Sometimes you stumble across an artist who is doing what you want to be doing, but doing it so well, it makes your teeth hurt. That's how I felt on the third floor of the Multnomah Public Library's Central Branch on Tuesday, when I found myself in the middle of an exhibition of works by Bryan Collier.
The exhibit featured originals of his children's book illustrations: large, mixed-media collages featuring water color, pen and ink drawing, and an amazing sense of color.Collier has illustrated children's books about John Lennon, Langston Hughes, Rosa Parks, and Martin Luther King. I loved seeing the collages up close, being able to distinguish between each section of torn and assembled paper. If you get a chance to see this exhibit, do it!
Here's a link to a website for the National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature: www.nccil.org. Here you can find more information about Bryan Collier and see more images from the exhibit.
