On sunday, I went to the storytelling festival at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (part of their family program). There were lots of kids and "kid at heart"... I went for professional reasons- to get ideas, to "research," and to hear stories (trying to get ideas for a possible thesis/project for my program- to learn more about folk storytelling technique and try to incorporate it in art and text, and transfer oral techniques to the picture book medium).
there were two storytellers present: in a traditional sense, they were leaning towards oral storytelling. Their names are Bill Wood and Denise Valentine. Author/illustrator Deborah Kogan Ray was also present, her type of storytelling dealt with the medium of picture books.
the first to go was Bill, and he told stories at the Dorrance Special Exhibition Galleries, which currently displayed William Ranney's paintings that depicted scenes of American life and themes of western expansion (mountain men, hunting, Indians, horses, dessert, adventure, nature). It was the perfect setting, set the mood for the Indian legends he told. He told a story about prairies dogs, the rain people and stink bugs (he heard this tale from a Pueblo Indian), also the adventures of a porcupine and coyote, and a story about his grandmother, who had a "trained" fish.
Denise told her stories at the Berman and Stieglitz Galleries, which currently holds (blank) Johnson's prints, watercolors and other mixed media. Not only is she a storyteller, she's also a keeper of the culture. She had a fellow member with her, to help her narrate stories with his drum- setting the tempo, the beat/rhythm. She told stories about slaves escaping through the underground railroad, freedom by a box, and a bit of jazz/spirituals...
during Bill and Denise's storytelling, they did several things in common:
Bill
-employed props (stuff owl, drums, bag full of wonders)
-got the audience's participation (asked them questions, gave his rational, asked them to use their imagination [being able to visualize something from your head], clap along and repeat phrases)
-performed theatrically (miming, sound effects, exagerrated facials, movement, modulating voice pitches)
Denise
-didn't use as much props (she had a rain maker percussion instrument, and she wore a costume to grab the attention, signifying that she's a storyteller?)
-got the audience participation (not so much as verbal as Bill- mostly she asked audience to clap, she also employed chanting/singing- for the people who like to sing, this was great, but for the shy ones this might be too much)
-she wasn't as histrionic as Bill (she had her own persona about her- she had a calm voice for the most part, changed them when necessary, when she gets ready, she takes a deep breath and begins - she really took her time to get started and once she began she just rolled- a tour de force in storytelling)
each had unique interpretation/flavor depending on their culture/ability; they entertained and had a point (I remember them, they made an impact).
after listening to them, I went to Deborah's demonstration and reading- her presentation was totally different... she didn't have performing tricks like Bill and Denise- she relied on her pictures and selected/printed words (this will be more like up my alley)- so my whole point for grad school is to try to find a successful fusion of both.
I still found Deborah's presentaion interesting (even if it wasn't as theatrical as Bill and Denise). Deborah gets her inspiration for her books/pictures in a serendipitous fashion... she's an illustrator first before a writer, she deals with art 24 hours so to support herself financially she took on odd jobs (her bias is that one can teach an illustrator to write but not a writer to illustrate)... she found her agent/editor accidentally, and she likes to write/illustrate about non-fiction people who like outdoors/nature and has an urge to find out/explore their dreams/goals/what they dream about... when I asked her about her connection, she said that the publishing world is "weird" and the picture book industry is so different now than it was back then (from small handfuls to big industry jumping on the band wagon of Harry Potter mania). according to her the committee, bestowing the Caldecott awards, is biased towards good words in stories; they don't know how to look at art/picture... she adviced that that best way to meet editors (put face on the faceless) and get one's name out there is to attend conferences (specifically the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators for the field I'm interested in)... she just finished her picture book about an explorer who traversed through the Colorado river, and she's working on another picture book about Wanda Gag... Deborah showed her process, the dummies she made, the finished print of her watercolors, her detailed sketches in black and white...,
she adviced that a good illustrator can "take words" and be able to dramatize them, "elaborate" and to "make tangible"... she told me that "if words can make pictures in [my] mind then [I'm] an illustrator," overall an interesting and insightful session and I got to talk to her personally...
after talking to her, I also talked with two artists, who attended her talk... they were trained in fine arts, but were interested in illustrating... one of the lady that I talked to used graphite and watercolor together. Her name is Indigene... she gave me her business card... On it, I immediately fell in the liking of one of her art piece, called "Solitude"- it's a woman sitting on water- it was lyrical, and the contrasting texture was unbelievable- mind stimulating- I was drawn by it... I told her how the dry/rough grays of the graphite really enhanced the ripply, flowing blues of watercolor. I knew that it was a picture, but I still had this uneasyness about it- the feeling that the watercolors will wash away the graphite- this tension added to the poetry/story of the image... I emailed her and asked for one of her prints, I hope she gives me one... she gave me some tips on watercolor (do it everyday/write process down/ limit your palette until you've mastered the few combinations you can make)
so before leaving the festival renewed, I attended the Make and Take workshop at the Wintersteen Student Center- basically it was a crafts workshop for all ages, but most of the people there, who weren't part of the crew, were kids- so I had weird glances directed at me because I wasn't a toddler- they shouldn't have advertised "all ages" then if they were going to look that way. I wasn't daunted, I wanted to do something creative... I colored a horse, cut it out, and made a puppet out of it- I colored it blue, and it reminded me of the German art movement/group, the blue rider/"blue ritter" (expressionism/and colors)... it was a nice souvenir...
Posted by Michael Diezmos at August 13, 2007 7:01 PM