Wonder, Words, and Lots of Color
*Wonder, Words, Color . . .
As I spend time in nature, with my family, and with my kindergarten students, ideas come. I write because I experience all of life as story, and I know that children do too. In my work as a children’s librarian and elementary school teacher, I see that children walk around with heads full of questions and hearts full of feelings. Sometimes, just like me, they need words and pictures to make sense of it all.
Since childhood, I have been captivated by imaginative, spirited, artists like Beatrix Potter and Eric Carle. I knew I had to create books too. When I write a story, I “see the story” in my head in still pictures. The colors are bright and the world is filled with details and feeling. I want to step into these pictures, walk around, breathe in the air, and stay for a while - maybe until I’m ready to step out into my own world again.
Using pencil sketches and watercolors, I bring my characters to life. More and more, I am learning to “trust the water” to carry the colors where they should go. At the same time, I infuse that trust with intention. My characters are expressive with their bodies and faces – joyful, curious, afraid, sad, or mad – I endeavor to reflect the wonder of what it feels like to be a child.
