Join us for a reception celebrating the opening of our latest exhibit, from 3:00 to 5:00pm.Eileen Christelow is the author and illustrator of more than thirty picture books for children. Her books include the Five Little Monkeys series, The Great Pig Escape (which takes place in Putney), Letters From a Desperate Dog (about her Windham County Humane Society adoptee), Where’s the Big Bad Wolf?, and many more. Several of her books are non-fiction, including VOTE! and Robins! How They Grow Up. She lives in Dummerston, Vermont.“Writing picturebooks is a process of telling stories with words AND pictures. I start with sketches: Who are the characters? What are they doing? I write some words, sketch some more. As I change the words, I change the pictures. As I change the pictures, I might decide to change the words again. I put everything on the wall so I can see the whole story. The process can take months.”“Art for picturebooks is sequential art; one picture leads to the next. I make dummies of the books to see how the illustrations work as I turn the pages. Do the surprises occur when I turn the page?”“Until 2010 I worked with water colors, acrylics, water color crayons, pencils, and pens. And then I discovered Photoshop and Wacom tablets. Why use a computer? I can move characters around and I can change colors without having to redo the entire illustration. And Photoshop offers me dozens of media options: watercolor, acrylic, pastels, pencils, pens, etc. But I do miss the feeling of real paper!”To learn more about Eileen and her books, visit her website: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="http://www.christelow.com">www.christelow.com</a>The Next Stage Gallery is open during events, and by appointment with the artist or by contacting Next Stage at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow" href="mailto:info@nextstagearts.org">info@nextstagearts.org</a> or (802) 451-0053.