inspiration...

Do not adjust your screen... YES I am writing a new blog entry! Yay!
I was inspired to write because I just took a stroll through the Fine Arts Building. This is where my office/studio is and I just LOVE this building. Aside from new wiring and some of the light fixtures in this building and the modernized bathrooms and stuff like that, it is pretty much the same as it must have been back in the early part of the 20th century. I marvel at some of the people who have had studios here in the past. For some reason on the 10th floor right in a row are three of the famous inhabitants that worked here. Number one is W.W. Denslow who was the illustrator for The Wizard of Oz. He has been and is one of my inspirations and “heroes” if you will. I discovered him when I was a child and found the original “Oz” books at the library. Ah, the smell of those old books and the delightful illustrations this man provided for the very first book. He only illustrated the first book and then the other Oz books were illustrated by John R. Neil. But Denslow... especially the way he drew the Cowardly Lion has always been a favorite of mine. The photo on the right is a picture of him IN his studio on the 10th floor. And the sea horse icon is his signature. If you see that on an old cartoon/illustration, then you know who drew it. The W.W. stands for William Wallace.

Another “biggie” back in the olden days had his office on the tenth floor right next to Denslows although they didn't work there at the same time. It was this little known architect named Frank Lloyd Wright... have you ever heard of him? He contributed many things to this building including the design of the windows in MY office and some of the other windows and elements throughout the building.

THIRDLY... this is something I just learned today. On the OTHER side of Denslows office was another cartoon/illustrator, John T. McCutcheon. He is famous for the illustrations you see below, contributed to the Chicago Tribune for more than 40 years and won the Pulitzer Prize. I remember this illustration from either seeing it in a book, library, or reprinted... it was originally published in 1907. This STYLE of drawing and the way it was colorized for the newspaper... I have always loved this kind of thing. And also, the fact that it's autumn... you can almost smell the smoke in the cold air when you look at this. That is what I love about some illustrations, they can evoke SO much sense memory and emotion.

What a great time it was in the early 1900's and little did these artists know what an impact they would have on me... another illustrator who has the privilege of working in this great building.