James Marshall Week Day 3: Research Journal

Madeleine asked in my last post if I could talk about my research process and my experience looking through the James Marshall Papers at the University of Connecticut. In response, here’s an excerpt from the journal I kept at that time:

“I hope all the pictures I am taking turn out. I feel like I could have the flash on. I am shooting in RAW format which should allow me to adjust the white balance later. If I ever do. I want to document as much as I can but I also want to be present with the work. I want to strap a Go-Pro to my head and film an unboxing but I also kind of don’t want to share this with anyone.”

Yeah, remaining present during my week in the archives was a top priority. If my handwriting seems particularly tidy in that photo, it’s because I forced myself to take my time with every part of the experience. Looking back, I might have just dived fully into the work and immersed myself in Marshall’s sketchbooks (I sometimes wish I did) but I am glad that I have this record of my research. The reason I’m excerpting that portion above is that bit at the end about not wanting to share the experience with anyone. If you’ve followed me on social media or watched any part of my livestreaming, you know I’m very open about my process, inspirations and perspective. I tend to be a lot more closed on the subject of James Marshall, at least on the part that involves ME, because talking about it sometimes feels self-serving. I’d rather the attention be on Jim himself.

There’s another part to that line that may sound slightly covetous, that I wanted to keep the experience to myself. And I did, but not for the reason you might think. I’ve always had this feeling, when hearing creators talk about their work, that at some point their story becomes an anecdote. Maurice Sendak describing, for example, for the thousandth time the editor who wanted to change the temperature of Max’s dinner from “hot” to “warm”. At what point does it change from Sendak talking about the importance of staying true to yourself to Sendak reciting a cute story he knows people love to hear? Is there even a difference? To me there can be, I do know that the week I spent with James Marshall’s original works was incredibly special to me and I didn’t want to dilute the experience by turning it into a series of 140-character one-liners. This attitude softened two years after my time in Connecticut with Kai-Fai Steele’s turn at the Fellowship when she shared a whole lot of photos on social media and I saw how much richer the experience could grow when you opened it to other people.

So that’s where I’m at. I feel more open to talking about my personal connection to Marshall’s works and to some degree my connection to Marshall himself. And I think ultimately this will give me a deeper understanding of the story I want to tell. That I’m telling. Sooooo… yes, Madeleine, I will happily share excerpts from my journal and talk about my research. It’s going to have to wait until tonight, though, because I have a whole bunch of donuts to make right now.