Monday, July 8, 2013

Interview

A while back the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art interviewed me but never published the interview on their blog. I've decided to post it here.

1. What's your favorite thing that you've ever seen in a museum?

MHG: Botticelli's art in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence Italy. I've been loving the art and only seeing small copies of the originals in books for many years. The real art was electric, memorable, and overwhelming to drink in.




                Detail from Botticelli's "The Birth of Venus"

2. What book have you recently given to a child and what made you pick it?

MHG: Whenever I've judged a picture book award, the Cybils Awards or the SCBWI Golden Kite Award, I received the many books in the competition. When it's all over, the books are given to school libraries so that many children have the pleasure of reading these books.

3. What kind of music, if any, do you listen to while you work? OR what does the view look like from where you work?

MHG:
Part One: I listen to jazz, rock, pop, local bands, alt country, and folk. I listen to the news or radio shows that feature the arts or something that I can learn from.

Part Two: I live on the top floor of a brownstone in Brooklyn Heights. I have a wonderful view of open sky, back yard gardens, buildings from the 1800's, and there are glorious birds and bird song.

4. Give us five adjectives that describe your work.
MHG: 
a) brightly colored
b) child-friendly
c) detailed
d) stylized
e) prolific

5. If you ever find yourself with writer's block or in an artistic funk, what do you do to get yourself out?

MHG: Take a break. Work on other things until the muse returns. Go inside myself to see if the answers lie deeper. Go out and forget about art and be around others. Clean my studio, that old idea put away in a draw can look great again.

6. Tell us a secret about how you work. (Promise we won't tell). 

MHG: I love to research my books. Most of the information I find doesn't make it into a story or is described in the art. However, I know my research is part of the layers which created the book.

7. Have you dabbled in any other careers before finding children's books?

MHG: I started out designing custom framing for works of art. After that, I was a graphic artist for audio visual studios, magazines, and newspapers. I've illustrated for magazines and had over 200 greeting cards published with my art. I've also illustrated posters, coffee mugs, games and housewares. Last but not least, I've been a professional Tarot Card reader since 1988.

8. You must get a lot of fan letters. Let's hear one of your own. Please write a 3-sentence fan letter from your 8-year-old self to your favorite author or illustrator.

MHG: Dear Anna Elizabeth Bennett, Thanks for writing "Little Witch". I love your book. I've read it over and over and the pictures are beautiful. I like how the little witch refused to be mean and she helped others.

9. Could you send us a favorite doodle or sketch?  

MHG: Sketch of Cecilia Yung, the MERMAIDS ON PARADE Art Director from Putnam/ Penguin 



10. What do you see as the most exciting thing on the horizon for picture book publishing?

MHG: Paper books are not going away. They remain strong in the public eye, in a child's development, and in sales.


We'd also be grateful to receive following images, if you have them:

* A photo of you or self-portrait


                  Signing my book at the Brooklyn Museum 

* A photo of your studio/workplace 


* A photo of you as a child or a drawing done when you were a kid 

                  From my 16 year old hands, still love it.

* An early draft of an image and an image of the finished piece


                        Sketch and Finish from A CITY IS 

Thanks Eric Carle Museum!! xoxo

Images and photos are copyright Melanie Hope Greenberg (except Botticelli)




Monday, February 11, 2013

PS 310 BX Students Send Letters / Q&A



I had a really sweet visit with first and second graders at PS 310 in the Bronx last month. A few weeks after my visit a packet of sunshine arrived on a cold gray snowy winter day. 


Beverly Manasch, the school librarian, sent a note, since the visit my books have been circulating in and out of the library. That is music to my ears. I also received a thick stack of colorful thank you notes from the students who asked me great questions.

 
I love my mermaid legs

Question: How do I make the lovely paint?
I buy tubes or jars of paint called gouache. They are thick paints and they glow. They also vibrate when certain colors lie side by side. I mix hundreds of colors. I use small plastic bins or even aluminum foil or tins to mix the paints. I label each tin with the colors they were mixed with. Once they dry the paint gets hard. With some water on a brush the dry paint comes back to life as a honey mix of pigment to spread on watercolor paper.

Inside my studio

Question: How much time does it take to make a picture book?
That depends how complex the art is. It normally takes 6 months to one year to create the art for the book. Then the art goes to a printer and the pages are sewn and bound into the covers of the book. That process takes another year before you get the book on your bookshelf.


**More student letters from PS 250 BK.
**Click this link to learn about my school visits.
**
Autographed books can be purchased here.

Art by the students of PS 310 BX
Photos copyright Melanie Hope Greenberg

Sunday, January 6, 2013

My Art with CDF + FREE Coloring Page


My professional relationship with the Children's Defense Fund (CDF) began in 1993.

I sent a newly released autographed copy of my published picture book, IT'S MY EARTH, TOO (Doubleday) to then First Lady, Hillary Clinton. I sent a book to Tipper Gore, wife of the Vice President. And, I sent a book to Marian Wright-Edelman, president of the Children's Defense Fund. CDF was the original "Leave No Child Behind - Stand for Children" organization.


I also included a note with each book to please consider a stand for environmentally friendly publishing. IT'S MY EARTH TOO was published in an environmentally friendly way.

I received two thank you notes in the mail.



A few weeks later CDF called on the telephone. Gulp! Not only did they thank me for the book, Marian Wright-Edelman wanted to publish my art on their greeting cards. She felt my art style aligned with the spirit of CDF. I sent a few images and two were chosen.


Around the same time I had also published a poster using the cover art from IT'S MY EARTH, TOO. I sent the poster as a gift to Marian Wright-Edleman who loved it. She re-published the poster with the CDF logo.

"Everyone Belongs" was reprinted several times and was published for 10 years. The illustration was also published as coffee mugs

A bookmark for Marian Wright Edelman's book titled, "GUIDE MY FEET".
 

Stamps, and many other greeting cards.

Best of all I got to meet Marian Wright-Edelman.

FREE Coloring Page! Color the sketch from my Children's Defense Fund greeting card. I do at least one sketch for every finished illustration. Download my monthly FREE Coloring Pages at the What Do We Do All Day Blog.
Art: Copyright Melanie Hope Greenberg