Photo: Tomie with Cecilia Yung and Jon Keenan, professor at Colby-Sawyer College, in 2016, standing in front of some of Jon’s pottery. Cecilia is Executive Art Director for G. P. Putnam’s Sons and Nancy Paulsen Books at Penguin Random House. She worked with Tomie for over 25 years. Her remarks were written many years ago.
By Cecilia Yung
As Tomie dePaola’s art director, I spend an enormous amount of time talking with him, analyzing the details of material, technique, pacing, color, texture, and contrast. We have philosophical discussions on the role of inspiration and execution, the difference between gimmicks and genuine innovation, and the balance between the expectations of the general public and the creative urge to forge new ground.
The subject matter: food.
Mention Tomie’s name, and immediately I hear the gasps and sighs that accompany his retelling of a special dinner.
Whether he’s the host at home in New London or the guest at the Raffles Hotel in Singapore, he always starts off with vivid descriptions of the place and his companions.
He revels in the artfully planned menu, perfectly balanced and paced. He describes the drama and anticipation building from one course to the next, a revelation to the senses.
And, of course, the highlights of the dinner are painted in loving details: the inspired use of pristine ingredients, the precise execution, the contrast of textures and colors, and the interaction of flavors…
Meet Tomie the storyteller.
My work with Tomie involves regular analysis and feedback. A question about production schedule could lead to an hour-long phone call about pork (the suppliers, the cooking temperature, and tender loving care make all the difference).
A question about layout could lead directly into the recipe for and storage of lardo (one man’s “yuck” is another’s ardent affair with pork fat). Ask him about an upcoming project, and we are deep into huitlacoche (corn fungus, and it looks the way it sounds) and the textures and flavors of fungi.
I’ve been late to meetings due to protracted discussions about an oversupply of truffles (if you should find yourself in such a predicament, make truffle butter). Any mention of book tours and vacations evokes passionate reports of local ingredients and exotic techniques. If I call him late in the afternoon after he has made the trip from his studio in the barn back to the house, I am updated with the specifics of the night’s menu and the details of the recipe.
If he is visiting New York, I might find myself at the Union Square Greenmarket, listening to him coo over some perky baby salad leaves and gush at the contrasting palette of vivid greens and vibrant reds.
No doubt his eyes would light up as we paused to inhale the fresh grassy smell, our fingers would flutter in unison as we discussed the frilly frisee, and we’d be a harmony of “Mmmmm” as we sneaked a taste of the tangy mizuna and buttery mache.
Meet Tomie the artist.
I warn my assistant to handle packages from Tomie very carefully. Mixed in with pencil sketches could be his recipe for a pasta sauce with artichokes. Slipped in with his final paintings could be a jar of lemon piquin chile salt.
My very favorite Christmas present from Tomie is a tin nicho - a Mexican heart-shaped shrine that he hand-painted in lilac, teal, and pale green and decorated with pink and silver sparkles. Nestled in the recess behind the little glass door is a matchbook from Craft, a restaurant in New York that we had visited on Tomie’s previous visit. Inscribed in the back are the words “A Shrine to Great Food.”
Meet Tomie the friend.
As an art director, I know that a cover is just a visual prelude for a book. As a food lover, I know that an appetizer is just a palate teaser before the other courses. If you spend time with Tomie dePaola, you will know that the children’s book author-artist is just the tip of the iceberg. He is as delightful and surprising as a satisfying book, and as varied and tantalizing as an artful dinner. You can be sure that this man of many tastes is always joyful company, whether at the drawing table or the dinner table.