Beginning on Monday, April 10, I will create a series of eight carbon pencil drawings illustrating the lullaby, "Hush Little Baby" in the Library at Montpelier Art Center. This will be part of a solo exhibit I have in that space that runs from April 8-May 28.
I love the lullaby for its silliness and because it seemed like fun to add all the things that Mama is going to buy the baby to keep her from crying. In the beginning I thought of using a photo of a real child, and then perhaps one of my daughter's old dolls. But, in the end, I defaulted to my doppleganger and muse, Marylou. She was given to me when I was born, and has done a lot of modeling over the years.
Marylou
The first sketch I did was of Marylou and the mockingbird.
Then I figured I had to compose the whole collection of gifts so the second sketch shows Marylou surrounded by all her gifts. I changed the last two verses to "And if that dog named Rover, don't bark, Mama's gonna' buy you a meadow lark. And if that meadow lark has flown, you'll still be the cutest little baby in town." In the original song the last gift is a horse and cart. But there are already a cart and bull AND a billy goat and I didn't like having all those beasts of burden in the drawings. And I know from other research that these songs and poems are fluid things that take well to a little amendment here and there.
And then I went back and figured out how to insert the six drawings in between. I'll be posting photos of the drawings as I work on them.