Happy June!

     We have just moved to our camp in the Berkshires. My husband is all ready to play in the amazing double bass section in the Boston Symphony Orchestra during their summer residency at Tanglewood. We drove up with a trailer full of chickens and his double bass was transported in its special case with the harps, timpani, drums and wardrobe trunks in the BSO?s high tech transport.  Joe has been playing at Tanglewood, since joining at 19 for 57 years. If you live near Western Massachusetts think about enjoying a Tanglewood concert, under the stars on the beautiful wooded lawns or in "The Shed" the 5,000 seat performance hall surrounding the stage. In recent years they have put in Megatron screens and state of the art speakers that are so good the lawn experience rivals the hall. As an illustrator, I'm looking forward to that perfect 2 hours of uninterrupted beauty. I love to let the music lead me and have my imagination get fired up. Many book ideas get worked on during those magical moments. Thinkers have often linked science and music, the structures having similarities. There is something about listening to a sublimely played piece of music that stimulates and assists one's creative thoughts. Friends make the drive from spots near Boston and NYC, playing the music they will hear at the concert. Then at Tanglewood all the senses are stimulated by the beauty and freshness of the Berkshires, and the music comes alive as the Andris Nelsons takes the podium and the orchestra creates another life memory. I love Sunday afternoons when people bring their kids for picnics on the lawn. We used to encourage our children to bring books when they got bored, but now with the Megatron screens there is plenty to see as well as hear.
       I am working on the dummy for COZY, my story about a friendly musk ox who gives shelter to a slew of arctic creatures during the cold winter. We will be making two trips to Alaska this fall and winter. We will go see "Teal" our adopted musk ox who will be two, and in December we have plans to go to Denali State Park and then spend a few days at the Sheldon Chalet 10 miles from the summit of Denali. We have our fingers crossed that we will see the Aurora Borealis as it will be a feature in my book. When we were in Fairbanks in the spring we were told the aurora was visible 300 days a year, but often in summer months when it is light most of the night it isn't prominent. My son in law, Tom did get up at 3:00 AM to check, but alas, the conditions weren?t right. The aurora coincides with solar flares from our sun that disrupt particles in our upper atmosphere.
     I painted the Aurora in my book, WHO'S THAT KNOCKING, and it was challenging but fun. I'm looking forward to doing it again for COZY. One of the challenges about illustrating a book about the North in winter is that everything is either shades of blue, as in the snow, or browns and grey, the colors of the animals. I may be able to put color in the borders, but here I must be sensitive. The first peoples of Alaska have a rich heritage of art and design. It wouldn't be respectful or true to copy their beautiful and powerful art. Some of the symbols have very deep meanings that known by elders and are attached to historical cultural and belief systems. I think it is Ok though to use the beautiful abalone shell, found in Southwest Alaska, and perhaps the glass beads found in widespread areas of the west and Northwest beginning in early trading days. I will use my own designs, though. I may ask my editor to find a scholar of Alaskan heritage to check my designs when I get close to finishing of my book to take a look. She did that for TALE OF THE TIGER'S SLIPPERS and we all felt better about it. The tiger book is set in Mughal India, around the 1500's, and although its characters are animals. I wanted my frame of reference to be as authentic as I could make it.
       I have been receiving a lot of boxed questions on my computer asking me if I am a robot. Maybe you have too? It makes me want to increase my efforts to be creative and quirky! I want to glory in being human by creating illustrations and telling stories.  Please join me by expressing yourself with art, music and words! I hope children will find this a meaningful way to live!

    Happy Creating,

           Your Friend, Jan