Author Interview: How did you come to...

How did you come to create such unusual scenes for the books?
Prior to my illustration work, I made one-of-a-kind pieces which were shown and sold through galleries in New York City. My specialty was "wearable art." Even then, I liked to take advantage of the fact that one thing looked like another. One of my earlier creations was a hat that looked like a fishing boat with a fishing net that could be worn as a veil.

How did you decide to translate your art into a picture book format?
I loved doing these puzzles, and had been doing them for several years, but there were limited uses for them in terms of magazines and posters. A friend suggested that I try making a picture book incorporating my puzzles. But it took a long time to come up with a concept that would tie it all together. Then I came up with the idea of visiting a land where everything looks like something else.

How long does it take you to construct each scene?
It took me three and a half years to complete Look Alikes™ and each scene took several months to create. Some scenes took longer than others--like the train and the city scenes took forever because I was still working out the ideas while I put them together. I kept making them more intricate than I originally envisioned.

What is the most unusual object you have incorporated into your art?
There is a hand grenade in the general store in the first book--that is probably the most unusual. Also cheese doodles are very challenging and hard to glue!

How do you find the things you use in your creations?
Mostly by shopping! But it is not ordinary shopping. My projects take me to all different kinds of stores including hardware stores, party stores, thrift shops, brickyards, and art supply stores. I can spend up to six hours in one big store slowly going up and down the aisles looking for ideas or for specific objects. I may spend ten minutes carefully looking at a mousetrap, turning it from side to side and upside down, thinking about whether it's something I can use. No wonder I attract the attention of store detectives

I will go to great lengths to get just the right item. For the circus scene in Look Alikes™, I decided that I wanted to make the tent out of a trench coat. I couldn't afford to buy a new trench coat just to make a tent out of it, so I visited a lot of thrift shops an Salvation Army stores. Of course you can't always tell what will work until you try it out, so I wound up buying several. Now I have a trenchcoat collection.