Anchor Image Exchange #2

Subtitle: Pieces and Parts

The second anchor image came from Brenda.....a page from A Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats...one of her favorite books from her childhood. 

I wasn't familiar with the story....so I thought a context for the image would be helpful. I found a reading of the book on YouTube...and that changed EVERYTHING!  

I was quite taken with the story about Peter and his excitement about the Snowy Day.  I've always loved a snow day off from school...as a child growing up and as a teacher.  I still love a snow day.

I adored the patterns and images throughout the book and I knew instantly that I would incorporate several of them into my art piece.  I wouldn't recreate the exact scene....but would honor the pieces and parts of it with pieces and parts from the whole book. I smiled all the way through this creative journey. 

The snow in the book looked like watercolor splotches.....so that's what I did.

The pattern in Peter's pajamas got recreated on the buildings and his bed frame became the fence.

And I knew this little snowman would have to be in there somewhere.

I LOVED the tile floor in the bathroom....

and knew immediately it would become the watercolor sky. I even included the rubber duckie.  At times I was a little giggly.

I recreated this image of Peter sliding all the way down the hill and tucked it into the snow.

This is the pattern I created from Peter's pajamas. I took a screenshot of one tiny little section from the book....then cut and pasted it over and over to create the graphic. I printed onto painted papers...resizing it a bit for each building. 

I sat with these pieces and parts in a pile for a long time before I had the nerve to cut and start glueing.

I recreated the snowman and painted it with shimmery white watercolor....

...and I typed the words from the first page of the book for the back.  

I was tickled to find a piece of scrapbook paper that looked a lot like the bathroom tile/sky.....and Brenda's anchor image was ready to go. 

Brenda recreated the page from the book beautifully. It looks just like the achor image.  Her memories and connection to the book made these cards even more meaningful. She told us she remembered every single page.

Tracie made the precious snowsuits a focal point as Peter and his buddy went out to play on the second snowy day at the end of the book. I love the polka dots...and the cat peeking through the fence....and I think her watercolor snow is so effective.

Becky's card was dimensional and interactive with little show globe feature. Very clever Becky.  Little Peter in his red snowsuit and the snowflakes are loose...and can be shaken about. She used some sort of painted texture medium to create the glistening mounds of snow.