I have been cranking out artwork and clearly not writing in this blog. I was asked to make a 3x5 image about appreciating books yesterday. It will be for the Children's Literature Council of Southern California. I was told to throw in one of my books for PR while I designed something. So, Beautiful Oops snuck in to the artwork.
And now, I'm going back to work!
Adios.
March 21, 2011
I am sitting in a first class car on the high-speed train from Shanghai to Nanjing. It seems to travel at about 200 MPH. Very smooth, considering how quickly scenery is whizzing by the windows. One could get very dizzy if they continue to stare out the window. Not me, some other old guy from LA attempting to document their trip on a laptop while traveling through China. Next trip, I bring a pair of blinders. We are racing through community after community where the skylines are dotted with giant cranes. Not the birds, the giant orange metal cranes lifting large beams of steel into the polluted air. All part of the ravenous appetite to add more high rises. It’s pretty unfathomable to see how many new buildings are under construction, pretty much everywhere. You can see old residences from another era, being torn down to make way for new construction. At some point, with the way things are being done, there won’t be anything recognizable from what life ‘used’ to look like, unless you venture into the forbidden city or a designated ‘old’ city area. Not much in the way of single-family dwellings, although there seems to be enough land. The theory is, there are too many people to have individual homes.
The train ride is an hour and fifteen minutes from Shanghai to Nanjing. It would have been a four to five hour car ride. I am excited to visit here. There is much animosity between the Chinese and Japanese. Nanjing is where over 300,000 Chinese were massacred by the Japanese and Japan will not apologize, let alone acknowledge these atrocities. I was sent an article yesterday on Nanjing. It seems to be a vibrant, 6 million plus city with museums and coffee houses and a thriving art scene. Apparently there are a lot of young people there. I’m looking forward to the visit, even if it’s only for the day.
I will visit a primary school after lunch and a local TV crew is supposed to come film. Shall be interesting. Afterwards, we will go to a university to address students studying to be teachers. Apparently they have made the talk open to art students as well.
Yesterday we met with some editors from a Chinese publisher. It was very interesting. They were all very young women. All with degrees varying from Literature to Early Childhood education. We sat around a round conference table. They passed around a few of my books. Initially I asked most of the questions and as the meeting progressed, they started asking me questions. They were most impressed that some editors in the United States try to keep illustrators and writers apart. The Chinese editors find themselves trying to please both the authors and illustrators, all of the time. When I showed them what a book dummy looks like, they said the wished their writers would submit work that far developed. They often get stories, without any indication for page breaks. I think the dummy concept was something they only had dreamed about.
We arrived in Nanjing and there are so many trees, the city seems quite nice. I visited the primary school where the headmaster is apparently a very highly respected Chinese educator. The school had over 1,000 students. As with every institution I visited in China, I was escorted into a room to meet the powers that be and share a cup of tea. This is a nice custom. I couldn’t help but think about some of the schools I visit in the states where I come into the school office and am sent to the cafeteria or auditorium with a librarian or teacher so I can set up. Sometimes I never meet a school principal. The only downside to the cup of tea intro is, I have zero time to set up. Every place I visited in China, I would walk into a full room with kids politely (and sometimes enthusiastically) applauding as I entered. Boom. So much for setting up! Another note on the schools in China. Every one I visited had a guard in front with a serious gate protecting the school. Unless you have clearance, you cannot come in. There are more
I have now officially been on the Beautiful Oops tour nine days. It's funny what one can get used to. Hotels, planes, schools, bookstores. I keep thinking of traveling salespeople. It's a way of life for some people to live like this. As one who is used to getting up and going in to my studio where I work, playing with my dogs and seeing my wife at the end of the day, this is definitely a different way to live.
I'm a bit fried. A bit tired. However, I have met amazing people everywhere! I've been greeted wherever I go with a wastebasket full of other people's oops's. It's been fun to dig in, with kids and parents watching as I pull different things out and tape pieces together on an easel to make Oops Art! It's always something different. Keeps me thinking on my feet. I always imagine each child going home and rummaging through the family trash. I'm spawning a dumpster diver artistic movement. Hopefully, along with it, a sense that no matter what you are handed, you can find a way to make it work!
Good morning, Austin!
It's pretty amazing to me, after all these years, to get out of California and go on a book tour. I have signed books in other states, usually because I'm there for a conference or some school visits, but this is the very first organized tour I've gone on. Workman Publishing was also a publisher I wanted to work with for thirty years, so it's perfect that they are the ones who sent me out. Some things are worth waiting for! On to Arizona tomorrow, but I have to say, The Tattered Cover is one amazing book store and I've already been spoiled on my first day. More to come!
Writers spend a lot of time alone. An idea. You shape it. You write. You re-write. You hit walls. (Mostly figuratively) You stick with it and hopefully that spark has become a book. Sometimes you sell it. Sometimes the book comes out and nobody ever really sees it. Once in a while, a book gets noticed. Adults write reviews. You check your sales ranking on Amazon. (Not very often or it's really depressing) And then, a child writes after they see your book. You realize it was worth it!
I woke up at 4:45 AM, two days in a row to talk on radio shows across the country. It was a lot of fun. About 20 interviews in all. This is the shortest one.... but the only one that was sent to me.CBS Podcast Player
