In this original and remarkable collection, Children's Book Press highlights the art and life of fourteen outstanding artists who, over the course of twenty years, have shared their journeys with children. With vivid colors and emotion, the artists gathered in this collection—including Carmen Lomas Garza, George Littlechild, and Michele Wood—present stunning self-portraits and personal statements. Intimate, serious, and funny, their stories explore their inspirations, their ethnic backgrounds, how they see themselves, and what their art means to them. Through stories, paintings, and childhood photographs, these fourteen artists open their hearts and invite us to enter into their worlds. With honesty and encouragement, they offer hope for aspiring young people who dream of becoming artists—just like them.
Tomie Arai is a painter, printmaker, and mixed-media artist. She has received a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship and her work is in the collection of New York’s Museum of Modern Art. She lives in New York City.
Enrique Chagoya teaches painting, drawing and printmaking at Stanford University. His paintings and graphics are shown in museums and galleries throughout the world. He was born in Mexico City and now lives in San Francisco, California.
Carmen Lomas Garza is one of the country’s most prominent Mexican American artists. Her paintings have been exhibited in galleries and museums throughout the United States. She lives in San Francisco, California.
Maya Christina Gonzalez grew up in the Mojave Desert. A fine artist whose work has been featured on the cover of Chicano/a Art, she also illustrated or contributed to over a dozen children’s books including the award-winning book, My Colors, My World.
Nancy Hom is an artist, mother, and community activist. She was born in Toisan, China and grew up in New York City. She now lives in San Francisco.
George Littlechild is a painter, printmaker, and mixed-media artist whose work has been exhibited throughout the world. A member of the Plains Cree Nation of Canada, he now lives in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Stephen Von Mason is a painter, printmaker, and fine art framer whose work is exhibited internationally. He was born in South Bend, Indiana and now lives in Oakland, California.
Rodolfo Morales is widely recognized one of the most important Mexican surrealist painters of his time. He was born in Ocotlán de Morelos, in the state of Oaxaca. He died in 2001.
Mira Reisberg is an artist, designer and art teacher who loves to do school visits and educational consulting. She was born in Melbourne, Australia, and now lives and teaches in DeKalb, Illinois.
JoeSam. is a mixed-media artist with a strong love of third world cultures. Known for his innovative public art sculptures, he is also an internationally recognized painter. He was born in Harlem and now lives in San Francisco, California.
Elly Simmons is an artist and community activist. Her paintings, prints, and tapestries are shown internationally. She was born in New York City and now lives in Lagunitas, California.
Daryl Wells was born in Los Angeles, California. She has studied art in Rhode Island and London, England, and has taught art to children and adults of all ages.
Michele Wood is a painter, printmaker, mixed-media artist, and Coretta Scott King Award-winner, for her book i see the rhythm. She was born in Indianapolis and now lives in Atlanta, Georgia.
Hideo Yoshida is a painter, printmaker, and mixed-media artist whose family were farmworkers in Califronia’s Sacramento Valley. He was born in Sacramento and now lives in San Francisco, California.
• 2005 California Readers, Elementary California Collection
• 2000 Small Press Book Award Finalist - Multicultural/Juvenile
"… an excellent teaching tool for those who want to approach their students with the idea that we can communicate with both pictures and words. Both media are legitimate, and they work beautifully in tandem, as this book so beautifully testifies." —School Library Journal
"The self-portraits in words and images are accessible, fun, clever, warm, and, most of all, colorful. Moreover, the book is endowed with a sense of both maturity and spontaneity." —San Francisco Bay Guardian
"This book, Harriet Rohmer's brainchild, is a brilliant, successful collaboration that will help readers understand artists and inspire children to draw, paint, or simply create.” —The Five Owls
"The book is cleverly conceived and elegantly designed, but more importantly it is a book with great heart.” —Small Press 1998 Book Awards Special Review Edition
