July 12, 2023
This weekend, I stumbled upon a book that sparked a childhood memory - perhaps my earliest memory of art that I loved. From my blog:
I was browsing in a local children’s bookstore recently, and I came across a re-release of a book from 1966, Celestino Piatti’s Animal ABC. I had a visceral reaction to it. Or more accurately, to the cover art. I turned to my husband with wonder and said, “This is the owl book guy.”
When I was a kid, there was a book from the public library that I adored. As an adult I could remember it was about owls. Two owls. And I loved the illustrations. I have been searching for that book since my early twenties. I should have asked a librarian, but in 1992, I had no idea that I could walk up to a children’s librarian and she would not laugh at me if I said, “I am trying to find a book I loved as a child. I don’t know the author or the title, but I think there were two owls in it, and the illustrations were gorgeous.”
This book, The Happy Owls, is my earliest memory of a piece of art I loved. It is not my first art memory. My first art memory is fingerpainting - the shiny paper, the thick, slippery paint, the bright colors, even the weird smell which I tolerated because I loved fingerpainting SO MUCH. But my first memory of an artwork that I loved is definitely Celestino Piatti’s The Happy Owls.
And look at them!
The black outlines, the strong, simple shapes. This is something I still love in art today. Piatti’s work reminds me of two types of art to which I am always drawn: woodblock prints, (strong black lines), and Romanesque art (simple shapes). I also love making a thick black line on white paper.
And here is what that makes me wonder. It is a chicken and egg question. Was I affected by this book in a way that informed the art I like later in life? Or am I just wired to like black lines and strong, simple shapes, so naturally this book stood out to me?
I used The Happy Owls as an inspiration to explore thick black lines in my sketchbook.
I really love painting this way, and I wonder why I cannot be brave enough to paint this way OUTSIDE my sketchbook.
Prompts for the Week:
What do you think about these early art encounters which imprinted themselves on our childhood selves? Do they help form who we are as artists? OR are they merely early signposts about who we will grow to be?
What are your early art memories? Do you see a thread to who you are today?
Think of the earliest art memory you can conjour. Find some inspiration in that for your sketchbook painting.
I would love to hear your answers to this week’s writing prompts. I am very interested to know if other people have had an experience similar to mine!
I just went down a Celestino Piatti rabbit hole! I had the ABC as a child or it was in my grandmother's house in Italy. I think as artists we are really affected by the books we had as children. So beautiful. I want to print and frame all the pictures!