Original Art Show

I tried posting this over the weekend and ran in to problems, and then decided to just make this my Monday post.

Here are a few pics from the Original Art Show at the Society of Illustrators last Thursday night. Two of the books I edited made it into the show, which was really exciting: Hippo! No, Rhino and Chowder. And both Jeff Newman and Peter Brown made it out--Jeff all the way from Milwaukee:
And Peter all the way from Brooklyn:
It was a great event, although, as Meghan said, it was really crowded. And hot. When I've gone in the past, I've usually left early to escape the crowds, but this time I stayed for almost the whole thing--funny, I never knew there were actually awards and speeches given at the event.

It was great to see a lot of familiar faces, including many I haven't seen a while--faces from the LA SCBWI, former colleagues, editors, artists, agents, even Margaret Tice from the NYPL. And I even got to finally meet Ms. Cheryl Klein for the first time!

And here's Meghan's piece. She refused to pose in front of it:(Meghan, when you get that piece back, I think you should pose with someone else in a gallery, holding that painting, and wearing masks.)

One of my most favorite moments at work is when final art comes in for an upcoming picture book. No matter how perfect the printing of the book is, it's still not the same as seeing the original art in person. I love seeing the different styles and techniques and media up close. This is what's great about the Original Art Show, too--so many wonderful artists' work all in one place, from Jon Muth, to Jerry Pinkney, to Mo Willems, to Jeanette Winter. So, if you're in the NY area, the exhibit will be up until November 24, so go check it out, and say hi to Hippo and Chowder for me. You can find exhibit hours (and not much else--I hate how hard it is to navigate the SOI website, does anyone else have this problem?) here. It's free!