Interview with Denise Fleming,
creator of Beetle Bop

Beetles can be found everywhere around us. They crawl up walls, hide in cracks, and can be spotted, striped, or dotted. Caldecott Honor artist Denise Fleming has created a beautiful book dedicated to one of the largest groups of animals on the earth. Beetle Bop is a bright and exuberant ode to beetles of all colors, shapes, and sizes.

Q: You have a unique approach to book production: You make your own paper and use hand-cut stencils to create the illustrations. What inspired you to handcraft your books? Can you share the details of the papermaking process with us?

Denise Fleming: I can create texture and a sense of dimension in my art that would be difficult to get in any other medium. I feel this makes the art more “alive.”

The paper and picture are created at the same time by pulp painting, a papermaking technique. I pour a layer of cotton fiber floating in water onto a screen. The water drains through the screen, but the fiber stays on top; this is my base layer. I create the picture by using fiber that I have dyed brilliant colors, squeeze bottles, and stencils. I work wet on wet. When I am happy with the picture, I flip the paper/picture off the screen. I then dry the paper using a vacuum table and drying press.

Q: Beetle Bop features many types of beetles. How much did you know about these insects before you started working on the book? Also—and, be honest—do you like beetles, or do they give you the creeps?

DF: I’ve always liked insects. As a child I had two favorite beetles: ladybugs, because they are so cheerful looking, and fireflies, because they are magical.

I don’t use pesticides when I garden, so I am very familiar with beetles. Although some beetles are pests and not that welcome in my gardens, all beetles are beautiful. If you look closely at beetles, they are tiny abstract paintings. (Try using a magnifying glass to see all their details.) Metallic-colored beetles are particularly handsome.

I researched beetles before I started the book, but I never intended for Beetle Bop to be a guidebook. Pulp painting is a loose, spontaneous medium and does not lend itself to the realistic representations a beetle guide would require.

Q: You seem to really appreciate language, and have a tendency to use rhyming or action-oriented words in your books. Why do you favor minimal text to accompany your vibrant illustrations?

DF: I love language. I try to make texts that create a joyful feeling when read. It is important to me to use the fewest words possible to create the most impact. There are the words printed on the page and there are the words that the pictures convey.

Q: You’ve been an artist since you were a young girl. Were you encouraged by your family to express yourself creatively? Do you hope that kids who read your books will be encouraged to follow their own artistic desires?

DF: My parents and grandparents all encouraged creativity, and were creative in their own way. My mother and father were active in local theater. My dad built furniture. My mother was an amazing decorator of our home and for a brief period of time wrote a weekly column for a small local newspaper. My (maternal) grandma could look at a picture of a dress and could make it—without a pattern. My other grandmother won awards for her flower arrangements and was ahead of her time in landscape design. Of course, as a child I took all their talents for granted; it was just what they did.

I hope everyone who reads my books will be encouraged to follow their artistic desire, whether it’s sewing, landscape design, writing, cooking, building things, painting, drawing. . . .

Q: Your husband is also an artist and contributes to the design of your books, and he and your daughter both work on your Web site, www.denisefleming.com. Do you find that collaborating with the people who you are close to brings new life and perspective to your projects?

DF: The advantage of working with David and Indigo is that they are so familiar with how I think; they know the right questions to ask to help me solve any problems I have with text or art. And of course, I can wake David up in the middle of the night to run an idea by him.

Q: We understand that you like animals. How many pets do you have?

DF: Currently in residence: eight cats, one dog (a nineteen-pound Yorkie), two birds (a parakeet and a cockatiel), and a pondful of fish. I am also grandma (part owner with Indigo) of a two-year-old horse. Oh, I can’t forget Boris, a huge wolf spider that lives in the pocket door in David’s office.

Q: What other projects do you have on the horizon? Are you planning any more books about bugs?

DF: No more bugs for the time being. I am going to go in a bigger direction—dinosaurs!

Don't forget to enter the contest to win a copy of Beetle Bop