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Erie Times-News
ILLUSTRATOR CREATES MAGICAL,
FANCIFUL WORLD
by Meg Loncharic, Staff
writer
Pastoral Landscapes and Richly
Dressed Animal Figures are
Silin-Palmer's Trademarks. She
lived in France, Italy and China,
spending a year in each country
nurturing her love for decorative
Renaissance styles...She was
fascinated by Renaissance artists
such as Botticelli and Uccello.
As aï{costumer at the Yale
Daramat} in the 70's
Sililn-Palmer developed a passion
for 16th century Italian oil
painting.ï She continues to
study artists' techniques.
"Basically, I'm a self-taught
artist" said Silin-Palmer, who as
a child attended the Erie Day
School and studied during the
summers with Erie art teacher
Joseph Plavcan.
For the past thirty years,
from her home in northern
California she has designed
one-of-a-kind collectible dolls
and fantasy furniture.ï The
items are coveted by
entertainers, interior designers
and corporations. .... Five
yearsï ago Silin-Palmer
turned illustrator.ï The
result is a childrens' book by
Random House, "Bunny and the
Beast", which hit the bookstores
in February and is already into
its second printing. The story
line in the book by author Molly
Coxe offers amusing twists to
this romantic tale. Featuring
Siln-Palmer's
handsomelyïillustrated
characters - nose-twitching
sisters; frog-elves in courtly
dress, a be-whiskered,
well-meaning papa - and detailed
paintings, the book already ranks
with the year's most popular
children's literary releases.
Each page reveals animals in
fantastic costumes inhabiting a
lush landscape filled with magic
and danger.
Rabbit faires and froggy
troubadours accompany the heroine
- the joyful, prancing Bunny - as
she discovers the meaning of true
love. There is also the Beast, a
rugged Bull Terrier , whose bark
is worse than his bite.
Silin-Palmer...said the book is a
"synthesis of everything I have
learned. It reflects all the
things that influenced me. As a
child, I was influenced by Walt
Disney, whose beautiful stories
about animals always taught a
lesson....We live for beauty,"
Silin-Palmer said,ï
"gardening and animals are our
hobby and we have a wonderful
bull terrier.ï He is similar
to the dog in the story; a nice,
muscular, handsome dog named Jack
the Beast" ..."We have a new book
coming out in the fall 2002,
which I'm doing with my daughter,
Emily Keller...
[She] writes for a
company called Girltech...The
illustrator, who once upon a time
lived in Erie, promises lots of
beautiful Illustrations and a
happy ever after ending.
[this is a slightly abridged
version of this wonderful
review]
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