'Creative Catalyst: Exploring Rockwell Kent's Alaskan Adventure, a SUNY mini symposium

Apr. 1—PLATTSBURGH — Illustrator/author Claudia McGehee will arrive next week in the North Country for the "Creative Catalyst: Exploring Rockwell Kent's Alaskan Adventure," a mini symposium on Thursday, April 6 and Friday, April 7 at SUNY Plattsburgh.

McGehee is an award-winning author and illustrator of 10 natural-history-themed picture books, including "My Wilderness, An Alaskan Adventure," a historic fiction memoir based on Rockwell Kent and son, Rocky's, time on Fox Island, Alaska.

"I've been a commercial illustrator for 30 years now, but I'm mainly a children's book writer/illustrator. I'm working on my 10th picture book right now," she said.

"I'm nationally published. I work in a medium called scratch board, which looks like a woodcut. But it's a different process. Because it looks kind of print-make, print-like, I'm drawn to other printmakers. When I stumbled onto Rockwell Kent's work about a decade ago it was because I felt like I had connections to his work visually but then I fell in love with the story of Kent and his son, who traveled to Alaska and that's what my picture book was about."

McGehee said Kent would think she was a sissy in the adventure department.

"I'm not made of that stuff," she said.

"I admire adventurers, but I don't think I'd classify myself as that though. I trained (Central Washington University) as an archaeologist as an undergrad. There is some adventure in that. It's true. I was on several digs during my undergrad times mostly in Washington State where I grew up."

After college, McGehee worked for an art restoration gallery, and then a curator for a small museum.

"Then, my husband got a position at the University of Iowa, we moved out in 1993 from the Northwest to the Midwest. In between there, I did go back to art school. I went to a college in Seattle. When we moved out here I decided I wanted to full-time freelance illustrate. So, I did, and that's what I've been doing ever since is freelancing."

MY WILDERNESS

With "My Wilderness" published in 2015, McGehee wanted her audience, which are mainly young readers, to connect with the story through a child's eyes.

"Through Rocky's eyes," she said.

"I also liked the idea of exploring what Rocky saw. What young Rocky, the nine year old, experienced there. The wanted the senior Rockwell Kent to be very much in the background, even though he was the impetus for the trip. I just wanted to relay to kids that adventure that was very unique to that history, that time period in a way. I can't think of another other person in contemporary times that would do that. Take your child somewhere that was so remote. I wrote it because I wanted kids to see that there were different ways that kids experience things."

FOX ISLAND

McGehee visited Fox Island after the book was pretty much completed.

"I was so relieved to see that a lot of my detail was fine and good," she said.

"I did go to Fox Island. It was striking. Not much has changed since Kent was there, except there is a tour-guide outfit that has some cabins that you can rent for stays there for one night plus. So, I was able to spend the night there, which was cool and mystical. I did feel the actual views from the shores of Fox Island are exactly what the Kents would have experienced in 1918."

OUT OF THE BLUE

For the symposium that came out of the blue, McGehee had to dust off her memories for her presentation, "Wilderness: A Rockwell Kent's Alaska Inspired Picture Book Making Adventure," on Thursday, April 6 from 4:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Yokum Hall 202.

"I am going to present on the process and the research behind the book, mainly about the research," she said.

"It did take a long time. I was very particular that the facts and the images in the book were factual to the time and the place. Even down to what kind of mushrooms are going to be there in the fall? What kind can I show that maybe on the island? Are there bears on the island? They occasionally swim there, but it's a long swim. But those kind of things I wanted to know to be somewhat authentic to my book. That's what I'll be sharing, the details of how the book came together in my mind, and how Kent inspired me through the decades."

WORKSHOP

"Made From Scratch: A Scratchboard Mini Workshop" will be led by McGehee from 12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m. in Yokum Hall 202 on Friday, April 7.

"I will have a short PowerPoint presentation on scratchboard itself, just the medium of scratchboard and how it works," she said.

"It's a thin board, which has two layers. The bottom layer is kind of a white clay board topped with an overlay of India ink. My process is to draw or transfer with chalk a basic image. The chalk lines give me a guide to scratch out what I want white and leave what I want black or what I want to color. So, I'm kind of subtractive drawing. I'm more like a sculptor than I am a traditional illustrator in some ways. So, I'm always kind of reducing my drawing until I get to the final black and white image, which I scan in PhotoShop onto watercolor paper and color it traditionally."

McGehee has a tech sandwich going on where she starts traditionally on scratchboard, segue to PhotoShop, and then bring it back to the board.

"The final scans are always digitally done as well," she said.

"So many illustrators work all digitally now, but I still do at least 80 percent of my stuff on traditional board methods."

At the workshop, every participant will have a piece of scratchboard and a blade.

"In the second part of the workshop after the presentation, will be be exploring," she said.

"I think I'm just going to bring something like a feather or some kind of natural thing that we can draw from so people can get an idea of how is is to draw subtractively like that. This particular workshop is geared more toward adults. I'm hoping university students come. When I do children's programs I have a different kind of scratchboad that they use. A stylus that's not so pointy. These blades are serious, man."

McGehee loves the medium's portability.

"I don't have to print from it," she said.

"I can't print from it. I can't make another print from it because it's not a printmaking method. It's clean. There's some detritus that comes off while you're scratching, but it's got nothing on loading up blocks and screenprints and stuff. It does have its limitations. If you do want to reproduce, it using a computer is the best way to do it. For all those reasons, I love the centralness about scratching away, too. It's kind of cool. It does give you that beautiful, print-like quality. It's really nice. It looks graphic. It's reproducible."

Email: rcaudell@pressrepublican.com

Twitter@RobinCaudell