“In the places I go there are things that I see
That I never could spell if I stopped with the Z.
I’m telling you this ’cause you’re one of my friends.
My alphabet starts where your alphabet ends!”
~Dr. Seuss from “On Beyond Zebra”
Dr. Seuss is a major influence of mine. As a child, I had his books read to me and have since re-read them many, many times over. Maybe more importantly, both as a child and as an adult I have scrutinized every line of every character he drew in those books. His playful style with a hint of a dark side is an aesthetic which I often incorporate in my own art.
It seems like more than a coincidence that I came across a number of Dr. Seuss references in the last week. It started with the discovery of a “Seuss-like” sea creature off the coast of Australia and was further cemented when I came across this video of Cat Steven’s “Where do the Children Play?” dubbed over Dr. Seuss’s “The Lorax.” The video in particular struck a resonant chord especially since I was amidst a week in which I was focusing on childhood and children in my sketches.
It is my birthday today and I am one year older, but I am nonetheless resolved not to become an “obsolete child.” I may yet rediscover myself where the children play.