The Weight of Pencils

Well, it has been a harangue getting my internet up and running, and even after spending ALL DAY LONG waiting for the AT&T man to fix it, it is still not the speed that I am technically paying for. So, I have the immense pleasure of hosting yet another AT&T man in my home tomorrow evening. So MAYBE I can finally watch the season finales of Modern Family and Glee. There is, however, enough internet signal for me to update my blog! So here goes.

Last Saturday was the first annual BooksmART Festival hosted by Arts & Letters Live and boy, was it a success! The museum was crawling with infants, toddlers, and young teenagers all running back and forth between story times, author presentations, illustration workshops, and of course the book-signing tent. We had to have extra volunteers on stroller parking patrol. The week leading up to the festival was full of volunteer training, sign making, and logistical meetings. A lot of thought was channeled into the rotational schedule of the event, how to arrange the stage and speakers for the performers, and of course, where to unload the five vans of faeries that would be arriving in time for their afternoon performance. It was wonderful to see all of our extremely hard work pay off in such an energetic day.

A poster for the BooksmART Festival

My particular task that day was to escort one of our participating authors around the museum to his various stations. Duncan Tonatiuh (Doon-cahn Toe-na-tee-oo, phonetically speaking) is particularly notable for his work as an author and an illustrator at the very young age of 26. He was born in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico and even now spends half of the year there and the other half in New York City. He has his life cleverly arranged to outsmart winter. 

Author/Illustrator Duncan Tonatiuh

I went to go pick up Duncan at his hotel near Lovefield Airport. Gripping my iPhone the whole way, I was relying completely on my Google Maps app and praying that I didn't get lost. It was after all, the first time I had ventured away from Central Expressway, Henderson, or Mockingbird. I finally collected my author, who is much smaller and younger looking than in that picture, and frantically apologized for my iPhone (which had just crashed) and that I was not quite sure how to get us to the museum. Fortunately, I have a decent internal compass and found my way back to Lemmon Avenue which took me back to Central and my comfort zone. 

Once we arrived at the museum we were whisked away to the green room for tea and coffee before heading to the Latin American galleries for Duncan's first story time. Duncan's latest story is a picture book about young muralist Diego Rivera and how he would see our world today. Appropriately, Helen, the consultant for Arts & Letters Live, placed us right next to a Diego Rivera self-portrait on the fourth floor. 

He did another story time downstairs in C3 (Center for Creative Connections) during which he drew for the children, letting them choose the subject for the picture. The masterpiece du jour was "Carlos Riding a Pony." 

Duncan also gave a presentation about the inspiration for his work which was very interesting. His illustrative style derives from the Mixtec tradition of ancient Mexico, with characters in profile and round figures. It is very flat and two-dimensional just like the codices written by scribes of ancient Latin America. 

A Mixtec codex

A page from Tonatiuh's picture book, Dear Primo

Duncan was frequently asked what his next project is. He is currently working on a rendition of Little Red Ridinghood in which the wolf is replaced with a coyote and the whole story takes place in the borderlands of Texas and Mexico. Though it is primarily a picture book for children there will be political and social undertones that adults will certainly be able to grasp. It should be published next fall.

We ate lunch in the green room, accompanied by Caldecott Medalists David Weisner and Jerry Pinckney, who were delightful to listen to. (Note, the Caldecott Medal is a prestigious award for illustration). Weisner shared his ideas for an upcoming graphic novel while Pinckney explained his process for watercolor workshops.

"Jerry, I have an immensely important question for you," stated Mr. Weisner.

"Now what is that?" Inquired Mr. Pinckney.

"I have long admired and observed your work, but tell me, what weight pencil do you use?" queried Mr. Weisner, seriously. 

Jerry Pinckney uses a .2 weight pencil, if I remember correctly. He also explained more about his process and medium, which David Weisner absorbed very intently. The whole conversation was a most humorous and endearing vignette of these wonderful artists.

During our short breaks I showed Duncan around the museum. He particularly enjoyed the exhibit of ancient art of the Americas, including Peru, Mexico, and North America. I tried to give him a more extensive tour but ended up getting us lost somewhere in between Indonesian art and Japanese art. Tell you what, the DMA is one museum I would hate to be trapped in.

Our final station for the day was the book-signing tent outside in Ross Plaza. It was quite toasty, but fortunately we were only there for 45 minutes. Rick Riordan, author of consecutive NYTimes Bestselling series, was outside for the entire afternoon. The line for his table wrapped around half of the DMA circumference. Duncan's last name, Tonatiuh, has indigenous roots meaning "sun god." Every time he signs a book he says: "Enjoy this LIBRO, from your AMIGO, Duncan Tonatiuh," with a Mixtec sun next to it. 

At 3:45 I escorted Duncan to his town car which would transport him to the airport. He asked me to send him the picture we took in the book-signing tent, so somehow I'll figure out how to get that to him. And then he went. My author-friend-for-the-day was gone and after so much running around and chaos, I was free to go home! 

Duncan Tonatiuh and me in the book-signing tent

Up next: A weekend with innovative poet Austin Kleon.