Ode to the Eric Carle Museum

Today I went to the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art. There are a number of things that I love about this place, having been three times in my adult life. One: I love that their library is sorted according to illustrator. There is none of the author bias with Eric Carle. This library is the first and only library aside from my own where this has been the case, although truthfully, even mine can be a mix, however, Trina's work is always organized by her name even if it is a novel and she just did the cover art. This makes it so much easier for an artist like myself to bring my friend in and say, "This is one of my favorite illustrators," and instantly have a slew of books to demonstrate the quality of illustrations, rather than rely on my packed brain to remember authors, titles and artists and dig out the common artist name all over the place.
Two: I like that you can get within inches of the paintings hung up in the gallery. Ernest Shepard and Tomie dePaola were the featured artists this time and I LOVED being able to be within centimeters of Strega Nona and see how crisp and clean Tomie's work was. I loved seeing the faint pencil lines around Pooh Bear and how Ernest's ink flowed from image to image. It was just delightful. I stopped for awhile to look at a cushioned top to a basket Tomie dePaola had created, mesmerized by the acute sense of detail in the light wash, darker wash and faint colored pencil on top to create the form. It reminded me of the importance in SLOWING down.
Three: The gift shop is my heaven. I personally love reading biographies, autobiographies, books on books, books on writing, books on certain categories related to books (ie. cover art, golden books etc.) all of those books Leonard Marcus puts out. I am just devouring each book in the slim amount of time that my friend's attention span can maintain the gift shop. It was in this gift shop that I was first introduced to Holiday House, the first sixty-five years, a book that inspired me to want to intern and work for the company. It was here too that I began to learn of other places where I could read and learn about Trina Schart Hyman which as all know later turned into a passion, and a book.
Four: Eric Carle himself. He seems such a gentle soul. I have spoken only very briefly to snatch a photograph with him, but his adorable little self seems enchanting and I like that he took the interest in creating a museum to celebrate children's books and I like that he is a staple in children's books, yet kind of in a different category from the Caldecott winners and the schmoozy sectors.
Five: Meghan Lambert. This is a woman who works for the museum who kindly opted to interview with me about Trina when I was a mere Jr. in college. The fact that the museum staff supports and encourages such dialogues has earned them high respect in my eyes. Plus she introduced me to yet another library at the museum that is jam packed with all the types of books that I like that I can sit and work in whenever I make a reservation.
And Six: It is in the middle of freaking nowhere. Seriously. You're just driving along and then POOF, Hampshire College and Eric Carle Museum. Too funny.
So there you have it. My many reasons for loving the Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art.