curiosity counts

Every now and then a good shindig comes along that brings my favorite people out of the woodwork. In this case, it was a surprise party for Kirsten Cappy, saucy diva of Curious City, who has celebrated children’s books far and wide, making fans galore in her wake.

We were asked to create an interpretation of Kirsten for an instant show at Zero Station.

Here’s mine, in which Her Loveliness sports a curious octopus ready to read.

My daughter, Daisy, got into the act, too:

Marty doesn’t usually do portraits, but his airbrush piece says it all:

Here Kirsten shares her glee with Cathryn Falwell, the swell mastermind behind the party.

So many luminaries created visions of Kirsten, I couldn’t capture them all. Here are a few:

Melissa Sweet‘s paper puppet with signature Kirsten colors:

Mary Anne Lloyd’s cheerful Kirsten:

Scott Nash captures Kirsten’s frisky nature:

And Annie O’Brien shows Kirsten’s love of characters:

So much great art, and so many scrumptious cupcakes. Life is sweet!

And the music! Who else but Phil Hoose could serenade such a siren for kids books?

His band, Chipped Enamel, rocked the crowd and made Kirsten blush.

Daisy and Eda were inspired to make some instant art for the wall, too.

Kirsten, of course, did what she does best: she makes us all feel young, believers of stories and dreams and rainbow stripes.

Thanks for making the world a snazzy, Cappyish place, Kirsten. Happy Birthday!