Gail, Kate and I got gussied up and went to the Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators last night. It was so crowded that people were lined up outside. When I said to the director that I’d never seen anything like this at the Society, she remarked, “We’ve become like a rock concert”. 

Raul Colon went to the opening, too, after stopping by our office earlier in the day. This was one of the first years ever that he didn’t have a piece in the show…but that’s only because none of the books he’s been working on fell into the entry parameters this year. Next year we hope he’ll have lots in the show. We were beautifully represented on the walls with a hilarious spread of Bonnie Timmons’s from “Twenty-Odd Ducks”:

And pictures from two onomatopoetic books of Beppe Giacobbe’s:

The awards are always fun to experience since you get to see the face behind the names of art directors, editors and illustrators. People actually become animated rather than remain stagnant names in our database and directory pages. Of course everyone first looks at your right breast area before saying hello since that is where the sticky name tags go…unless one forgoes identifying oneself and prefers traveling incognito. My back was hurting so I sat right up front on the steps to the acceptance area and got to see everyone up close and personal. It was a thrill to listen to Chris Van Allsburg receive his Lifetime Achievement Award. He is an artist I’ve alwasy admired. I love his sculptural drawing, imagination, and the anticipation and mystery he brings to each image he creates. I also applaud his commercial success with black and white graphite imagery.

Of course Gail and I chatted with all our current clients who were there. Most of the book people we work with we actually have met in person over the years, and it is always nice to see them again at this yearly event. We also met a few wonderful artists whose work we admire. Most imoprtantly, we actually got to view all the work that was hanging in both galleries. Many people never make it to the lower gallery when the food and drink are all upstairs. This year, the organizers cleverly put the bar downstairs to ensure that everyone got to the downstairs gallery, too.

This year the Society once again displayed all the books themselves in racks around the two galleries. I like that they did this again. It’s lovely to see an original on the wall, and even better to see it in the context of the actual book. The catalog is also quite impressive, with a color image and credit information on each piece in the show. 

Unfortunately, we didn’t take any candid photos at this show…but you can use your imaginations.