A Visit from Artist Bryan Collier

Today was a special day in our library: we welcomed artist and book creator Bryan Collier. Mr. Collier met with students in Grades 3, 4 and 8 and then toured our art room to see what Lawrence School students are doing as artists. He was a truly wonderful guest, sharing his creative process and then answering a billion questions about his books. Mr. Collier compared his technique (collage and watercolor painting) with making a pizza -- bringing unrelated ingredients together to make an appealing whole. He showed us the heavy weight papers on which he creates his images; we could see the texture of his work and compare it with the images in the finished books. Mr. Collier not only shared his artwork. He talked about his life as an artist -- when he realized, at age 15, that he wanted to make art his life's work; where he gets his inspiration; the research he does in order to capture a story with integrity; what his next book will be about. He drew us carefully into his collages so we could notice the ways his pictures extend the text with specific details, and he expressed his confidence in the seed of creativity that is in everyone. Thank you to our PTO and the Saker Fund for making Mr. Collier's visit possible. We feel lucky -- and inspired!