For When Eva Hollers, Paula used the art of collage to create the illustrations  - drawing inspiration from the work of Eric Carle.  Sadly, Mr. Carle passed away earlier this year and the world noted the loss of one of the most beloved creators of children’s literature.   Eric Carle’s artwork is distinctive and unique.  Where he used hand-painted thin papers that he cut or tore and layered to form brilliant colors, Paula used scraps of construction paper and created layering with intricate layers of color and paper.  Look at Eva’s hair or the rug when Eva takes a bath!
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Eva’s dad learned to read with Eric Carle. One of his favorite books was  Carle's Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See?  He was so proud to read it to us!  Below is  Bo, Eva’s brother, listening to Brown Bear, Brown Bear.  

From the Eric Carle website:  The secret of Eric Carle’s books’ appeal lies in his intuitive understanding of and respect for children, who sense in him instinctively someone who shares their most cherished thoughts and emotions. The themes of Eric Carle’s stories are usually drawn from his extensive knowledge and love of nature—an interest shared by most small children. Besides being beautiful and entertaining, his books always offer the child the opportunity to learn something about the world around them. It is his concern for children, for their feelings and their inquisitiveness, for their creativity and their intellectual growth that, in addition to his beautiful artwork, makes the reading of his books such a stimulating and lasting experience.

Matisse started out wanting to be a lawyer, but behind his parents' back he applied and attended art school.  He explored a variety of art forms including sculpture, but not until he experimented with collage did he find his art passion and art voice. His cutout art was radical for its time but he continued on with the form of art he called "Drawing (or Painting) with Scissors." 

Matisse compared himself to a juggler - balancing form and color.  He sometimes closed his eyes when constructing figures so that he would not be distracted by the details.  In this class, I practiced drawing with scissors by doing cut-outs of  performers - 

Using natural materials such as leaves or flowers can be a fun way to practice collage.  In many of Matisse's works viewers looked for different images in his cutouts which, at first, looked like just leaves but suddenly appear bears, monkeys,  seaweed, rabbits, or body parts like hands and spines.  Much like finding images in the clouds. What can you find in the image below?

Click here ​ for a easy Matisse lesson.

A few weeks ago I subbed for Megan Bowen, @LakeOconeeAcademy art teacher. The kindergarten and first graders were doing collage so I couldn't wait to share WHEN EVA HOLLERS with them. I left a copy of the book for the class and Mrs. Bowen's daughter created her own Bun-Bun. How adorable!

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend is almost over and I am so thankful for everyone who has liked and followed our Facebook and Instagram pages.  When I started this project I had no idea how it would progress.  If you know me, you know that not having a plan, a timeline, a schedule or a list is completely out of my comfort zone. With this book project, I have experienced incredible moments of faith, patience, gratitude, disappointment and doubt.  This weekend it took just a few days to garner 100 likes on our Facebook page:  @whenevahollersbook, see our first sales from Amazon and social media, and experience feedback on the book. What a journey!  Stop back by here for more as I share my experience from idea to print with you.