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An Interview with Jane Zalben, Author/Illustrator of LIGHT
 Where did the idea for LIGHT come from?
Light is the third book in a trilogy about peace. It grew out of the introduction of Let There Be Light, the first one, which I did right after September 11, when I decided that I could no longer work in the way I had been working. I needed something different, something challenging, something that took me on a different road than the one I had been on for so many years. In that introduction, I wrote about a midrash, which is a legend based on a biblical text by Rabbi Isaac Luria of Safed in Israel (1534-1572) who founded the mystical branch of teachings called the Kabbalah. In his poetry he saw the story of creation in this way: When the world began, God planned to put sparks of light into everything. The light was stored in vessels. But it was so strong, the vessels broke into millions of pieces. People were made to find these shards of light. When they bring them together, restoring the shattered jugs, the world will be repaired, he felt. The practice of "repairing the world" is called "tikkun olam" in Hebrew. I decided to write a myth-like folk tale based on this concept, but I wanted to make it for everyone of any religion, to be appreciated on all age levels by different people – very young to very old, as I did in the second book, Paths to Peace: People Who Changed the World. Peace is a concept we all share and have in common – wanting the best for the people we love. Everyone has the power to repair one small piece of the world in their own way.
What kind of materials did you use to create the artwork?
I usually work with a triple zero brush the size of a hair on opaline parchment, but in this book I began to experiment with different materials, papers, fabrics. In doing so, in a strange way, it was "coming home" to where I began as a child - taking art lessons when I was five years old – painting on canvas. Once again, I decided to do this book in a different way – style – to take another journey. The exciting part was exploring technique after the text was edited. How would I depict light? I used acrylic and oil paints; liquid acrylics; pastels; colored pencils; oil crayons I had saved from my childhood; gel polymer medium mixed with sand; dirt; leaves; grass; table salt; sea salt; linseed oil; water; turpentine; baking powder; Comet; Windex and Clorox sprays; quinoa sees; kasha grains; seaweed; flower petals; berries; and vines; often drying the art in sun. The book took over a year to complete during various seasons. Sometimes I was outside in a winter jacket in the snow!
I added dimension by building the layers of paint or rubbing them off to create serendipitous effects, using a palette knife, brushes, a burnisher, dental tools, cloths of various textures, paper towels, and natural and mass-produced sponges. The creative challenge was the not knowing where it would take me, which is in a way the book. If you leave yourself open, with an open heart, maybe you can give yourself a tiny piece of joy, happiness and light, and then share it with others, thereby changing the world to make it a better place.
Did you learn anything about yourself during the process of making this book?
I learned about patience, experimentation, and realizing that my heart really remains in art – painting on canvas. I am inspired by modern contemporary artists, and when I paint on my own, they are huge and full of color with forms in grid-like progressions. The painter who enabled to think differently about space and type and negative space, and the importance of all that, is Matisse. The endpapers reflect my interest in Cubism. I learned to paint really in college from a man who invented the acrylic paints. He was a chemist who ultimately became a painter. I studied with amazing teachers who changed the way I saw the world and thought about art – what brushes I used, what paper I worked on, the time, energy and devotion it all takes. How art and writing is always a good friend to me, and probably always will be. I live and breathe it every day, passionately, sometimes too much.
Do you listen to music as you work? If so, what kind?
Music is a huge part of my life and it seems to filter into my writing too. As a child I was serious about the piano, and when I was applying to the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan I had to decide between pursuing music or art – I choose art. My hands would perspire when I performed and my thighs stuck to the piano bench, sealing them with sweat. Art is a very solitary act, as is writing. Except when I give speeches!
I love all kinds of music, but when I do these kinds of books – the recent peace ones – oddly I listen to loud rock music, jazz, Zydeco – Cajun music. As they say, it gets my mojo going with an adrenaline rush that lasts for the many hours of working. Often I work standing up so I can move while I work, which is so different from the very detailed, minute watercolors I am often known for. I am steeped in classical music, but not for these peace books! Weird, huh?
What do you hope people take away from the book?
Simply put, I hope it will give people a moment of pleasure in a world that is complicated and complex.
What are you working on now?
I am drafting two novels and a few picture books. I have a young chapter book coming out in 2008 that someone else has illustrated. I am also collaborating with a writing partner on a screenplay based on my new middle-grade/YA novel, "Leap." I feel that my illustration is heading more in the direction of art and painting and I will see where this journey takes me. I love making books – the germ of the idea, the written word, the process of rewriting, then doing the art, the type as a design element, and how all of it comes together. There is something wonderful about silently holding a book in your lap, even in this age of computers and fast technology, which I also enjoy. One doesn’t have to supplant the other – so my hope is that children will always enjoy a picture book and sharing the act of reading.
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