Tim Miller: Author & Illustrator
'Picture This' exhibit celebrates art of children's books
No youngster himself, The New Yorker magazine cartoonist William Steig created his most beloved drawings at 83 years of age — in a 1990 children’s picture book called “Shrek!” The success of his anti-fairy tale about an amiable swamp-dwelling green ogre had largely to do with the fact that he never really grew up, the illustrator once admitted, holding onto a world view that was as playful as it was compassionate.
That view is on full display in “Picture This: The Art of Children’s Books,” an exhibition of original drawings by some 27 popular illustrators at the Nassau County Museum of Art’s Manes Family Art and Education Center in Roslyn. From such emerging talents as Long Island’s Victoria Cossack, whose “Gus and the Greatest Catch of All” came out this year, to creators of modern classics like Ezra Jack Keats of “A Very Snowy Day” fame, the show presents a broad swath of outlooks, styles and media.
“We wanted to reflect the dynamic contemporary children’s book climate with true inclusivity, to show that the world of children’s books is a large and welcoming place,” says Isabel Roxas, who is used to “Shaking Things Up”—the title of one of her releases included here—and who guest-curated the charming assemblage of images with “Moo Moo in a Tutu” author and illustrator Tim Miller.