NHIA

NH Institute of Art to Host Award-Winning Children's Book Illustrator Beth Krommes 3/3

03/03/2011
 
                         

          Beth Krommes
   


MANCHESTER, NH - The New Hampshire Institute of Art will host Caldecott Medal-winning children's book illustrator Beth Krommes Thursday, March 3 from 5 - 7 pm in the French Building Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

A Peterborough, NH resident, Krommes will discuss her road from painting major at Syracuse University, through several art related mini-careers, to work as a children's book illustrator.  She will focus on the making of "The House in the Night", her award-winning book, from text to storyboard, dummies, final illustrations, and production.

Also included will be information on her medium of scratchboard, and what it was like to receive the "Caldecott call" one morning in January 2009. Written by Susan Marie Swanson, "The House in the Night" is  "A timeless good-night book for the very young, inspired by the pattern of the traditional poem, 'This is the key of the kingdom.'" According to her website (bethkrommes.com), Krommes was born in 1956 and grew up in Emmaus, Pennsylvania. She received a BFA degree in painting from Syracuse University and a MAT in art education from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst. She also spent a year at St. Martin's School of Art in London.

Krommes has worked as a public school art teacher, a manager of a fine handcraft shop, and an art director for a computer magazine. Since 1989, she has been illustrating full-time, focusing on children's books for the last 12 years. Krommes became interested in wood engraving, being drawn to its small scale and fine line work. She soon switched to scratchboard, which has the same look but is faster. Her first children's book, "Grandmother Winter", was published in 1999. "My mission is to create artwork that is joyful in spirit, universal in nature, and accessible and affordable to others," says Krommes. Information regarding this event is available online at www.nhia.edu or contact Gallery Director Andrew Lucas at alucas@nhia.edu or 603-836-2573

    

About the NH Institute of Art: The Institute was established as the Manchester Institute of Arts and Sciences in 1898. From the Institute's outset, it has had a firm commitment to educating diverse traditional and nontraditional students in the fine arts. As an art college accredited by the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, the Institute offers the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, Certificate Programs and a strong Continuing Education program. Dedicated faculty promote intellectual and artistic development and teach students to respond artistically to contemporary social, political, and aesthetic issues.

 

 

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