I had the marvelous opportunity of hosting Caldecott Award winner,
Eric Rohmann this weekend at a conference. He wrote and illustrated
My Friend Rabbit, Time Flies, The Cinder-Eyed Cats, Pumpkinhead, and
Clara and Asha. His work is inspiring, creative, dynamic, beautifully crafted and ever-evolving. As a person, he is very friendly, kind, charismatic and generous. He was always ready to give advice when solicited, offer insights and any help to aspiring illustrators and writers alike. Below is my little sketch of him as he answered questions in a breakout session and a picture of him and I in our writer friend's (
Rick Walton's) office. I learned so much from him from the moment I picked him up from the airport, to clicking the button on his slideshow presentation, to chatting at Starbucks, to saying goodbye to him and his wonderful writer friend,
Candace Flemming at the airport. Thank you, Eric. By the way, if any of you meet him, be sure have him tell you about the pussy willow incident.
I did get to meet, but didn't get to quite rub shoulders with another WONDERFUL writer you all should know...Katherine Patterson (Newbery Award winner). Her keynote speech at the conference was inspiring. She spoke of beauty being achieved through truth. She said beauty has 3 elements...Simplicity, Harmony, and Brilliance. You could just feel her wonderful spirit emanate from her as she spoke. What a wonderful lady...friendly, kind and full of life.
Bummer. I didn't realize he was going to be here this week. Eric is a really great guy and a super artist. I wish I could have gone to the conference. Sounds like it was nice. Maybe next time.
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