the mountains of snow and problems.

I drew this portrait of him in 1982. He was Governor from ’77-85.

(NOT a great portrait, but then, I never was a realist!)

I had met him again in recent years, and he was still a smart, friendly and excellent guy.

He will be missed. Perhaps he will be hanging out with Salty now, sharing a heavenly Del’s, and looking over Little Rhody!

New Year, New Book!

Liz — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 18:04:52 +0000

The ol’ Chat Rabbit has been largely silent for a number of weeks due to holiday happenings… but I have a new book that just came out on New Year’s Day. It’s all about everyone’s favorite President, Abe Lincoln! Words by the incomparable Marion Dane Bauer, pictures by me, and published by Scholastic.

Get yourself an copy and witness… Abe as a boy!

Abe debating stuff!

Abe at war!

Honestly, so to speak, this book is intended to be a first look at Lincoln for the preschool set. I had to do a lot of research to make sure things were portrayed as accurately as possible, but still readable and visually interesting for very young children. It was a challenge! This is a companion book of sorts to the Christopher Columbus book I illustrated a couple of years ago. Here’s hoping this book finds it’s way into many kids’ hands!

New York, New York…or, Close Encounters of the Daniel Radcliffe Kind

Liz — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 20:35:10 +0000

So, I was in New York for the NYIGF last week, helping set up the booth for the FRED company, where I design homegoods and the like.
Setup went well- and the booth looked positively smashing, I must say!

I wouldn’t cross that line if I were you…

After, we had a little time to jump into the Museum of Modern Art’s store and check things out.

They periodically carry Fred items, and I found one of mine, the Half Pint creamer inside.

Even though it was an exhausting day of show setup, I really wanted to see if we could score some tickets to How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, starring Daniel Radcliffe, currently running on Broadway. Holy cow! We got tickets! In the very last row!

The coolest thing about NYC, in my opinion, is the preponderance of theater going on at any given time. You could see a new play every day, and probably never run out of options.

Here’s what the Hirschfeld Theater looks like from outside… oddly enough, there was a giant line of people waiting to get in, but because we were picking up our tickets at the box office, we went in first.

The Hirschfeld Theater has lots of (surprise, surprise!) Hirschfeld cartoon art on the walls!

I couldn’t take pictures during the play, but it was fabulous! And Daniel Radcliffe was excellent in it- it was a very demanding role, and he was up to it and able to sing, dance, and perform acrobatics, all with an American accent. I only realized he wasn’t speaking with a British accent about 3/4 the way through, so it was a good job!

We waited along with about 500 of our closest friends in the alleyway behind the theater to see if the stars would come out and meet the crowd. Apparently, this is the same scene every night. It was fun waiting with everyone, a good crowd. Oh, hey! Look!

John Larroquette…I used to LOVE Night Court! He was very funny in this play.

And OH! LOOK!

A little piece of Daniel Radcliffe! That’s as close as we could get before he was whisked away in a car. In fact, I didn’t really see either of these guys- Eric and his fancy overhead camera moves were able to catch these glimpses!

This is as close as I really got to meeting him!

BUT, I was able to score what I believe to be The Offical Dorkiest Souvenir Available on Broadway!

Yes, THAT’S RIGHT. An official J. Pierrepont Finch bowtie! This was specially picked up for my kid, Audrey, who happens to be cool, because she gets it.

Post-show, we wandered through the freakshow that is Times Square, still teeming with hundreds of people, even at midnight.

Every time I am in this square, I look to the statue of George M. Cohan, and I wonder just what he would make of this all now.

Blueberry Fields Retreat

Liz — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 00:48:18 +0000

I had the fine good fortune of joining a small group of über-talented writers on the first Blueberry Fields retreat in Yarmouth, Maine. Honestly, I didn’t know what to expect of it, but I was more than willing to find out.

First impressions are everything:

The setting was beautiful, ethereal, and perfectly conducive to getting your writer’s groove on. The sessions were casual.

The results, unforced.

Between poolside art experimentation and word games, we had a first pages reading…

off-the-wharf lobster dinner…

and time to settle in for readings from our works in progress.

The comfort level, along with the high level of writing quality made for a seriously inspiring evening!

Not pictured: TONS of laughter and beautiful food, long and meaningful critiques, frogs, turkeys, yelping foxes and other things that shall remain unpictured!

We had the opportunity to pick organic blueberries from the hundreds of bushes on the property.

It was amazing to be able to focus on writing for a while, then hit the fields for berries.

Couldn’t have ‘picked’ a better weekend, or better folks to hang with!

Many thanks to Meg, Julie, and Cameron for all of your hard work putting this weekend together. “Magical” isn’t too strong a word to use for it!

Moving Forward, Looking Back!

Liz — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:01:31 +0000

Congratulations to all the recent graduates out there! Whether you are moving from Kindergarten to First Grade, from 8th grade to High School, or heading off to college in the fall… well done!

In the Spring of 1989, just before I graduated from RISD, I was very lucky to be “recruited” immediately for a job at Russ Berrie and Co., Inc. The company was in New Jersey, which meant my first real move (since I commuted to college). Russ was famous for it’s giftware at the time, and I was put into the Plush division. Yep- designing stuffed animals for a living! Practically a dream come true!

I recently found some pertinent plush designs from way back then:

“Going nowhere fast”… haha!

This little grad turtle was a typical job. A “Product Planner” would decide what they wanted to see, and then have an artist (like me) draw it up and specify (spec) colors and materials for the manufacturer to work from. Then, we would receive a sample product. The sample would usually be presented to the decision makers (including Russ the man himself), for possible inclusion into one of the upcoming lines. Often, items didn’t make it into the line for one reason or another.

This design for “Gradzilla” was a different story. When we designers were finished with our regular work and had extra time, we could freely design items (of any type) as a “Designer’s Day” item. I was a speedy worker, so I drew a lot of these kinds of things.

Did they ever get produced? I have no idea! They probably at least made it to the sample stage. I heard recently that the once great and powerful Russ company was going out of business. So sad! But the world keeps a-turning, and we must go forward!

Good luck to everyone as they move forward!

Antiquing In the Brimfield Tradition

Liz — Tue, 24 May 2011 16:24:17 +0000

It has become a tradition (cue the Fiddler on the Roof theme!) for my mother and I to hit Brimfield twice a year- once in spring, and once in the fall. Brimfield is a town in Massachusetts that becomes the antique mecca of the US three times a year. The town is overtaken by a baffling quantity of antiques dealers from all over the country, selling every possible thing ever made. That is what I like most about it. While I may be seeking certain things for my various collections, mostly I like to take pictures of the oddities that I never expected to see. And so, I share them with you! I hope you appreciate the old and odd, too!

Who you lookin’ at, punk?

I didn’t expect to see Harrison Ford, for example.

Harrison and Mom, together at last!

Early Christmas!

Are they live, or are they cooked?

Here you can see a set of the original, deadly steel-tipped Jarts, along with a painting of…questionable content.

What is going on in that painting?

I can’t buy everything, but IF I could, this would be amongst the purchases:

You can never have too many wooden bunny carts, I always say.

Here’s another one of those “Wha???” kind of items. They are plaster wall hangings depicting… human peas?

OH, the humanity!

These make me want to be a chocolatier, so I would have an excuse to own them all!

I adore anything mini-kitchen related.

Some folks are very good at displaying stuff.

Brushes with destiny!

Filling old tins with herbs is a great idea!

More of my favorite things… little building and houses and vintage Disney!

More well-thought displays.

A rug that’s WAY too nice to put on a floor!

What better way to organize your household! Stick everything in THIS!

Slovenly Peter! This is a great old English edition of the famously odd German book, Der Struwwelpeter.

What’s going on in that suitcase, Willie?

Willie’s not talking.

Huh… a weird sign.

Hmmm. There are so many places one could put this sign!

If I had a free 8-foot long wall in my house, it would have this on it now:

It opened up to reveal tons of skinny shelves. Perfect for a spice rack with 1000 jars!

Yes, take my picture with it, Mom!

They know when you are sleeping…

They KNOW when you’re awake… gah!!

My favorite era for ceramics… 40s-50s.

Sew cute!

Not your type? Try one of these-

These are to die for! So are these antique puns! hehehe

How did anyone ever write anything on one of these?

Here you have the original molds used to make those plastic banks from the 70s:

A study in contrasts:

More Steiff than you can shake a stick at!

I didn’t know Steiff made an Okapi… and every other animal known to mankind. The dealer said he was on the lookout for the elusive Steiff cockroach. Yep, they really made one!

Heads up!

Radar Search? So, at one point, that would have been a fun game, I guess. hard to imagine!

There you have it! Brimfield in a day! Of course, you can’t even see 10% of what’s there in a day, you just have to see what you can!

So, here are a few things I bought:

A few bits for my Five and Dime “store”.

Some fabulous old hand-painted wooden stuff.

Dancing Dutch, courtesy of my eagle-eyed uncle!

Various mini kitchenware. Perfect for going into various mini kitchens!

Part of a toy tea set… gotta find me the teapot, now!

A great set of WW2 wooden souvenir shoes to go with my “little” collection!

The next Brimfield shows are July 10-15, and Sept. 4-9. Don’t miss it!

Books of a Certain Age

Liz — Sun, 22 May 2011 17:30:28 +0000

I was at Savers the other day (which is a secondhand department store), and was happy to find a cache of semi-vintage children’s books.

I don’t know about you, but I am always attracted to books from the 60s and 70s. I guess that is due in no small part to having grown up then. Be that as it may, there is something oddly comforting about the cheap printing, limited palettes, and distinctly “quieter” storylines from this era. And at 69¢ each, my children’s library is filled with such things. A lot of them tend to be library discards…how sad!

It must have been hard to illustrate back then, knowing you sometimes had to work with only one or two colors. Not to mention having to do the separations by hand- no computers to make that task easy. Huzzah for modernity, at least some of it!