LOIS EHLERT

Dear Reader,

I grew up in a home where everyone seemed to be making something. As far back as I can remember, I was always putting things together, cutting, stitching, pasting, or pounding. The feel of the object I made was as important as the look.

My mother, a good seamstress, shared her fabric scraps with me and taught me to use her sewing machine when I was about eight years old. My dad had a basement workshop, which supplied me with scrap lumber and nails. So I always had a ready supply of art materials, but not necessarily traditional ones like paper and paint. In fact, colored construction paper was pale in tone compared to my cloth scraps. (To this day I prefer to paint my own papers to create just the right color or texture.)

I also did a lot of painting and drawing as I was growing up. But I didn't like drawing as much as cutting and pasting. Unless I used a lot of erasers (and I did) and kept changing the drawing, it never was exactly the way I wanted it. For instance, if I drew a face, I would never know whether the mouth would look better one inch closer to the nose unless I did the drawing over and over again. But if I cut out a mouth of paper, I could try it in different positions until I found the best one, then glue it down permanently.

The art technique I use most is called collage - cutout pieces of paper, fabric, or objects glued to a backing. Sometimes I paint white paper with watercolor washes and then cut it up, and sometimes I use paper with just one tone or texture. I usually start out by making a dummy book with just pencil drawings. That way I can figure out what I want to illustrate on each page. Once I get that figured out, I start to look around at my subject matter. For my book Planting a Rainbow, I visited flower gardens, garden centers, and parks. I spend a long time checking my facts before I begin to paint. I guess I feel I can never know too much. After I decide what to illustrate, I start cutting out each little piece and gluing it on a board. When you look at Eating the Alphabet, notice the page with the Indian corn. Each kernel is a separate piece of paper.

I work in a studio in my home. I've always thought it's important to have a special area just for making art. Anyone of any age can make such a space, even if it's just a little corner in a room. When you go to this area it means you are ready to create something. I have a huge drawing board, near large windows, with cabinets and work surfaces on both sides. I keep my marking pens and pencils, paints, and colored papers in the drawers of these cabinets. On top of the cabinets at the left I have jars full of brushes, pens, pencils, scissors, a tape dispenser, a rubber cement jug, a telephone (I can keep working while I talk on the phone), and a desk calendar. The desk calendar helps me keep track of speaking dates at schools and museums, and by the end of each week it is usually full of ink spots and paint splashes.

If you are an artist or a writer like me, it sometimes is difficult to know just where ideas come from. That's a question people ask me all the time. Now that I'm grown up I realize that I write and draw things I know and care about. For instance, I think that having a garden most of my life provided me with ideas for Growing Vegetable Soup, and the Nuts to You! story was inspired by a real event - a squirrel really did sneak into my house through the window. But I still don't know exactly where all my ideas come from.

As you may have noticed, in most cases my writing complements my art. I work on writing for a while and then go back to the art - back and forth, until I get just the right balance. It seems to take me a long time to make a book, and it is difficult but enjoyable work. It looks so simple if you get it right!

I think being creative is a part of a person's makeup. It's something I feel very lucky about. I've worked hard to make this gift as fine as I can make it, but I still think I was born with certain ideas and feelings just waiting to burst out!

About the Artist
Lois Ehlert is the talented author and illustrator of many acclaimed books for young children. She is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, and the Layton School of Art. She has also worked as an art teacher, free-lance illustrator, and designer. Her work has appeared in countless publications and has received numerous awards and honors.