Robert’s Snowflakes – Featuring Brian Floca

So I had to ask him how he came to be acquainted with Robert’s Snow.  This is the answer he gave:

"I learned of Robert’s Snow a few years ago when my friend Alison Impey at Little, Brown forwarded me an e-mail about it. For whatever reason I didn’t make it in on the action that year. When I saw that it was on again this year, I got in touch with the organizers. A little time went by and the next thing I knew a wooden snowflake was in my mailbox. I gave some thought to an image of Avi’s Poppy; Poppy would be fairly well recognized, I figured, and I have a lot of affection for the character, so she seemed a good choice. But LIGHTSHIP had come out relatively recently, and so I still had boats on the brain. Plus, a lightship seemed fitting in its own way. (For those who don’t know, lightships were the rough equivalent of floating lighthouses.) When I first stepped foot on the Ambrose lightship down at South Street Seaport a couple of years ago, my interest in her was purely in nuts and bolts and seafaring yarns and that sort of thing, but the more I learned about lightships the more I appreciated their steadfastness and the relief and aid that they offered to others. Those ideas seemed appropriate to the work of Robert’s Snow, as did the image of a light in the dark, and so the lightship it was."

Now consider the book itself.  Lightship has garnered FOUR starred reviews (SLJ, PW, Booklist, AND Kirkus).  And those of you with good memories will recall that it also has its own book trailer.  This book is one of the finest of the year and the image on the snowflake is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful.  This is a snowflake with a sense of place.  It has its own mood.  I won’t make other people jealous by saying that it’s the prettiest one of the year  . . . but, come on.  Seriously.  How can you NOT find it amazingly attractive?  And on a Christmas tree?  Stunning, m’dear.

So how do you make it your very own?  Well, bidding will begin on November 19th at 9:00 a.m. and close on November 23rd at 5:00 p.m.  Be a smartie.  Bid often.  After all, this is A) A good cause and B) Your chance to own a piece of original art entirely of your own.  (Floca’s page is here)

View Brian Floca’s website too at www.brianfloca.com.  And I highly HIGHLY recommend that you check out his live webcast of his studio as well.  Other artists would be wise to mimic this.