Interview with author Lisa Rogers

Lisa Rogers became inspired to write for children during her career as an elementary school librarian. She is the award-winning author of the picture book biographies Beautiful Noise: The Music of John Cage, illustrated by Il Sung Na (Random House/Anne Schwartz Books); 16 Words: William Carlos And “The Red Wheelbarrow”,” illustrated by Chuck Groenink (Random House/Schwartz & Wade), and the rhyming picture book Hound Won’t Go, illustrated by Meg Ishihara (Albert Whitman), inspired by her rescue dog. She has several other books coming out soon, including Joan Mitchell Paints a Symphony (Astra/Calkins Creek, February 2025), which I interviewed her about recently. Our conversation is below!

(One final note before we get started - To order signed copies of Lisa’s book, visit Wellesley Books’ website where you can place an order online. Or, if you’re in the area, stop by 82 Central Street Wellesley, MA 02482. Always support independent bookstores! )

First, I have to say I really loved this book! I didn’t think of it as a picture book at all, but as a biography about an artist written specifically for other artists. What are your thoughts about the intended audience for Joan Mitchell Paints a Symphony, and for picture books in general? 

Thanks so much for your kind words! I am glad that you loved this book, and I hope readers do, too. One of the reasons that I write nonfiction picture books is to inspire others. When I was in school, I wanted to know how people became who they became. How did a scientist come to a discovery? How did an activist gain the courage to act? How did artists and writers find inspiration? I’m fascinated when I learn something about that inspiration. I want to share that with others, so they too might be inspired to try something that seems out of reach.

For Joan Mitchell Paints a Symphony, I wanted to show how she used her emotions and memories to make her artwork. Even if you don’t make art, you might be inspired in other ways by looking closely at her artwork. Think of a connection to your own experiences. Think of how it makes you feel and what it makes you wonder about. Can you "see" a place or people you love in your mind? Can you put yourself there in your imagination? That’s what Joan Mitchell did.

Readers can learn something from every book. I strongly believe that picture books are for everyone. Picture books are created with a great deal of care and have depth and layers of meaning that anyone, of any age, can appreciate if they take the time to think and feel.

 

And similarly, do you think artists are different from other people? Joan Mitchell was pretty amazing!

Artists (and writers) are like other people in most ways, but one way in which they might be different is that they have an inner thought process that fosters creativity. Maybe they pay more attention to what’s around them. Maybe they take more time to think about what they see and hear. Maybe their emotions become an important part of what they create.

Notice the incredible variations in the way people paint and draw and the way they write! All types of art and writing have value. To me, what’s most important is for each person to create something that’s true to who they are, and to not compare themselves with others. Our own way of creating is an incredible strength that makes our work important and true.

 

When you were in school, did you consider yourself an artist? What were your dreams?

I wanted to be an artist. I loved the illustrations in books, and I loved looking art in museums. I sketched things around me and made a series of cartoons with my own characters. I drew all the time, but was not brave enough to take art classes until I was an adult. Now, I paint and draw as a way to understand what I’m feeling, and that helps my writing.

I also wanted to become an author. I remember writing a poem sitting in a peach tree in my backyard! When I was old enough to work, I took a job shelving books in my town’s public library. I dreamed that one day my book would be on those shelves. I never met an author until I was an adult, so I had no idea how to make that happen. Now, it’s much easier to meet authors and illustrators virtually and in person and learn from them. If you dream of becoming an artist and/or writer, don’t wait! You can draw now, and you can write now, and create in your own, unique way.

I think it’s really neat that you wanted to be an artist when you were in school. A lot of students want to become illustrators, or dancers, or songwriters, but they just don’t know how to get started. What was it that made you decide to finally take an art class? Also, did you take any classes on how to be a writer?

When I signed up for an art class, it was because finally decided that it was time to learn more about creating art.  I was always worried that my work wouldn’t be good enough. I now know that the wonderful thing about the arts is that, while you can always learn, you will have your own style, or find your own style, in any art form. Comparing yourself to others limits yourself instead of helping you grow.

My wish for you is to feel brave enough to try something new. It might not be perfect at first. It most likely won’t. But you will have made something! That’s a huge achievement. With my stories, the first draft is never perfect. I revise and revise and sometimes rewrite the entire story in a new way. With my paintings, I go back and add paint and sometimes paint over it all and start again. If you don’t ever start, you have nothing to work on and improve.

I have taken many, many classes and attended many webinars and conferences on writing. I still do! Learning and growing as a writer is important to me. It keeps me fresh and every time I take a class, I come away with new ideas on ways to write my stories. Spending time listening to others talk about their creative process can open new ways of thinking about my work.

 

I think students will be surprised to hear that you paint as a way to understand what you’re feeling. We’re often told that art is a way to “express ourselves,” but what you’re talking about seems very different. Could you talk more about how people can use art to understand something, as opposed to express it?

When I paint, I’m switching my creative brain to something that seems different than writing, but both painting and writing are acts of bravery for me. I have to feel something about what I am creating. Like my best writing, my best paintings come when I reflect on what I am doing and the inner reason for doing it. Not because a color looks good there or a word seems right there, but because I have something to say in words and in paint. It takes time to figure out what that something is.

I think that what I am trying to find is what writers call "the why." Why is it important? What does it mean to you? It can also be called the heart--something you must feel deeply. That heart is a way to transmit the feeling to others who read or view your work.

Figuring out the heart of the story can be the hardest part of writing. I think understanding why you are writing something, or why you are painting something, is the key to making a good painting and a good story.

So I’m working out what is it I want to express with my words or with my paintbrush. I am discovering that as I am painting. The painting or the story becomes an expression of what I am feeling, but the actual painting and writing is where I discover that feeling.

Since you’re both an artist and a writer, what do you think is the most difficult thing about being an artist?

The most difficult thing about making something is to trust yourself. The writer Ralph Waldo Emerson said:

"Trust thyself. Every heart vibrates to that iron string...The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows that that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried."

My take away from that is: There has been no one like you ever before. That is really wonderful! Just by trying something new, you bring something special to the world!

(Interviewer’s Note: You can learn more about Lisa Rogers and all her books at https://lisarogerswrites.com!)