Charley Harper Love

I checked out a few Charley Harper books at the mobile library the week before winter break.  What a perfect fit for my nature-loving kidlet.  The illustrations are amazingly simple when you dissect them, but so gorgeous when viewed as a whole.  Simple shapes and clear, precise drawings unfold in Charley Harper's Birds & Words.  This book was first released in 1972 and is a remarkable collection of Harper's silk-screened imagery.  His style of art is called "minimal realism" and he distilled his subjects down to their most core forms, never including anything extra.  He used his longtime muse, the bird kingdom, to pull this book together.

Grady drew immediate inspiration and helped decorate wrapping paper for a few of our packages going down to Southern California.  He even asked for one of our Bare Books to keep track of all the different birds he wanted to draw.  However, due to the perfection and simplicity of Harper's birds, Grady became hesitant to resume drawing the next day.  He feared they wouldn't be "perfect" and my heart sank.  I explained to him that he should just draw what he feels and/or sees and that his birds will be his own work of art.  He tried again, but seemed deflated.

Later that same day, I overheard him talking to a friend:  "Artists take their time.  I'm a real artist.  I took my time making this."  He then displayed his bird drawing.  What a proud mama moment.  My little man claiming his title and explaining his method of making his very own masterpiece.  Seems like a metaphor to me.  Kids take their time.  I have a real kid.  I will slow down and take my time to notice this.