January 25, 2003
Brooke writes:
My Birthday Cake
Hooray! My favorite birthday cake ever is the one my daughter
and husband made for my 40th birthday which was the Squeaky Chalk
polka-dotted cake. Luckily, there were extra raspberry sugarballs
because they were Outstanding! Thanks for inspiring them. It beat
out the previous favorite cake of 1985 (lurching square 3-layer
oobleck-green covered in silver balls with frosting drooping over
the plate- tres Dr. Seuss).
########################
finally, someone
as silly as myself
Dear Joy,
I just purchased "how to draw a radish" for my boss as I am leaving my job (which I actually love) to go back to graduate school. I am just about as silly a person as can be imagined, and received stuffed animals and cartoon cards as a goodbye gift! Often, I break into accents/cartoon impersonations of all sorts and dance around randomly. Sometimes I cluck like a chicken to answer the phone.
Anyway, I was wondering if you could please explain the "Proceed-cake" quote from your mother a bit more, although the sparsity of the explanation in itself is, of course, funny.
Also, what is your background? Just a quick autobio will do, I have to wonder what kind of work I should avoid. Thanks so much for the perfect book, and how does one become such an author?
Thanks again!! Dawn
Allston, Massachusetts.
***************************
Dear Dawn,
Thanks for writing!
Regarding "Proceed-cake", Mom claims "Proceed-cake"
was first spoken in Winnie the Pooh. Now I have to re-read Winnie
the Pooh to find it. I know that poppyseed cake is referred to
as seed cake. Here's a bonus for you, a poppy seed: .
My background is drawing since childhood. Don't work for a large
corporation, I would like to warn. Try to be small and sweet,
like a clam or a radish. However, here I am working for a media
giant.
So perhaps it can't be helped.
Good luck in school!
----------------
I'm your reader. :-)
I'm your reader from far away
land.
I was not a smart kid (neither when i grow up).
Anyhow, I really love your books and I've collected
them all.
I decide to write to you as I saw your photo.
You are your books. (So cute, yet quite cool.)
I'd like to know where the narrowest house is.
I wish I could have a similar one but higher.
How many people are there?
I've never imagined a house of this.
May I ask you some personal questions?
Please let me try.
A) Are you also an artist? Do you paint?
Do you have your own gallery?
B) Did you study Arts by yourself or you were
graduated from a school of Arts?
C) What is your favorite hobby?
P.S. As I'm a dog-lover. (Do you have a dog, Joy?)
Is it possible that you write "How to draw a dog in
different manners"
(various breeds) in your next books?
Let's me hint. My favorite are Labradors and Bull
Terriers.
Thank you for reading,
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
Dear Kamalo,
Thanks for writing. And thank you for your very poetic comment,
"So cute, yet quite cool." I really like that.
Here's a bit more about the Narrowest House:
It is in an old part of Paterson New Jersey, an old city. It is
on a corner where 5 streets meet. It's foundation is made of stone
and is quite strong. When trucks rumble past in the street, the
house does not shake. The Narrowest House has an attic, a cellar,
and 2 stories. The rooms are very small. In the middle of the
first story is the kitchen. It has wooden cabinets. The Living
Room is at the front of the house, in the point. I thought it
would make a nice art gallery. There is a very tiny back yard,
too. When I visited in October, there was Indian Corn tied to
the fence, and a pumpkin on the doorstep. I knocked on the door
and met the man who lived there. His name is Barry. He bought
the house because he loves it, and he took me on a tour. But he
has since sold the Narrowest House, and now lives into a big old
barn in the country, where he makes sculpture.
Love, joyradish
&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&&
why do you like to draw?
Have you ever felt discouraged because you know someone who can
draw WAY better than you , and nobody even looks at your work?
How do you deal with that?
Sheri
.........
Dear Sheri,
Thanks for writing! Why do I like to draw? I think it's because
I love to look at things, and drawing is a way of looking very
closely. And I think lots of things are cute, (like a flower,
a tree, a bird..) and drawing is a way of spending a lot of time
with something you like.
I admire the art in museums, and of course those artists are much
better than I am. It gives me ideas of what I might do. Those
artists found the best way they could draw, and I am still finding
the best way that I can draw.
I don't mind too much that everyone flocks to a "better"
artist, because I'm still learning. If they ever flock to me,
that will be fun, too.
Does this help you?
Love,
Joy
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Write to me at Joyradish@aol.com
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