Tell us a bit about your specific collage technique and how you work when you create an image? I usually draw everything I cut out on paper first. I make rough studies that eventually become quite refined, and then I cut them out with an exacto knife. I allow the paper to tell me what it wants to be, meaning I study it to discover whatever special quality it has and then I use it accordingly. Similarly to the way one might watch clouds in the sky and see an eye, or a hat.. I’ll do the same with the patterns I see in paper and follow where it takes me. It’s nice to have an element of chance or surprise in my process - it contrasts nicely with the silhouetted forms in my work which are so specific and definitive. Some of the sheets of paper you use are beautifully marbled, water colour like and patterned. Do you create these or are you a collector of beautiful bits and pieces of paper…? (I read that you loved going to flea markets as a kid - maybe you still love to collect?) I collect them from all over the world, but mostly use Chiyogami from Japan. I have kind friends who buy me paper when they visit, or I buy it imported from paper stores in the U.S. In my book The Moon is Going to Addy’s House I used a lot of marbled paper, much of which I believe was Indian and Italian. I’d love to experiment with making my own some day! What does music mean to you - and is your own music and your visual art related in some way? I started playing violin at 3 and I’ve played on more than 50 records. The first band I ever played with was called God is my Co Pilot, I was 15. The Magnetic Fields and Low were two others that might be recognisable to some. I do think there is musicality to my drawn line, and as a string player I think about the vibration in my line as well.
And in terms of children’s books - or my more narrative collages, I think there is a rhythm and cadence there which is essential to telling a story visually. The words in a picture book are like a poem, in which time is very important - similar to phrasing or a time signature in a piece of music. The sense of movement in my work is another way in which it connects to a musical sensibility. I’m working on an animated trailer for my book right now and lining up music to the imagery and movements feels like the final piece to building a believable world. Tell us a bit about The Moon Is Going to Addy’s House and the process of creating it? Creating The Moon Is Going to Addy’s House was deeply meaningful for me. It is based on a phrase I used to repeat as a child on car ride from city to county to a cottage that has been in my family since the 1940s. My father and uncle, city kids, used to play there in the summer, as did myself and my sister. My daughter Una played there for the first time this past summer. My family over the years agreed that this phrase, (or idea) would make a beautiful children’s story. Children’s literature was very important in my family life as a child. We didn’t own a television, but instead spent a lot of time reading all together. My father became ill about 6 years ago, and told me he really wanted me to focus on bringing this book into being. So, I did. He passed away 4 years ago and the last conversation we had was about the book; he looked at my sketches and encouraged me - he was an incredible cheerleader for my work. I pitched the book to Harcourt, (who had published my previous book) for a period of 2 years, but they were never ready to buy it. At moments I was incredibly discouraged, but I never gave up. I knew I had to bring this book into being.