|
October 29, 2010
Once upon an exhibit
Sima Elizabeth Shefrin’s illustrations will impress.
OLGA LIVSHIN
A new exhibition at the Sidney and Gertrude Zack Gallery opened last week, dedicated to the art of book illustration.
The exhibit borrows its title, Once Upon a Bathtime and Other Stories, from the new children’s book by Vi Hughes, Once Upon a Bathtime (Tradewind, 2010), whose original illustrations were done by Vancouverite Sima Elizabeth Shefrin. Those illustrations form the nucleus of the show, although illustrations from the artist’s previous books, Abby’s Birds and Latkes, are also included.
Shefrin’s road to book illustration was a long one, although her first encounter with the art world happened when she was just a toddler.
“When I was very young, we lived in Rome,” she told the Independent. “My parents took me everywhere, to all the magnificent art galleries and churches. They were filled with artwork.” That experience made so great an impression on the girl that later, as a teenager, she and her best friend hung out at the National Art Gallery in Ottawa the way most of her classmates hung out in malls.
Shefrin’s love affair with the visual arts continued during her university years. She was studying English literature at the University of Toronto when she spent her first summer vacation in Rome, the city of her childhood. Upset by her exam results, to cheer her up, her hostess offered a diversion. “She pulled a thick book, called Janson’s History of Art, off the shelf and said, ‘Almost everything in this book you can find here in Rome. Start with ancient art and work your way up to the modern times. Locate pieces from every era along the way.’ And that’s exactly what I did that summer,” Shefrin recalled.
Years later, she wrote articles and art reviews for the Jewish Independent and other publications. “The best part of writing was meeting with artists and talking about their art,” she said, “but I liked creating art myself much better than writing about it.”
When she became a full-time artist, her preferred avenue of self-expression was quilt making. As a textile artist, Shefrin participated in many group and solo shows, curated exhibitions and worked as an artist in community centres and libraries around British Columbia. “I like working with people on community art projects,” she said. “Everyone is an artist, but some people just don’t realize it. If I can help them learn that, I’ve done a good thing.”
Doing workshops is one of her passions. “I especially like family workshops, where parents and children work together. Such workshops are great equalizers…. Participating in the same workshop often encourages them to start a conversation.”
One of her projects, Middle East Peace Quilt, attracted international recognition.
“Many people have difficulties talking about the Middle East,” she said. “Too many emotions are involved. The situation is too complicated and painful. Often people would start talking and the conversation would get stuck. Nobody could agree…. I was thinking that maybe if people of different cultures talked not in words but in visual imagery, the conversation might go further.”
In 1998, she gave a series of quilt-making workshops and suggested that her students make squares on the topic of peace in the Middle East and send them to her. She also contacted friends and artists and suggested the same thing. The results were overwhelming. More than 300 squares arrived by mail. Some of the artists used only cut fabric in their squares, while others incorporated lace, buttons, embroidery and other decorative materials into their design. Shefrin created 31 quilts from those squares. From 1999 until 2008, the exhibition of quilts toured throughout North America, inspiring visitors to talk to each other. “People who could never meet face to face had a dialogue through their art,” Shefrin said.
Besides quilting and teaching, she also wanted to illustrate books, but that idea took time to become reality. Over the years, Shefrin sent her portfolio to publishers, with no results. In 1995, during a show at the Zack Gallery, the publishers of Tradewind Books approached her. They liked her artistic style and wanted her to do a children’s book, but they didn’t have an appropriate project at the time. Ten years later, that meeting bore fruit: Ellen Schwartz’s Abby’s Birds was Shefrin first book as illustrator.
Now on her third publication, Once Upon a Bathtime’s illustrations are done in a cut-paper collage technique. Simultaneously primitive and sophisticated, the illustrations strike a balance between following the writer’s words and allowing a child’s fantasy to run free.
Once Upon a Bathtime and Other Stories runs at the Zack Gallery until Dec. 5.
Olga Livshin is a Vancouver freelance writer. She is available for contract work. Contact her at [email protected].
^TOP
|
