December 14, 2007
Stingy Brims and a Beaded Bunny
Maira Kalman is an author and illustrator whose work is colorful, funny, and keenly observed -- she gets most of her ideas by simply walking around town. Her latest book, The Principles of Uncertainty is a journal in paint and prose, documenting a year of her life. Small, ignored things become monumental -- like Bundt cakes and disposed sofas on the street. Kurt took her for a stroll on an obscure, narrow street in Lower Manhattan.
Daisey Does MacDowell
A hundred years ago in New Hampshire, Edward and Marian MacDowell opened the doors of America’s first official artists colony. Aaron Copland wrote "Billy the Kid" there. Willa Cather worked on Death Comes for the Archbishop. And earlier this year, Mike Daisey went to work on a monologue. He has this to say about his month in a cabin at the MacDowell Colony.
Drawing and Doubting
A spell at the MacDowell Colony is one of the best perks an artist can get. Tara Geer, a visual artist, went twice to work on her drawings. She also interviewed a MacDowell legend, lunch delivery man Blake Tewksbury. But the whole time, she was afraid she’d be sent home.