Art

Mother Goose - Interview with the Artists Part I   as part of the exhibit:

Mother Goose Re-Imagined

Flinn Gallery, Greenwich Public Library 

101 West Putnam Avenue

Greenwich, CT 06830

on view December. 6, 2012 – January. 16, 2013
Event day Sunday Jan. 6 begins 1:30pm:
artist panel discussion moderated by Donna Miskend with:
Roberta Rivera, Clare Pernice, Marilyn Papas, H. R. Karpes, Lisa Lavoie
artist demo by Roberta Rivera
picture book readings

exhibiting ARTISTS: Angelique Anderson, Deborah Cuneo, Diana Ting Delosh, Laura Goetz, Leeza Hernandez, Mike Herrod, Sara Kahn, H. R. Karpes, Anna Kim, Ann Koffsky, Sarah Lisa Lavoie, Kitty Leech, Donna Miskend, Sawaka Norii, Marilyn Papas, Clare Pernice, Barbara Mason Rast, Roberta M. Rivera, Vicky Rubin, Tatyanna Starikova, Cheryl Taborsky, T.T. Tyler, Wallace West, Brian Yanish

CHILDREN’S BOOK ILLUSTRATOR GROUP 

ARTIST MEMORIES OF MOTHER GOOSE

I chose to highlight this particular question as it ties into the importance of being read to as a child, the lasting impression that experience has on adults, and the enduring quality of mother goose stories. 
– Donna Miskend

DM Do you have any memories you wish to share of reading Mother Goose or being read to as a child?

My fondest memories are my parents reading Mother Goose rhymes to my brothers, sisters and me at bedtime. It was comforting being read to, and those short rhymes were delightfully silly.     – Roberta Rivera

I first learned about Mother Goose nursery rhymes when I was about three years old. They were read to me by my mother in Ukraine. It was a beautiful translation by Russian children’s book writer Korney Chukovskiy. My favorite rhymes that I knew by heart were “Humpty Dumpty”, “There Was an Old Woman Who Lived In a Shoe”, “There Was a Crooked Man”.

After my daughter was born, Mother Goose again gave me many warm, cozy moments of reading with her. This special time I will treasure all my life.

- Tatyana Starikova

        

I remember being thrilled that I could actually read something aloud that sounded so silly and also something that was recognizable by everyone.

- Wallace West

        

My mom has a picture of me as a toddler reading, “The Three Little Kittens,” it may have been my favorite.  I remember playing a record of rhythms and songs that my younger brother and I would dance and sing to.  
– Laura Goetz

I have fond memories of being read books by my father. It was fun to follow along and look for new things in the pictures. When I was older, my mother would read to me as I drew. To this day, I listen to audio books as I work. – Lisa Lavoie

My parents had one of the collections of Mother Goose stories and I remember hearing about Jack and Jill and Humpty and all the rest, imagining what would cause both kids to tumble down the hill and who in their right mind would be a cradle on a tree top? I was also fascinated by the concept of living in a giant shoe. I still am. 

– Brian Yanish

Yes, I had a wonderful edition of the Mother Goose rhymes when I was a child. The illustrations were superbly rich in color and content. I hope to come across it again in a vintage book store some day.   
– Barbara Mason Rast

I must have heard the mother goose stories millions of times when I was little, but I don't think it was until this exhibit that I thought much about what really happens in them. They're so strange!                     –Mike Herrod

Hearing, singing and reading nursery rhymes were a huge part of my early childhood. Classics like Little Robin Redbreast, Humpty Dumpty, Sing A Song of Sixpence, Hot Cross Buns and Wee Willie Winkie were some of my favorites and they still are today.

– Leeza Hernandez

The Mother Goose rhymes featured prominently in my early childhood. My mother read them out loud to me from the classic Volland edition, which had been in my family for a long time. 

                                                           – Kitty Leech

As a very young child my parents read Mother Goose to me.  The lilt of the rhyme was very comforting despite a lot of the rhymes being scary. The enjoyment was truly in the blend of sing song rhyme with the not so nice cautionary tale being told. I liked chanting them out loud at nursery school too.              - Clare Pernice

I grew up in Korea. There were other stories based on Asian traditional folktales.  I first learned of Mother Goose nursery rhymes from reading books, singing songs for my nieces.                                                                  - Anna Kim

I remember a very special Aunt was always reciting different Mother Goose rhymes to me in almost a sing-songy way during my early childhood and how happy and secure it always made me feel. But… the most wonderful memory was watching her reciting those very same rhymes in that same sing-songy way to my own children and seeing the same feelings of joy and love in their eyes that I felt with her as a child. 
- Deborah Cuneo
When I was very young, my mother read Mother Goose rhymes to me from a gift I had received.  I can recall unbound pages of rhymes that had black and white illustrations in between them.  They were contained in a black portfolio with laces that needed to be tied into a bow to close it.  “Jack and Jill”, “Baa Baa Black Sheep”, and “There was an old Woman Who Lived in a Shoe” stand out in that introduction, but there were many others in it. The loose pages would get out of order, and it didn’t matter.    

                           – Marilyn Papas