Homage to Books and Bookstores

Some say that bookstores are on the path to extinction. Like ditto sheets and cassette tapes, and tv’s with rabbit ears. In fact, there was a column in the Boston Globe recently about a school that’s planning to discard its entire library and become solely digital.

That’s right, no books at all. (Gasp!) I could hardy believe it. I felt incensed – how dare they take the young away from real live books, the texture of the paper, turning of the pages, the holding and carrying and the lining of shelves with them.

Okay, so a textbook might not be so lovingly treated, and in some ways I might even (dare I?) agree with digitalizing some of that to alleviate not only costs but the cumbersome qualities. But surely that’s not all they teach from. What about novels and short stories and poetry?

I’m no wimp when it comes to the digital world. I adore my Macs. I’ve used them professionally since they were first introduced. They’ve made a massive difference – without the slightest doubt, for the better – in the production aspect of my work. I have enormous appreciation for the wonders of the computer. And I’m definitely on the high end when it comes to time spent and knowing one’s way around the computer. They’re essential – and I love them! I even name them for crying out loud.

But no books? That’s taking it too far.

Yesterday I was signing books at The Town Book Store in Westfield, NJ, and I have to say, it’s a really lovely shop. It’s a small, independent bookstore, but not so tiny that you can’t move around comfortably. Owner Anne Laird has done a beautiful job. It’s well lit, well designed, and truly a pleasure to walk into.

The word delicious comes to mind – the very deliciousness of its books. The Town Book Store is a yummy place with plenty for the eyes to feast upon, and like a box of chocolates, you want to try them all and have a hard time deciding which to taste first. You gaze at the colorful wrappings, you want to pick them up, touch them. You gingerly open first pages with wonder and anticipation of what new acquaintance you’ll meet inside, what new thoughts, journeys, revelations or scrumptious tidbits you’ll discover.

And being in that shop reminded me of that article I’d read about about New England’s Cushing Academy abandoning its library.

How can ebooks ever replace the marvelous textural sensation of bound and printed works? To think they even could!  There’s so much more to a book than the printed word … there is the presentation, the feel, the weight, the scent. There’s the deliciousness.

Their passing would be an atrociously sad day.

PS:  My daughter also made a fantastic, practical, far less romantic point: “You know, computers crash – books can’t!”  …Wise words from a teen.

Share

1

"A Book of Fairies" News


book_fest_pdp

Brooklyn Book Festival

It was a full weekend here on the east coast, with book signings at the Princeton Children’s Book Festival and the Brooklyn Book Festival. Towns don’t get much prettier than Princeton, and we had spectacular September weather for Sunday’s fair in Brooklyn, Both events were well attended and allowed we author/illustrator types another opportunity to meet and mingle with book lovers of all ages. Oh, and to sell some books too!

This coming weekend, on Saturday the 19th, I’ll be at the Town Book Store in Westfield, a charming shop that happens to be celebrating it’s 75th year of business. The Town Book Store is one of the last remaining independent bookstores in New Jersey. Both of my books – A Book of Fairies and The Book of Mermaids – will be available for signing that day. If you’re in the area between 2 and 4 pm, please stop in!

In anticipation of the Westfield event, a local paper, the Westfield Leader, wrote up a wonderful article (saxton fairytales combine magical words and art) on my children’s books. And this morning I learned that A Book of Fairies has been featured as an anticipated bestseller by CBC (the Children’s Book Council), along with another great new book by my publisher (Shenanigan Books) called Star of the Show. Congratulations to Shenanigan!

You can keep up with newsy book-related items by checking in on the News tab at patriciasaxton.wordpress.com. I know the fairies enjoy the attention. :  )

Share

0

"Get Over It" ~ A Real Life Bucket List

hang gliderOnce in a while on this blog I segway from concepts of art & design, illustration, writing and marketing into topics more about life and the bigger picture. And today some upliftment seems especially appropriate.

……………………………………….

For all that’s good in life, to be embraced and appreciated, there’s a lot of very real concern too, for some big items on life’s plate. I think we’ve all felt this way at different points in our lives, and quite a few people are feeling it now. You feel stretched and burdened. Sleep is lost. And what happens after too many wakeful nights, the lack of a good night’s sleep becomes cumulative, so when morning comes, it’s tough to rally.

I felt that way this morning. But of course, I did rise. Had a cup of tea, got my daughter’s breakfast and lunch made, drove her to school, came back to set about the work day. While making a second cup of tea, I flipped on the CBS Early Show. They had a segment on a 79-year-old woman named Susie, diagnosed a few months ago with terminal cancer, 6-9 months to live.

Instead of seeking treatment, Susie is living out her own “bucket list” – she’s choosing “life” in a big way. What an inspiration she was (and is)! Maybe you’ve heard of her, but if you haven’t, she’s worth knowing about.

The great thing about Susie is that this isn’t a whim at the end of life – it’s big, and full of intent to live out the rest of her days with gusto, but apparently she’s always had a life-affirming spirit. An example is when her son, at the age of 16, become paraplegic; her guidance was to recognize that, ok, the muscles that don’t work, don’t work, and that’s that – so count the ones that still DO work, and use them for all they’re worth.

She has this immense kind of “get over it” attitude (which is advice she actually offers) – life is a gift – death is just another page of life’s book. She’s fearless and cheerful and unpretentious. She’s a no-nonsense, live life, get on with it person. And I for one am grateful that I “got to meet her” this morning – it put a whole new energy into my day, painted it with different colors, offered a new view. It didn’t change my lack of sleep or the amount or weight of things on my plate, but maybe a different way to hold and carry that plate, at least for today.

Every now and then someone crosses our path who lifts us up. This morning that happened to me. Thank you Susie, and may you fully, utterly enjoy every single moment on your list.  And that goes for you reading this, too – as Susie says, life is “in your face”; so go ahead and take it on.

If you want to follow her adventures, there’s a Weadock Bucket List Blog and Weadock Bucket List Facebook page

Share

5

Page Readers talks with Patricia Saxton, author of “A Book of Fairies”

Here is a link to a recent interview given by host Nanci Arvizu of PageReaders.

Nanci is a delight, by the way – and she provides a genuinely positive service by helping to promote authors via her blog talk radio program. I was pleased to take part in our talk about books, art & design.

Click here: Page Readers talks with Patricia Saxton, author of “A Book of Fairies”

Share

0

"52 Weeks of Peace"

September 1 .  2009

Today is my birthday and I’m making my wishes.  Lots of them!  But among them is a wish that I’m going to explore and illustrate all year long in the form of a personal project, which I’m calling “52 Weeks of Peace”.

Now when I use the word peace, I mean it in a broad, sweeping way .. from the kind of peace that permeates an individual’s soul with a sense of well-being, with love and with joy – to the kind that can move whole groups of humanity into harmony.

Peace is generally considered a quiet thing, like a particularly beautiful sunset – but it can also be loud, like a chorus that lets go and sings boldly to high heaven. Peace can be a meditative, sit-on-the-mountaintop feeling, or the heady, centering adrenaline rush that comes after good, hard athletics. Peace can be a sleeping cat, curled up in a sunny spot, the picture of complete contentment. Peace can be the joyful peels of a child’s laughter. Peace can be a bubbling creek, a cup of tea, the mending of a friendship – or the letting go. It can be found in a kind word, a job well done, a stranger’s smile. Peace graces a spring garden, and kicks up its heels in a snowstorm or a boisterous, pounding waterfall.

Peace doesn’t fight; it calms and exhilarates. Peace is freedom from pain, worry and doubt. Peace reaches over and takes your hand; it delights your heart. Peace feels right from our head to our toes.

And my wish is not just for me, but for you – and for all of us – to see more and experience more of whatever brings more peace, more often, into our lives. (This is one instance where less is not more!)

I’m also going to have a little fun with the designs I’ll be sharing over the next year, and I’ll hope some of that rubs off on whoever may be checking in.  And in the end there should be a wide range of feeling and unexpected expression represented.

Some of you may be familiar with my pencil point series. For those of you who aren’t, the pencil point is my logo, and over several years I’ve celebrated that wonderful, marvelous little tool by creating nearly 100 design variations. If you’ve not seen them, and if you’re interested, you can see some of them here: saxtonstudio.com.

I’ll be taking a similar approach with this venture – except there will be a lot more pieces in a much shorter time period.  And instead of a pencil point, I’ll be using the universal peace symbol. Each week I’ll post a new creation.

So, without further ado, here is the first – in honor of the first day of September and the first week of “52 Weeks of Peace”. (After this first one, I’ll post them under the “peace” tab above.)

Peace to all  – enjoy!

peace_cupcakes.c

Share

3

Writing & Reading: Alive or Dead?

I recently got on my high horse during a conversation about the craft of writing: the debate basically being whether writing and reading are alive or dead, whether we’re becoming/nurturing a breed of illiterates who can only function in 140 characters or less, a world of tweeters and soundbites. Let’s just say the topic sparked my interest.

It’s certainly becoming obvious that peoples’ attention spans in general seem to be shrinking into tiny little boxes, needing – or only able – to hear just what’s essential in as few syllables (and often as few individual letters) as possible … and while this may be due in part to information age overload and everyone’s time being filled up the wazoo, it can still be cause for concern. Are we losing our readers and writers?

I think not (and surely hope not). Those who love to write, write – they can’t NOT write. And those who love to read, read. I don’t believe that’s gone, nor will it be in the near future. The method through which they read and write may evolve, but the art will not die. It might be something as ancient as humanity: an inner sense or desire for storytelling. Soundbites just won’t cut it in that realm; they’ll never be as satisfying as a full story.

All my life I’ve been one of those who feels a compulsion to write. But I learned early on that not everyone shares that interest, skill or passion for writing, and have personally come to terms with that being “the way it is”.

Consider this: well before the advent of tweets and twits, brief emails, or the computer itself, writing was often preempted by a phone call. Before telephones, maybe there were the full-blown multi-page letter-writers, and the postcard-sending types. So it might just be that there have always been “pockets” of those who are simply more inclined toward the written word.

Newspapers and magazines may be going out of business, the publishing world may be in flux, but there’s still a thirst for the written word across all age groups. And what’s more, I think there’s room for both tweeting and writing …as long as they don’t confuse one as the other!

Share

0

Apples and Oranges

In 100 BC, Latin writer Pubilius Syrus is quoted as saying “You Should Go To A Pear Tree For Pears, Not To An Elm.”

I’ve always thought that made perfect, logical sense.

In a similar vein, if you want an apple, you’d go to an apple tree, and to an orange tree for an orange, right?  Or would you ask the apple to behave like an orange, because you’re really hungry for both…

apple-orange

Lately I’ve become increasingly aware of this very kind of attitude (wanting an apple to behave like an orange) infiltrating the professional design field. It’s the idea that creative excellence resides side by side with mathematical expertise and technological wizardry.

It’s not exactly a right brain/left brain comparison, as there are many creatives who are very technologically adept, who can and do operate with both sides of the brain. It’s more the apparent expectation of both aspects to excel with equal brilliance within one individual. And it’s demanding that individuals be not only jacks-of-all-trades, but masters-of-all. (Oh, and by the way, for bottom dollar – an unfortunate side effect that’s been showing up across many professions in the current economic climate.)

It’s a disturbing trend. Because, generally speaking, in the end the expectations don’t seem sustainable, with results that may be less than desirable unless overall quality is of little consequence.

Some may think this expectation just a natural adaptation to changing times, as in fact designers have typically worn many hats. Conceptualist, craftsman, communicator, consultant, coordinator, business negotiator, marketer, developer and keeper of budgets, manager, director, teacher; some of us have multi-medium talents – and we know how to use the tools to make it all happen.

And it’s also true that every profession faces unique challenges almost continually as life, technology and opportunity rapidly evolve. So we all must grow, learn and evolve right along, perhaps even re-invent, which might frustrate some and invigorate others, but is true, nonetheless.

Yet I still feel there is a point of departure in the orchard.

Ask most programmers how they stack up beside designers and vice-versa. They know enough about each other to work effectively together, but aren’t necessarily sufficiently skilled in both to be considered masters of each realm. It’s apples and oranges all over again. Both nutritious fruits, but not derived from the same seed.

If you want an apple, the apple tree is your best bet.

Share

0

"A Book of Fairies" Book Launch!

a book of fairies / book launch

It’s a pleasure to announce that “A Book of Fairies” is now available online and at local bookstores.

Yes, in between designing, illustrating and writing for business clients, I design, write and illustrate children’s books. You can visit the author/illustrator website at patriciasaxton.com for lots more information, some Q&As, links, and games – and the patricia saxton blog, where there are different types of thought articles on creativity, event updates, and a special Sightings page for reading about – or better yet, sharing your own – experiences with the fairy realm!

Note: Patricia will be signing books on September 12 at Princeton, NJ’s Children’s Book Festival, and September 19 at The Town Book Store in Westfield, NJ.

Share

2

Play More, Work Better

The Importance of Playtime

dog playing frisbeeWhen was the last time you jumped up and down like a kid, or played frisbee in the rain … just for the fun of it?  If you have, you’re better off.  If you haven’t, maybe it’s time!

I recently saw bits and pieces of a TV documentary about the power of play. It showed images of wild animals, who might normally be mortal enemies, engaged in play. And children, of course, using all their natural talent for having a good time.

The essential message though, was that play is not just for fun. And it’s not just for kids or animals. It’s actually really, really good for you.

And when you think of it, who doesn’t like to play? I know I do. And knowing that it’s vitally beneficial for our well-being, makes it even more inviting.

But sometimes we adults can get so darn serious, or acquire some heavy sense of self-importance, or feel so burdened with the weight of our individual worlds (not to mention the world at large) that we don’t make room, or forget to make time, or heaven forbid lose the ability, to be playful.

By continuing to “play” throughout our lives though, we increase our brain’s learning capacity and become more productive. We’re more balanced, happier and well adjusted. We work better, and we live better. And seriously, it’s a lot more fun.

As Stuart Brown talks about in the video below, “play” seems to be its own separate biological entity. It’s inborn. It has a great evolutionary purpose. And this I believe to be 100% true. Yet there really is no particular purpose to play other than the purpose TO play.  The point is to have fun. And the benefits are in the side-effects: pure, unplanned, and positively life-giving.

Dr. Stuart Brown’s research shows play is not just joyful and energizing — it’s deeply involved with human development and intelligence. Through the National Institute for Play, he’s working to better understand its significance.

Share

1

It's All About Relationships

A recurring theme has been emerging in my world quite a lot lately. In talks over the past several months with colleagues, in twitter posts directed to Seth Godin’s blog, and most recently in a conversation over lunch this week with Milton Glaser who has unarguably seen and done it all, combining art and business with unparalleled success.

The theme? It’s all about relationships. Here’s my quick take on it, with regard to the graphic design business (or any business, for that matter):

………………………….

In this day and age of computer savvy, a glutton of designers and a climate of economic strife, it’s no wonder many artist’s and agencies are having a hard go of it lately. It could be there’s too much talent and not enough demand, as everyone – from individuals to families to small businesses and large corporations – is holding tight to their purse strings.

But in any business climate – whether it’s booming or equilaterally depressed – three key elements always reign supreme: creativity, quality, and relationship.

An unfortunate side effect of a distressed economic environment such as the one we’re experiencing now, is that some media-buying decision-makers may opt for mediocrity, somehow aligning their efforts with the mood of the times – the sense of “lack” or “needing to do without”  – by shopping around for the lowest price, regardless of creativity, quality or relationship. It’s easy enough to do nowadays; just google graphic design and hundreds upon hundreds will come up.

What can also happen in this kind of situation though, is that while it’s still possible to find creativity, and still possible to find certain levels of quality, relationship may well be left out of the equation. And that particular absence can kill a project, or make people wish it did.

Despite all the wonders of online connecting, the enormous choices and competitive pricing available, if you don’t like the people you work with, it can be a miserable experience. It boils down to the old adage of being a pleasure to work with.

You can be as creative as DaVinci, with the quality and craftsmanship of a Frank Lloyd Wright; and likewise, you can be a brilliant business mind with a world-changing product. But regardless of whether wallets are open or whether they’re closed, at some point human nature always plays its card – and wins.

Share

2

Google's Unpopular Offer: Work For Free

Some Artist’s Say “No Thanks.”

Who doesn’t love Google? It’s friendly, fast, smart, practical and has established itself as an indispensable tool. It’s the undisputed King of search engines. But in June, word spread about a Google offer that many top illustrators felt they could refuse.

Exploitation? Good business? A dishonorable trend? Welcome exposure? … What do you think?

Read about it here in the NY Times.

0

American Flag: A Visual Tribute

In May 1776, Betsy Ross sewed the first American flag. A year later in 1777, the Continental Congress passed the first Flag Act, establishing an official flag for the new nation:

“Resolved, That the flag of the United States be made of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new Constellation.”

However, between 1777 and 1960, Congress passed several acts that changed the shape, design and arrangement of the flag and allowed for additional stars and stripes to be added to reflect each new state. This broad span of time without specific guidelines resulted in many design interpretations – which in a sense also reflects the deeply rooted sense of freedom so cherished by Americans. The expressions were rich and proud, eventually evolving into the flag we pledge allegiance to today.

Carrying that theme of evolvement forward, in 1986 I discovered a beautiful book by Kit Hinrichs, called “Stars and Stripes” – a compilation of exceptionally creative American Flag images created by some of the finest graphic artists of modern time. I found it absolutely delightful, and a great tribute to the creativity and talent that abounds amongst us – and the creative freedom we’re able to enjoy in this great land of the free and home of the brave.

Below are just 13 samples of the many ingenious designs from that book honoring our American flag.  Enjoy!

flag1flag2flag3flag4flag5flag6flag7flag8flag9flag10flag11flag12flag13all images copyright of creator

1

Saxton's "A Book of Fairies" Receives Reviewer Praise

fairy.cover

available for pre-order on amazon.com

From Midwest Book Review:

A Book of Fairies is a fantastic children’s picturebook that presents a fascinating listing of imaginary facts about imaginary creatures. From the nature of Fairyland, to finding fairies, the tasks of fairies, fairy secrets and language, fairy medicine, and more, A Book of Fairies is a fun source of mystical speculation. The beautiful color illustrations perfectly complement the thoughtful text. A Book of Fairies is sure to bring joy not only to young readers, but also to adults who still believe in fairies!

“Of all the earth fairies, flower fairies are around us the most. Flower fairies are the ones skipping through the ivy, or tending your vegetable patch – yet they can be awfully hard to spot. They make their clothing from leaves and colorful flower petals, so they blend right into the gardens where they play.”

Share

0