Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Crawl Inside and See What an Artist is Like


Diva took me to Newts for our anniversary. Walking next door to Barnes and Noble, we found ourselves looking at children’s books. With the enthusiasm that only she can muster, she told me I must write a children's book. As we walked to the library, she announced that it would be about a stuffed animal wrangler.

Well, dang... of course I would. After all, plush toy’s have become a obsession with us. Diva at first told me she didn’t want a plush toy for Valentine's day last year -- but later confessed that that was a big fat fib. She wanted one more than anything in the world. She had to have it. You see, that is her addiction. She has been trying to hide it from friends and family. When she saw my place: the dolphin figurines, Godzilla next to a little Mermaid pencil holder and the teddy bears -- yes -- I am a man with teddy bears -- she knew she had found a fellow addict and confessed: she had a plush toy Jones. So do I.

Soon she was at my door with a pink Winnie-the-Pooh hat box. She was so excited as she ripped the lid off -- yanking out plush bear after bear and telling me their stories. Letting me meet them. Reassuring them that I was a nice person and that I would never hurt them. I won’t and we are all friends now. In many ways that is what the book is all about. Who needs a heavy plot -- when you love a woman like Diva and her endless imagination. The bear that I fell in love with the most was her angel bear, “It was back when I was into angels,” she whispered, “ and considering how I was feeling at the time, I don’t know if that was a good or a bad thing.”

She left the camera (a dangerous thing) and all the stuffed animals with me as inspiration. Inspiration? Yesterday I had them climbing all over the place -- they had a party and I made them cookies (chocolate, chocolate chip cookies and orange juice). They smoked odd things, danced, threw open my paint box and crawled inside to see what an artist is like.

What is an artist like? A kid at play -- that is the magic this book will be celebrating more than anything.

Imagination is a powerful thing.

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