Once Upon a Picture Book
Hello friend, welcome to Drawing Down Lore. I hope over the course of my travels online and out in the world I have the chance to meet you. I’d like to ask you- what is your favorite story? Is it one from your childhood? What do you see in your mind’s eye when you think about that tale? What is it about that story that stays with you?
I’m Kerry Mairie, and I love stories. From when we’re very young, stories shape our imagination, morals, and worldview. A well-done picture book with love and care in the illustrations brings those stories to life. Some of my favorite artists to this day are children’s illustrators. Even if you don’t know their names, you may know their work.
Do you remember The Very Hungry Caterpillar? That was Eric Carle’s story and vibrant collages. I dearly love his use of color. The book I’ve owned the longest is one of his. It’s called Dragons Dragons, and Other Creatures That Never Were, and it is a book of poems, each one accompanied by a delightfully colorful creature. In its pages, I first encountered not only the Pheonyx, Centaur, Unicorn, and Mermaid, but I also learned about Ganesh, Anansi, and Quetzalcoatl. At least, as much as my five-year-old self could learn about a god from a single poem. They all stayed with me.
When I was seven my Mom got me my first mythology book. It was D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths. I read it cover to cover, then brought it back to Mom and asked, “Are the Gods real? Do people still worship them?” She told me no. But the stories stayed with me, and so did D’Aulaire’s drawings. Now as an adult with an art history minor, I can see the inspiration they took from ancient Greek art. That book sparked my love of mythology and the Gods, and it is still on my shelf.
If you’re Gen-X or an older Millenial, you might remember the Serendipity books; Flutterby, Glitterby Baby, Morgan Morning, Shimmeree...there were many. The art in that series was all done by Robin James. Of all the artists from my childhood books, her art had the greatest influence on my own. She painted lush, vibrant worlds I wanted to visit. Her expressive animal characters had believable weight, movement, and anatomy. Robin is a horsewoman like me, and it really comes through in the horse, pegasus, and unicorn tales from the series. Morgan the Unicorn was based on her own horse and appeared many times in these books. I started learning to draw horses by studying Morgan and how he moved through the pages of his tales.
These three artists got me started on my journey through art, mythology, and fantasy. Never underestimate the impact a simple picture book can have on a child. Welcome to my little world. I hope to inspire you with eye-catching colors. I don’t consider myself a writer, but I hope to tell you stories as well as paint them. We’ll foray into folklore and dabble in art history. If we dig a little deeper, we can study the places where art and magic meet.