Paul Johnson, day 1 : Jill Berry Blog

Paul Johnson, a book artist from Manchester, England, is staying with us this week. He is conducting four workshops for our guild that took me three years to get organized. It was almost like a wedding in the level of ordeal and then whoosh, the time is here and rapidly rushing by. Yesterday we went to the special collections of CU Boulder, and had all the librarians swooning over his books. We hope they will buy one like this:

pauljohnson2 Or this;

pauljohnson11

Paul then went to my kids school, and showed 60 little darlings how to make a pop-up book. He laughed at their questions, “Can I have it? Will you make me one?, How old are your kids?” In the UK he said the questions go directly to “How much does it cost?”. At dinner we discussed the cultural differences of Americans and Brits. It is Paul’s opinion that Americans are still exploring, themselves and what is around them, while the Brits are content to believe they have already found whatever this life has to offer. And they found it long ago, in the time of the Saxons. Maybe so, but that does not explain what you are about to see. Enjoy.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3qvJgY9XQI[/youtube]

Comments

7 Responses to “Paul Johnson, day 1”

Penny Arrowood on May 14th, 2009 8:13 am

Oh, lucky YOU! I met Paul at A&S in 2007, but he has not been back to Hampton since (?) Fabulous artist, beautiful books and a generous soul! Enjoy your time — and thanks for the sheep! *amazing!*
– p
admin on May 14th, 2009 8:20 am

I am lucky, I met him at A&S also, that is where this all started. He is amazing, and we are having a great time. Wish you were here!
Kim Rae Nugent on May 14th, 2009 8:31 am

Wow! The sheep herding video is amazing! I’m lucky to get my dogs to all sit at the same time.
Mary Beth Shaw on May 14th, 2009 8:48 am

Oh my oh my oh my. These are fantabulous books. The color and intricacy, just amazing. You lucky girl!! Very fun sheep too
Jennifer White on May 15th, 2009 4:32 pm

I can’t wait to hear the details of your week…I’m sure his books are beyond anything that I can imagine. And the video? I LOVED IT!
Sue Berry on May 19th, 2009 4:18 am

And they say sheep are dumb animals – this proves they have hidden talents!

Sue (Lancashire, UK) xxx aka: long lost sis!
Rosalba on May 28th, 2009 3:54 pm

Oh, MY GOD! The sheeps were amazing!

I was one of the lucky participants and was able to go to all 4 of the Paul Johnson’s workshops and I just want to say:

JILL, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR PLANNING THIS!!!!!

Paul is an incredibly generous and wonderful human being. I feel very priviledge that I got to meet him and participate in his classes.

rosalba