You might remember Wendy from an interview last year when her debut

IT’S A MYSTERY PIGFACE! hit the shelves.

 

Well, she’s at it again with book two, THE FRAME-UP.

How did you know that the idea for THE FRAME-UP was your next book and how did it all come about? 

I struggled a bit to decide what I would write next, and one night, while sitting in my living room, the idea came to me, and it was so real, and so vivid, that I knew it was an amazing idea and that for sure it had to be my next book! The idea of art being alive is not a new idea; but the idea of these parallel worlds existing side-by-side, and what happens when someone accidentally lifts the veil, seemed fresh and fun to me.

How much research went into this and anything unexpected you came across?

I spent a month researching the time periods of the masterpieces that are characters in the book so I could have them sound somewhat like the era they were from, as well as art techniques, the history of art thefts and forgeries, and the lives of some of the real people who are portraits in the story.  

The most unexpected thing was how many gallery/museum personnel report feeling an energy from the artwork, especially after hours. That supported my conviction that I was onto something!

I love that you explore creativity and creative energy as living things – can you explain why you wanted to talk about that in the book and how you did it?

My whole life, I’ve wrestled with how it is that we get our inspiration and how that manifests in whatever we do. Every creative person will tell you about those times when the characters or the painting or the song or whatever it is “takes over” and suddenly things take strange and amazing turns. For so many people, art is one dimensional, flat images hanging on the wall. But the energy that went into that image was phenomenal, and I like to imagine that it spills out back towards the person who’s looking at the painting. I really wanted to find a way to show kids that art, and the creation of art, is magical, and that they are part of that creation. So I talk a lot in the book about what it was like when the painting was being created, how the artist worked to bring out the personality of the subject but couldn’t help but infuse a bit of themselves in it as well. By having the masterpieces have rich interior lives, and showing the creative process outside the frame, I think the book succeeds in helping the reader see art as a living thing.

The other day I was doing a Q&A with a small group of kids and one of the things that I told them was that The Frame-Up ceased to belong to me on its publication day. It was now theirs, and that there would be thousands of versions of the book running around, because everyone would imagine it in a slightly different way. They loved that idea, as do I. I imagine a kid opening the book, and my main characters, Mona Dunn and Sargent Singer, dusting themselves off and saying, “Here we go again. Wonder how it will be this time?”

That’s amazing! I now have goose bumps! Was there any pressure you felt creatively or residually after having another book out in the world?

Not this time, because I wrote this book before It’s a Mystery, Pig Face! was out in the world. But my next book? Oy vey! The pressure was awful!

You partnered with Beaverbrook Art Gallery for you book launch and I was wondering if that was intentional, not just because the paintings play a role in your book, but also to draw the crowd into a creative space they might otherwise not venture into.

It was totally intentional. In my experience, there are many people who avoid art galleries and museums. The places feel intimidating to them, and they feel like they don’t have a language to understand what they’re seeing, because for so many of us, we stop creating art as soon as we realize that we don’t have the same talent as someone else. This is a tragedy, because drawing, painting, and sculpting can be such a fun creative outlet. And it’s funny, because we don’t tend to do that with other kinds of art – you should see me sing in my car even though I can’t carry a tune in a bucket! (Note I said “see” – you definitely don’t want to hear me!) I think it’s a product of the fact that the works of art are mostly inside buildings. And yes, you can see an image in a book or a magazine, but it is never as good as seeing the real thing!

My hope is that people will read the book and go their gallery and start to engage in art in very different ways. We need to help people enjoy art and the best way to do that is to help them realize that a painting is just another artistic expression; just like we like certain books or songs, we’ll like certain pieces of art. But if we don’t get exposed to them, we don’t realize that. My hope is that this book will introduce a whole lot of kids to something that will make them happy for the rest of their lives!

You’ve certainly made me want to run off to the museum! Thanks for taking the time to share about THE FRAME-UP with our readers. If you’re interested in getting a copy for yourself you can find it here, here or here. Of course, do check out your local independent bookstore and request it if you don’t see it on the shelves!

You can also find Wendy here or on Twitter. 

 

Kristi Wientge is the author of Karma Khullar’s Mustache and forthcoming Honey Bees and Frenemies both with Simon & Schuster BFYR.