Friday, June 6, 2008

Dr. Seuss

I need a break from color field painters. Dr. Seuss is just the thing, don’t you think?

I’m sure you’ve heard of Dr. Seuss, author and illustrator of more than 40 picture books including The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham, and The Lorax (my favorite). You’ve probably read at least a few of his books. But did you know that he created works of art that were never meant to be used in his books?

At night, when he wasn’t working on his books, Dr. Seuss loved to paint and sculpt. He created this art only for himself. He didn’t mean for others to see it, though he probably knew that eventually people would. I love Dr. Seuss’ illustrations and I was thrilled to find that there were more pictures to look at.

The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss is a collection of Dr. Seuss’ artwork. Some of you may be interested to read the introduction which was written by Maurice Sendak, author and illustrator of Where the Wild Things Are. The Secret Art of Dr. Seuss is full of the wacky characters you’d expect from Dr. Seuss. There are lots of cats, of course, and many creatures not found in nature. I think my favorite piece in the book is the Impractical Marshmallow-Toasting Device. You’ll have to check out the book for yourself to see what that device looks like!

I hope you enjoy this discovery as much as I did. Have a great weekend!

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