Inspiration from the legendary Tomie dePaola
finding beauty everywhere
Hello. Writing to you from New Hampshire, where the air is cold, snow is on the ground, and the days are short on light. January is always my tough month.
But I’m remembering a walk in the woods yesterday with my daughter. The trail is called “Dragon’s Pass,” and it’s become a favorite, a magical wonderland where surely fairies and small woodland elves live. My daughter kept stopping to ask me what the icicles poking out of the ground were. I thought they were frozen icicles on frozen plant leaves, but when we touched them, they simply shattered into ice crystals. I am still wondering what they were. They were rather astonishing.
The great children’s illustrator, Tomie dePaola, painted from New Hampshire, a mere 12 miles up the road from where I walked. One summer I saw him paint in his barn, where he delighted both children and adults with his drawings and colorful paintings. He was very old by then, and still doing the thing he loved. The other day, I checked out this book from the library.
Coincidentally, Sarah Baker, Executive Director of SCBWI (Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) sent a note about Tomie this week.
So here you go, creators of all kinds, a thought to encourage you, on a cold and dark January New Hampshire afternoon, where I discovered beauty in the form of icicles, astonishing me from the woodland floor:
Today I’m thinking about the last time I saw Tomie dePaola. I was visiting him in his art studio/barn in New Hampshire, and we were getting ready to say goodbye. I had spent the day in quiet awe, roaming around the art studio, looking at the way he arranged his paints, brushes, and markers. I noticed all the special little shelves and corners where he had placed religious, spiritual, and folk art figurines, and a special chair where he liked to meditate. Inside his home, he had pointed out a woven basket on the floor of his bedroom that was brimming with colorful scarves, each knotted up the same perfect way.
As I got on my coat, Tomie told me something he learned from his former teacher and mentor, Ben Shahn. He told me that being an artist isn’t just about the “art” you create on paper or canvas. To be an artist, you must live your whole life as an artist. Try to find beauty and inspiration in everything you do. When you cook, when you get dressed, when you arrange your nightstand. If you make and discover beauty all around you, you will always have the inspiration to create.
-Sarah Baker
Where are you finding beauty these days?
Amy 💗
Good News and Story Links:
Obsessed with: Saucony running shoes
Currently Watching: From Scratch on Netflix
Currently Reading: Hour of the Witch by Chris Bohjalian
Sometimes little icicles form in trees and fall off and stuck in the ground
finding beauty everywhere…. love it!