No predictions now about whether it will be a party of election victory or defeat, I’m not going to go and jinx things.   But either way a party will be necessary. I will soon take out all references to other dates. November 8th it is. November 8th. NOVEMBER 8th. Old Stone House, 5th Avenue and 3rd Street. A reading, art for all budgets. A blast. And (fingers crossed) celebration. More Soon. 

Sneak preview of art:

Dear friends, neighbors, readers and residents of the blogosphere , Starting Friday October 3rd lots of gorgeous art of mine will be on view and on sale at the lovely Old Stone House, in the heart of Park Slope, Brooklyn. It is located just below Fifth Avenue and Third Street. A really nice time to stop by and see it would be

on Friday October 17th when there will be A PARTY at the OLD STONE HOUSE to celebrate the publication of Thumbelina, Tiny Runaway Bride . whoopee. And we can say hello.  I’m still trying to figure out the exact hour and other details. When I have I will post them here.  In the meantime mark your calendar for FRIDAY OCTOBER 17th. 

SEE YOU THERE. http://theoldstonehouse.org.

Barbara Helen Ensor and Hans Christian Andersen in New York's Central Park

A WHOLE DARN PAGE actually the very first page (after all the ads) of the October issue of House Beautiful. And excuse, me, the headline is THE BEST.

In case you cannot run out right now to buy a copy of this magazine, or did not have the forethought to purchase a subscription, I will kindly reproduce it here for your exclusive benefit. Bear in mind  though that this is a pale virtual imitation which lacks the three dimensional quality of the actual magazine in all its size, heft  and glossy glory.

AND AS A RESULT: You read it here first: the SHOP on this website will soon cease to be a bridge to nowhere.

And in the meantime your House can be Beautiful too because, dear reader, you know that:

Hans Christian Andersen

The Man

Hans Christian Andersen was an amazing paper cutter. Not just sort of good for a writer. His cut paper pictures wink across all this time. I was already deep into this medium when I stumbled upon collaborating as a writer with this master of the art. (Collaborating implies that he had some choice about it which he did not.) Then I illustrated the book with the technique of cut paper just as I had with my earlier children’s book Cinderella (As If You Didn’t Already Know the Story). An odd coincidence to say the least seeing as the storyteller Andersen himself was a notorious cutter of paper. Then again, maybe it is not a coincidence at all, but divine synchronicity.  

Andersen never made images with scissors that were intended to illustrate his stories. More they were little presents he made for children he cared about.  (Which come to think of it is something I have begun doing, but more about that later.)

As my blog-linking skills develop I will show more paper cutting of Andersen’s (and around the world). It is a medium in which people have expressed themselves in every corner of the globe.  I like that it is cheap and binary, and tends to be a crazy mix of figurative and abstract. The paper is there or it is not there: These are the choices. Repetition and chance play an integral part in a process that is like a child’s game.  To tell you the truth you cannot make a bad picture with cut paper.

 I did not include any of Mr. Andersen’s cut paper in my recently published Thumbelina, Tiny Runaway Bride. Probably I would not have been able to get permission.  Interesting that Andersen also combines writing  with pen and ink next to the cut out paper images. I love the way that looks.

This is the way my walls look. And yours can too. As the holiday season approaches I plan to display art here which will be for sale.

the discreet charm of silhouettes on a wall

Here is a sneak preview of some framed images which will soon be included in the SHOP section of this website. 

Thumbelina, in a lovely frame

"Where does your grandmother live?"

Back in July I was hired by Domino Magazine to cut silhouettes at a party. Guests seemed happy with the results (below)

satisfied patrons

This is my first posting and I feel a little shy and exposed. (Will I even be able to take down the sample photograph of a goat and put a different one up?) Not that you are even reading this right now….

Hans Christian Andersen and I chilling in New York's Central Park

So,

rather than telling my innermost thoughts quite yet, I am going to begin by listing some scheduled readings. Later we can get more personal…

OCTOBER readings of Thumbelina, Tiny Runaway Bride

OCTOBER 4TH, 2008 2PM Reading at Barnes and Noble, on Manhattan’s upper east side

OCTOBER 8th,8 PM at the lovely Old Stone House, Fifth Avenue and Third Street Brooklyn NY http://theoldstonehouse.org. Plans are afoot for art to be on show, drinks flowing and a regular PARTY. Details of other hoopla yet to be determined.

OCTOBER 16th, 4:30 PM a reading at the Barnes & Noble in Princeton, New Jersey —where somebody must have liked the book and told their friends who told their friends because a lot have sold.

Art is for sale at Oblong Books in Millerton through the end of this month. Inspired by how much fun it has been to make the images, and encouraged by the response I will make more this summer— and eventually hang them here for all to see.