Incorporating works from nine New England illustrators -- Mary Azarian, Tracey Campbell Pearson, D.B. Johnson, Anzell Jordaan, Beth Krommes, Giles Laroche, David Macaulay, Susan Milord and Trina Schart Hyman -- the exhibition offers a broad array of the fine art that decorates the pages of children's books. While the exhibition hosts well-known pieces, such as Macaulay's sketches of the loveable woolly mammoth from his book "The Way Things Work," it also incorporates works from Pearson, Johnson and Laroche that were published just this month.
Rarely do we see such artwork without the corresponding narrative. While knowing the story certainly adds meaning to these images, the pieces in the gallery speak for themselves, and allow the viewer to appreciate the art and focus on the talent of the artists. Mounted and framed, Laroche's pieces showcase his meticulous attention to detail. In a children's book, the flat page doesn't allow for depth, but in the gallery the viewer notices the three-dimensional aspect of his multi-layered cutouts of architectural structures from the world over.
Some of Milord's pieces also incorporate a three-dimensional feel, especially in her cut-paper collage, taken from a book she wrote and illustrated.
"I've only illustrated my own work, but I know that this is true: The story always comes first and the illustrations never begin until you actually know what you're going to illustrate," she said. "But my thinking of the illustrations begins much earlier, because I'm envisioning what kind of style I might use."
Milord's choice of style for each illustration corresponds to the feel she hopes to lend to each story, and her four pieces in the gallery show three distinct styles. The playful collage piece depicts a little girl offering an apple to a horse. For her more comical illustration,Milord uses dark outlines and bright watercolors. A tender piece of a parent closing the bedroom door as a child falls asleep shows a softer image in which Milord uses acrylics.
"In my own case, the pieces exhibited range from being very light-hearted and comical to being touching in a sense," Milord said.
This range is evident in the entire collection, not only in emotion, but also in style. Johnson's abstract illustrations of animal characters incorporate rich colors, while Pearson's pen, ink and watercolor creations form light-colored illustrations of four-eyed families. Kromme's Caldecott-winning illustrations from the book "The House in the Night," on the other hand, are mostly black-and-white, print-like pieces with accents of marigold, and were created using a method not often found in children's illustrations.
Kromme's method, called scratch-boarding, uses a drawing board coated with a thin layer of white clay and a fine layer of India ink. Using an etching tool, she then draws her illustrations on the board, creating white lines on the black background. To add color, Krommes photocopies the scratchboard illustration and uses watercolors to incorporate colored highlights.
"I really like the tiny detail you can get in scratchboard," Krommes said.
Thin lines create rolling hills, a smiling moon and a cozy house in her illustrations, which lend the viewer a sense of hearth and home.
"I come from a fine arts background so I hope that the quality of the artwork is satisfying to everyone," Krommes said. "I wouldn't say that my artwork is 'cute.' I think it's great to be able to, for the price of a children's book, look at beautiful art."
The "Picture Books" exhibition at the Spheris Gallery, located at 59 S. Main St., runs through May 13. The gallery's hours are Tuesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. In conjunction with the Dartmouth Bookstore, Spheris Gallery is hosting book readings and signings with the various artists every Saturday at 10:30 a.m., ending on May 9 with David Macaulay.
