Stories to Go with My Paintings

by | Dec 3, 2017 | Chinese brush painting, expatriate life, Philippines, Vanuatu, writing | 34 comments

Ah Chew with goats

 Three weeks after we moved to the Philippines I started taking Chinese brush painting classes from Professor Chen Bing Sun. Four years later, I could pretty well handle the basics. I’d learned to paint bamboo and plum blossoms, chrysanthemums and orchids. I’d moved on to animals, people, and landscapes. I ‘d done sketches of my kids and painted other non-traditional subjects.

Maybe, I thought, I could use what I’d learned to try something different. Maybe I could write and illustrate a children’s book. How hard could that be?

But, just in case writing children’s literature turned out to be more difficult than I imagined, I signed up for a correspondence course from The Institute of Children’s Literature in Connecticut.

My timing was great. Rents in Makati where we lived had skyrocketed, and we’d moved to BF Homes, a new development far from every place we needed to go. We arranged semi-adequate transportation to the International School for our two older daughters. But we couldn’t find anything for our youngest who was about to start half-day kindergarten. It looked like I’d have to drive her there and back.

Having two-and-a-half hours to kill when she was in school, I came up with the perfect solution. I could go to the Metro Club, swim a few laps, and then sit at one of the poolside tables and work on my course from the Institute of Children’s Literature. It was lovely. Palm trees, a calamansi soda, a book, and a pen and paper … five days a week.

It was a fun course. I earned my certificate. And R moved on to first grade.

In a nutshell, here’s what I learned:

  1. Writing good children’s literature isn’t as easy as I thought.
  2. I enjoy the challenge of writing fiction.
  3. You still have to get your book published, though. And …
  4. Publishers prefer to choose their own illustrators.

It was those last two items that discouraged me. I experimented with a story or two. Then I forgot about writing and moved on to a range of other activities.

Eleven years later finally I returned to writing. The time was right. Our two older daughters were in college and the third would be leaving soon. I signed up for a low-residency MFA from Vermont College of Fine Arts.

It was a challenging, fun course. And … since we’d moved to the South Pacific by then, I was able to draft my stories in a variety of beautiful spots.

As a result:

  1. I graduated.
  2. I developed a passion for writing fiction.
  3. But I still find publishing a lot of effort.
  4. And I no longer aspire to illustrate my own stories.

Although I’ve never published a book for children, that course from the Institute of Children’s Literature was how I got my start.

34 Comments

  1. macjam47

    I love Chinese brush painting (no, I don’t paint, but I do admire it) and your paintings are fabulous! I would love to see more.

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      Thank you, Michelle. I like the subtlety of Chinese brush paintings, and I enjoyed learning about the symbolism and the connection to centuries of Chinese artistic thought. I’ll try to think of another post about Chinese brush painting to put together.

      Reply
  2. evelyneholingue

    Your artwork is splendid, Nicki! And all your points about writing picture books are true too. I almost signed with an agent a month ago after she saw seven of mine. She loved the voice and writing but had a hard time to see how she could sell them 🙂
    So it was hard to hear but a reality check too. It’s a tough business to be published and maybe even more for children’s literature.
    I love to witness your journey and admire your writing and projects. You certainly could illustrate your own stories.

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      Thank you, Evelyne.

      Congratulations on almost getting seven children’s stories published. Maybe the next agent you talk to will be able to see how to sell them.

      Reply
      • evelyneholingue

        Thank you for your encouragement, Nicki. Means a lot to me. Doesn’t change the fact that your artwork rocks.

        Reply
  3. Jennifer J. Chow

    Your paintings are beautiful!

    As an aside, I remember talking to a picture book writer. She said it was super tough to get her work looked at–plus, she had to have an assigned in-house illustrator when she did. The two never met in person while working on her book!

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      It must be expensive to publish a full-color book. The publishers probably want to use an illustrator they know and trust.

      I think it’s “super tough” to get any writing looked at. I wish it was easier.

      Reply
  4. Annika Perry

    Nicki, I adore these illustrations, a wonderful light touch, full of tender emotion – you have a gift! It’s a pity you didn’t get to use your skill after that first course, but so glad you got to writing later on. Perhaps you’ll have an idea for a children’s book one day and then you must illustrate it!😃

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      Thank you, Annika. I don’t know if I’ll ever write a children’s book. I loved books with beautiful illustrations when I was a kid. The Twelve Dancing Princesses is one I remember. And I liked reading to my children. But now that my youngest grandchild is already nine years old, I guess my thoughts are elsewhere.

      Reply
  5. restlessjo

    Such an encouraging story of perseverance, and things fitting in the right moments. 🙂 🙂 We’re never too old to learn, but some things seem to get harder. Your paintings are beautiful, Nicki, and I’m sure will have given you great satisfaction.

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      You’re right, Jo. My paintings have given me great satisfaction. I have them hanging all around the house.

      Reply
  6. nrhatch

    Your paintings are fabulous, Nicki! You still have time to weave a story around them. 😀

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      Thanks for your confidence, Nancy. I haven’t done any painting for a long time, though. If anything, I’d like to do some sketching for pleasure.

      Reply
  7. Marta

    Well, everybody already said it, but… your pictures are amazing!!

    I’ve never taken a correspondence course as everything can be online now. How did it work? I guess you received all the materials by mail (how long did it take from the US to the Philippines or Vanuatu?) but were there exams and if so, how did you do them?

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      The course from the Institute of Children’s Literature was done on an individual basis, so there wasn’t any deadline for finishing each lesson. If I remember right, I received all the material at once and then mailed in each lesson one at a time.

      The low-residency MFA course I took from Vermont College of Fine Arts was much less casual. Twice a year I flew to Vermont for ten days of classes. Each semester I had a different advisor. Each month I had to send in a piece of fiction and also commentary on the required reading. Sometimes the mail from Vanuatu was slow, and that was nerve wracking. Instead of an exam, we had to put together a portfolio, either a novel or short stories. And we had to teach a class to the other students. It was a perfect kind of course for writers.

      Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      Thank you, Vivian. My grandma and my mom were both artistic. My sister and I had to keep up the tradition.

      Reply
  8. Lamarr Coler

    Your art work is lovely and you have learned this art from the best…Keep pursuing your dreams, you have talent. Lamarr

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      Thank you, Lamarr, for the encouragement. Yes! We should all keep pursuing our dreams.

      Reply
  9. autumnashbough

    Your pictures are beautiful! I am in awe of people who can draw or paint.

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      Thank you, Autumn. It’s one of those things I did once upon a time. And, come to think of it, for many years. I’d love to be a fantastic dancer. Do you still dance?

      Reply
      • autumnashbough

        Rarely. Weddings, I think. And not in ages now, because of Andy’s torn quad tendon. I miss it!

        Reply
        • Nicki Chen

          I’ll bet you do. I’d love to see you two dance.

          Reply
  10. Kate Crimmins

    I love your painting. I took a similar course and it’s not as easy as it looks. You need steady hands and any indecision comes through in the strokes. I think it would be so cool to both write and illustrate your own book.

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      It would be cool, Kate. There are so many lives I would like to have lived. Life is too short.

      Reply
  11. L. Marie

    Nicki, you are a fantastic artist. I’m sorry you were discouraged from pursuing illustration.

    Weirdly enough, I also was discouraged from illustrating. I had studied art in high school and college. I also took the correspondence course from The Institute of Children’s Literature. 😀 We have a lot in common.

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      That’s really funny, Linda. In many ways, you and I have followed the same path. I’d like to do more art work, but I think it’s beyond me to do both art and writing well, at least at this point in my life. A few months ago I bought Wynken, Blyken, and Nod for my grand nephew. I bought it mainly for the illustrations by Johanna Westerman. She’s such a talented illustrator.

      Reply
  12. Mabel Kwong

    Your paintings are amazing. Very life-like and from the sounds of it, you honed your craft, illustration and writing, at your own pace. It is interesting to read that publishers want to use their own illustrators. I’m guessing that they have their own illustrators and connections that they can use and these connections get them across copyright laws. Or maybe more so the image and style the illustrators project sits well with their branding and image.

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      I studied with the Children’s Institute of Literature many years ago when publishing was under the control of a limited number of publishers. Now, especially with self-publishing, I think there would be more options for illustrators. Looking back on it, though, I think another style of painting would suit a children’s book better than what I was doing then–something brighter and more compact.

      Reply
  13. Paddy

    I enjoyed learning about your painting background.

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      Thank you, Paddy. Painting classes from Prof. Chen were fun and also very serious. Chinese brush painting in the old style is a discipline with centuries of history. I know a couple of his former students who are still painting.

      Reply
  14. Jill Weatherholt

    As someone who can barely draw a stick person, I find your sketches and paintings incredible, Nicki…absolutely beautiful! Thanks for sharing your journey to fiction writing.

    Reply
    • Nicki Chen

      My mother liked to draw, so she encouraged my sister and me. Her favorite subjects when she was a young woman were people and clothing. When I was a kid I liked to draw paper dolls and their clothes. Since I started writing, I haven’t done much drawing or painting. I’m sure I’ve lost much of my skill.

      Reply

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