Visual
Lois Harris isn’t a visual artist, but that doesn’t mean she lacks creativity. With her third children’s book, Maxfield Parrish: Painter of Make-Believe, the former New Yorker is alerting kids—and adults—to the wonders of the art world. We caught up with the Anacortes resident to find out more about why what she writes about matters.
Cascadia Weekly: You’ve written children’s books on Maxfield Parrish, Mary Cassatt, and “cowboy artist” Charlie Russell. Why do you think it’s important kids know about these artists?
Lois Harris: All three artists followed their dreams. They knew what they wanted to do in life, struggled, but eventually achieved their goals.
CW: What drew you to each of them?
LH: Their art. At a 1999 Seattle Art Museum Impressionism exhibit, I was captivated by a Mary Cassatt painting. The image stayed in my mind. In 2002, I bought a book of stamps with a Cassatt image and remembered the painting in the museum. I decided to do research on the artist, and after studying art books and reading about her life, I wrote my manuscript.
The art of Charlie Russell also inspired me. Years before, I was impressed by his sculpture of a bucking horse and a cowboy waving his hat. While doing Internet research on another topic, I stumbled on the Charles M. Russell Museum website. Wow. I learned Russell was not only a sculptor, but also an illustrator, painter, storyteller and writer.
While doing research for my Russell book, I learned he was impressed with Maxfield Parrish’s use of color. If Charlie, a master at capturing the colors of the West, thought Parrish’s work was good, I had to check it out. Charlie was absolutely right. Maxfield Parrish was known for his creative use of color.
CW: Can you give me a little more background about the content of the Maxfield Parrish book?
LH: [It] follows the inspiring life of the popular American artist who helped develop the future of visual arts. Parrish brought his daydreams to life and shared them with everyone through ads, calendars, murals, paintings, posters and illustrated children’s and adult books. He was praised for his style, imagination and use of color. Millions of people enjoyed his magical artwork, which hangs in collections nationwide. The biography contains photos of the artist and is illustrated with the colorful dreamlands he was known for creating.
CW: What comments have you heard from kids/educators/parents about your books?
LH: After a reading of one of my books, kids have told me, “awesome.” Teachers like my books because they introduce artists who helped develop the arts. Librarians have also have praised the books’ appeal to a wide age-range of readers, the storytelling for read-alouds and the colorful artwork. Parents enjoy reading the picture books with their children, and adult art and history fans buy the books for themselves.
CW: Why is art important when it comes to education?
LH: Art enriches children’s lives and helps them understand concepts, other cultures, places, subjects and times, develops skills and techniques for personal enjoyment or work, and express and communicate their feelings and ideas.
CW: What do you enjoy about creating books for children?
LH: Nothing pleases me more than when a child tells me they love to draw, paint or sculpt and want to be an artist when they grow up—or when they confide they have a dream about doing something great, too.
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