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| http://www.denisefleming.com/ |
Ms. Fleming knew at an early age that she loved to write, and especially to draw. When she was in the third grade she was chosen to participate in art classes at the Toledo Museum of Art. Through a series of classes she studied techniques of famous artists and fell in love with a particular style of art known as Impressionism. It was during these classes that one of her drawings was chosen to be on the cover of a magazine! (NCCIL, 2005)
Although she was never certain in high school that she wanted to be an artist, she did attend Kendall College of Art and Design in Grand Rapids, Michigan to study advertising design. It was during this time she realized writing and illustrating picture books was what she really wanted to do. One of her first jobs out of school was working for a major publisher illustrating children's books. This job taught her the craft of making picture books and she used these skills to begin creating her own books (Reading Rockets, 2013). In 1991 she published her first book In the Tall, Tall Grass using her unique style of colored paper pulp poured through hand-cut stencils of her own design.
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| Pouring the paper pulp. http://www.denisefleming.com/ |
Ms. Fleming still lives in Toledo today and it is there she creates her picture books with assistance from her husband, David Powers, who is also an artist. Although she is now grown, her daughter Indigo helps her mother with the editing process. In addition to her supportive family, Ms. Fleming is surrounded by many beloved pets. She has seven cats and one rather "cranky" elderly dog named Warfy (Scholastic, n.d.).
It's interesting to note that Ms. Fleming always felt more comfortable working as an artist than a writer. In the beginning she worried about the writing process because of grammar and punctuation rules. But she knew that she had to take a risk, and maybe make a few mistakes, if she ever wanted to publish a book. She describes her writing process as rushed so she can quickly put her ideas down on paper. Indigo helps with the revisions as she reads her stories aloud. Ms. Fleming begins each of her books with hundreds of words, but in the end pairs it down to a few, descriptive action and rhyming words (NCCIL, 2005).
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| Ms. Fleming poses for her book, The First Day of Winter. http://www.denisefleming.com/ |
In her free time, Ms. Fleming enjoys her favorite sport of swinging in her hammock which doesn't require any special shoes. She also likes to work in her flower garden surrounded by the beauty of nature which is so often a theme of her books. She loves to build furniture, add new rooms to her house, and take on other woodworking projects with her husband, David. She keeps very busy creating other types of art with tin cans, clay, and handmade dolls. She dyes and paints fabric for the dolls' clothes (MacMillan Publishers, 2011). Ms. Fleming has decided that if she were to give herself a title it would be a "Maker of Things" (NCCIL, 2005). This perfectly expresses her passionate and creative spirit.
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| Ms. Fleming in her garden. http://www.denisefleming.com/ |
You can view a gallery of her amazing and extensive artwork at her official website using the link on the right side of the page. Click on the tabs above to discover more about this incredibly talented children's picture book author and illustrated.
