Kidlit Art Talk and Exhibit at the Art Museum of Los Gatos

Last night, I attended a children's book illustration panel discussion at the Art Museum of Los Gatos in the South Bay. Titled Children's Illustration A-Z, the event featured Susan Jaekel, a kidlit illustrator, Gennifer Choldenko, a Newbery-winning author, Summer Laurie, a former editor at Chronicle Books for Children, and Heidi Long, a librarian at the Los Gatos Library.

The hour flew by fast as the panelists answered questions presented by both Heidi, who was the moderator, and audience members.  One of the questions: What's the best piece of advice you can give others? 

Summer talked about the importance of having rhino-skin- and certainly, writers and artists need a thick skin to survive the publishing industry.  Gennifer mentioned the late Norma Fox Mazer for her philosophy of feeling one's way through a project instead of thinking the way. Susan remembered an instructor she had in college  who encouraged her to just follow her passion.

Something Gennifer said really resonated with me: "I'm never lonely when I write. I have my characters with me." Sometimes when I'm writing late into the night, and it seems like I'm all alone at my computer, my characters actually keep me entertained. And I think Gennifer's statement speaks to a larger idea---we're never alone as long as we have stories inside of ourselves to share.

Although the panel discussion was a one-night affair, a children's book illustration exhibition, Draw Me A Story- A Century of Children's Book Illustration and Storytelling in Pictures: From Idea to Art, will be sticking around at the Art Museum of Los Gatos from now through February 24. So if you live in the area, you should check this out.

The exhibition is pretty cool. And there's something unique that distinguishes how each of the featured artists show their interpretation of the universe. (I avoid using the word unique because it's so overused- like epic, for example- so I only use this word when I really mean it, and I do mean it here.) Susan Jaekel's animals with personality, Bob Barner's edgy dinosaurs, Yuyi Morales' dreamy, rich brushwork, and Emma T. Capps and Thi Bui's enlightening graphic novel excerpts are just a few of the many things I saw.

As a child, I loved drawing- I used to win all these random poster contests and hang my prize ribbons and certificates up on my wall. Back then, I'd even  fancied being both a children's book author and illustrator someday. But as I got older, I got sidetracked with other stuff and put my art on the back burner. When I heard about this art talk and exhibit, I attended with the intention to learn a thing or two more about picture book writing. But once I arrived at the museum and saw all the  awesome children's book illustrations on the walls, I thought to myself...maybe, just maybe, I can rekindle this old flame someday.

How do your characters keep you company when you write? 

How many of you are both artists and writers? How do you balance the two things? 

Artists of the images shown here, from top to bottom: Bob Barner, Susan Jaekel, Emma Capps, and Thi Bui