I was a very long way away in Africa for two weeks and now I am home and getting ready to put up pictures for my upcoming exhibit.   The mud houses in Africa  reminded me of the houses inside each of our heads when we were very young—the ones that didn’t have any straight lines and were just made up somehow of  hardened dirt.  And then of course there was  that amazing African light, not to mention the  giraffes and elephants and monkeys. But I digress.

Take Me Home, an exhibit of  paper silhouettes with handcarved frames and furtive inky inscriptions by myself, opens on September 9th at

Phyllis Stigliano Gallery (62 Eight Ave, in Park Slope, Brooklyn.) The gallery is a hop and a skip from Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza subway station. Near the Montauk Club. On your way to somewhere.

There are so many country songs about going home.   I want my pictures to be like good songs— rhyming reminders that we are all part of the same story.

COME TO THE OPENING!  on Sunday September 12th from 3 to 5. THERE WILL BE COOKIES. There will be wine. I will have copies of my books, because if you are a fan of silhouette images you are going to like those too. Yes the art is for sale.

Or come and check it out some other time—on your way home maybe.

I am feverishly scissoring and making trips to the Prints Charming my most marvelous framers in preparation for an exhibit coming up very soon.

Here ye hear ye Park Slopers:  mark down SUNDAY September 12th from 3 to 5: It should be a fun party and the art will be divine. And where exactly is it? you ask. The gorgeous barrel-ceiling gallery owned by the lovely Phyllis Stigiano is so close to you and so delicious it’s ridiculous: Eighth Avenue between Berkeley and Union for heaven’s sake. I know I know, how did you not see it? how did you not know? This will all change.  See you SUNDAY. Did I tell you I was in South Africa? We have so much to catch up on.

Let’s say you are a kid, and let’s say you have some homework where
you have to write a story. Let’s say your teacher who is going to read
the story is a grown up. Well maybe, I’m not saying you would, but
maybe you would be curious to see what another grown up might think of
the story to give yourself a clue as to whether the teacher might like
it or not.

That is more or less why I (a grown up) was curious to hear what Io Perl Strahan (a 9-year old girl) might think of the story that I am writing for
girls and boys kind of about her age and maybe a bit older.

Io and her mother and father (who live in Williamsburg, Brooklyn with her brother Rex as well )  read
the first three chapters and liked them. Io had read an earlier version and she said

“I thought that you changed the story in a really cool way. It feels
more like your own. It pulls you in and makes you think about things.
It is kind of addictive in a way. It makes you want to read more…“

When I read that I couldn’t stop smiling. Then as Io read more there
were parts she wanted me to change because they made
her cry.  Io is such a nice girl that she doesn’t want other kids to
read a story that makes them sad as well and she suggested I should
make it “less dramatic,” and “less sad” so other kids
wouldn’t cry as well. Some parts of the story seemed
unrealistic to Io. I have to agree, this is a crazy legend and
some of this stuff would so not happen in real life, which is strange
because most of it would. Io is a very smart girl who goes to New Explorations in Science, Technology & math or NEST + M for short, on the Lower East Side.

Hearing what Io thinks and feels when she
reads the story helps me to remember what it was like to be her age
and that helps me to make the story better.  This is my favorite part
when Io says:

“I would like to see more chapters. thanks Io”

Thank you Io.

I have a friend in England named Louise Banks who is wise and wonderful and likes to read so naturally I sent her some chapters of the book I am working for her opinion. You would have done the same yourself. So Imagine my surprise when Louise wrote back, “are you sitting comfortably?” and then proceeded to tell me that she had read the chapters out loud to two different classes of mostly nine year old kids at the school in Hamphshire where she teaches called Bedales.

My (future)  book which tells the legend of Buddha’s life ”fits in perfectly with my art project on Sacred Texts (inspired by a visit I made recently to the British Library),” wrote Louise. I am so glad she didn’t ask me first, because, knowing how honest kids are I would probably have been very scared. Louise explained that the unit she was teaching ” involves them making their own ‘ancient’ book - using the old tea staining trick - and illustrating it with religious stories.  We started off looking at the Celtic Christian style of the Lindisfarne gospels and had just moved onto looking at the sacred art of other faiths. So while they sat drawing pictures of Buddha I read them your story.” Excuse me, I wish all of us had teachers like Louise.

Aren’t these paintings done by children in Louise’s classes gorgeous? I can’t stop looking at them.

Louise kept it a secret that my book wasn’t a book yet, until the end of the class,”I thought it may break the spell if they approached it as critics,” she wrote.  (I told you before that Louise is very wise.) When she did reveal that the book was not exactly a book yet, Louise says her students were full of encouragement.  ”Tell Barbara to keep going she’s doing well.” Imagine my relief! Positive reviews in the New York Times are nice, but this, this is FANTASTIC. As a result of their encouragement I had a burst of energy and as a result I am nearly finished, (or more accurately: I am at the end of the begining….phew).

Thank you Louise Banks’ two classes at Bedales and happy hols! Bet you didn’t expect our US team to tie with yours in the World Cup. I guess that is what you call a win win!

At that certain street corner where truth and fantasy intersect there are quite a few people who make clothing and footwear out of, well  paper. Sometimes these are meant to be worn (I think) . Such as these marvelous outfits by Japanese Brazilian visionary Jum Nakao—where you finally get hair like a lego girl.

watch

?v=iEuTgRiOKzQ&feature=related

and then there are others equally wonderful that would seem to be hard to actually put on like well these shoes by Violise Lunn who does make wearable clothes out of paper, but I don’t know these don’t seem all that practical This one by Susan Stockwell which is paper and wire seems a little iffy, I’m just not sure whether you could or you couldn’t

Any minute now the winner of this year’s toilet paper wedding dress will be announced. And these are for wearing. No, I’m serious and you would be proud to be seen in one. By next April perhaps you will have concocted an entry. The winner gets a thousand dollars. Here’s what you need to know  wedding-contest-2010.html .  But let’s consider some options. There’s pretending you aren’t making it out of toilet paper for example like this But if you start to show off too much like here with the basketweave top you begin to give it away. Or maybe you don’t care in which case you might as well really get into the medium, really run with the possibilities such as for example something like this where it looks like some chunks have been suggestively pulled off. This one even has the flowers as well. Not too shabby–right? So anyway now you can begin to consider your options. As a paper cutter I will be in the front row applauding when you win. Bravo.

A little story told with silhouettes especially for you

watch?v=DOZyMGPMPVU&feature=related

Thumbelina, Tiny Runaway Bride in kindle-on-iphone DYSLEXIA-BUSTING version!

I have been wondering for a while why nobody else  seems to think that reading books on an iphone is the greatest thing since the invention of the french fry. The rest of you do not appear to be engrossed in Anna Karenina as you sit on the subway—or perusing  free samples of randomly enticing Amazon books. Or trolling through art at the Louvre for gosh sakes, (oops, now my A.D.D. is showing.) I can’t figure it out for the life of me.

Kindle is a free app. The phone is on your person. Reading is so much fun. What’s not to like? Apparently a lot: My friends are stuck on liking the heft of real books (horses and carts were nice too)  or reading “real” kindles with the lighting all perfect.  There is actually grousing on the web about an iphone being hard to hold for long periods of time? huh? It rests beautifully on the belly while lying down.   Are the rest of you that organized that you can pull out  the paperback novel to just the right page for that moment after the dentist gave  the injection and before the mouth gets numb enough for the drilling to begin? Well I’m not. But if we have got to this stage of minutia it’s not really even worth discussing.  I heart reading on my iphone. You don’t.

Well leave it to the reading-on-the-iPhone habit itself to come up with a possible answer to why this may be so. According to this morsel on The  Guardian, a UK paper

http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/apr/06/iphone-makes-reading-books-easier

Dyslexics like me do well reading on iPhones. Okay it is a little anecdotal. Okay the article is specifically about dyslexia and I lean more in the A.D.D. direction, but hey, where dyslexics go can A.D.D ers be far behind? (You are allowed to make jokes about these things when you have them.) Maybe there is something here.

See if it helps your dyslexic friends and family members.  Bring on the scientific studies! This discovery could save the world!

NOW FOR THE COMMERCIAL SEGMENT OF OUR PROGRAM:  why not start with my books?!: Thumbelina (Tiny Runaway Bride) and Cinderella (As If You Didn’t Already Know the Story) are available on kindle for the low low price of $9.99. (The latter book isn’t actually available yet, but they will happily take your payment and send it to your device of choice in a few months.) Behold how cutely the illustrations jostle with the text on an iphone! Ideal for a little learning disabled friend or relative– or, as per the Guardian article, an adult making up for an impoverished dyslexic childhood of not reading.

Thank you Tabitha for this lovely piece of encouragement which came as I was pounding out the next book (pounding?) And thank you for giving me permission to post it here.

Hello Barbara,
We corresponded a while back when my daughter Ivy (9) just loved your book Cinderella. I just wanted to let you know, my younger daughter, Willow (7), just finished reading it last night (did it in 2 days she was so hooked!) & was all smiles. She brought it to school today to (hopefully) read some to her class. Loved it! Next she’ll read Thumbelina…

We are awaiting your next project with anticipation! Saw the new website (I have to say I did love the old one, but I’ll adjust). Love the art… it’s just great & so “Matisse”, who is my personal fave.

Anyway, fab reviews once again here & here’s to the next great book!
Tabby

YES I can cut a beautiful portrait (from thick black homemade paper) of your child or your honey, your mother or your dog WITH A ONE WEEK TURN AROUND IN DECEMBER. (Usually it takes two or three.)

(Right now I am working on this cat whose name is Scratchy—talk about a challenge.)

FAQ

CAN YOU DO IT FROM A PHOTO?      Yes I can.

In the ideal world I  like to meet the subject for twenty minutes, make some sketches, and take some photographs. I can also do very good work from jpegs.

HOW MUCH DO THEY COST? $390 buys you one cut out portrait that will fit a standard (8 by 10)frame.   Multiples of one image (either as a cut outs or a high quality print) are discounted from that. You can also get way bigger and teensy weensy which can be very cool.

IS FRAMING AVAILABLE? Yes with all kinds of options. One popular way to go is the black “glass sandwich” frame. Another possibility is to mount the silhouette on cream paper and have the name written next to it with a dip pen in black ink.

OKAY SO WHAT IS THE FIRST STEP? Press that beige button at the right and let’s get started or contact Brooklyn Mercantile