From an early age, Shelly O. Haas enjoyed drawing a variety of faces. A favorite challenge initiated by her father was a series of empty circles in a row on paper. He always drew features on the first and then pushed the paper and pen toward her to complete the second. The possibilities were delightful. After her attempt, she pushed paper and pen back. No words were spoken. Each responded in animated expressions until the last face was finished. Laughter always followed.
Whenever a manuscript appears on Shelly's desk, she goes back to those circles. A good story presents within it the same challenge, partially filled in and yet full of possibilities. To illustrate it, Shelly must present its most elemental movement through gestures and icons. By infusing those elements with the texture of the characters' symbolic identity, culture, historic time period or situation that most fosters their growth, Shelly fills in the circles.
Over the years Shelly has had the added benefit of witnessing her mother's growth as storyteller/puppeteer Marilyn O'Connor Miller. Marilyn's process of character development for the stage and her use of cultural or historic anchors in story continues to be a great inspiration for Shelly.
Shelly strives to use elements that tell a story visually in her illustrations and other work. In some illustations all of the elements are physical, the image focused. In others the image is an illustration of a moment in time and the characters' understanding of it in reflection simultaneously. Often the second kind of image includes some elements that remain transparent suggesting a daydream.
- Sydney Taylor Honors/Association of Jewish Libraries - The Magic of Kol Nidre, a Yom Kippur Story;
The Kingdom of Singing Birds, and Grandma's Soup (1990-1999)
- National Jewish Book Awards Honor - Thank You God, The Kingdom of Singing Birds (1994)
- Sydney Taylor Award/Association of Jewish Libraries, Daddy's Chair (1992)
- Original Art 1993 & The Very Best of Children's Book Illustration/Society of Illustration - The Kingdom of Singing Birds (1993)
Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI
BFA, Illustration, 1984
Copyright © 2004 Shelly O. Haas