Images from Belle Yang's Two Decades of Book Illustrations at the SF Main Library
FORGET SORROW exhibit ends August 13, 201
I passed out in the middle of the night half a month before the opening of this show. I had internal bleeding that left me with merely one-third of my blood volume. My doctor friend who works at the Stanford VA told me he'd never seen anyone's hematocrit and hemoglobin get as low and revive. He said I must have a guardian angel. After being tied off and plugged up with rubber bands and super glue and pumped full other people's blood, I was hiking 17 miles over the course of 9 hours.
This SF Main Library exhibit could have been my last retrospective. This is the third time I've dodged the proverbial bullet, so I am beginning to believe I am meant to write/illustrate at least a few more graphic novels and children's books. --Belle Yang
About Belle
Belle Yang, subject of the PBS documentary, “My Name is Belle,” is often asked whether she is primarily a writer or a painter. Answer: "When I'm writing, I'm a writer; when I'm painting, I'm a painter." Is she a children's author or writers of adult...
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Eric P Nichols says: Wow!
Eric P Nichols says:
Wow! You're rilly
Wow! You're rilly famous!
Congratulations, Belle! You deserve it!
Wish I could be there. How long is the display on display?
Eric
Wed, 07/20/2011 - 11:44pm
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Belle Yang
Belle Yang says:
Eric,
Please see date at the top of post. Thank you, and congrats on your many new projects. I like your profile photo. You must be a nutty polymath.
Thu, 07/21/2011 - 12:36pm
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Eric Nichols
Eric P Nichols says:
Polymath....isn't that
Polymath....isn't that arithmetic for a parrot? :)
I didn't hear about your medical episode. Do they know what happened? Are you fully recovered? That sounds scary!
I'll keep you in my prayers...I want you to stick around for a while, too!
Blessings,
Eric
Guardian angels...
Belle:
These paintings are like a talking library, telling a story - your story - along the way.
I do so hope you are well now, although such incidents do give us pause for thought. That pause is what gives us hope, too. And you are right about looking ahead. With the guardian angel, there is also the will to not only forget sorrow but to fight it.
Happiness always,
~F
You are a woman of destiny, Belle
living a remarkable life. What a fabulous exhibition! A triumph of perseverance over setbacks and serious health problems.
After all those years of hard work, it must be rewarding to walk among those scenes from your journey and know others can share and re-interpret them, too.
Please take good care of yourself.
Wishing you health, happiness and renewed creativity.
Rosy
Hi, Farzana and Rosy
Thank you for your good wishes. Your kindness reflects back on you. It's lovely to hear from you both. It's been a long time since our last meeting in Redroom. I was rushing around the day I was to see the exhibit for the first time. I hadn't thought about the show, but about the talk I would give, whether there would be an audience, etc. Lot's of frivolous thinking and fretting, Then I instinctively paused as I lifted one foot across the threshold, took a deep breath, and suddenly the excitement of unwrapping a gift came over me. The curator's art makes or breaks the artist's work. It's like the shoes that elevate the person in fine dress. Cinderella had to have her glass slippers to present her before the world. Lisa Vestal and her team, Anne Carroll, Everett Erlandson provided my art that elevation. And on August 13, the show will close, the coach will become pumpkin and the slippers slide off. Bong. Bong. Bong. Cheers.
Congratulations.
What a wonderful exhibit. I am reading this a few days late. I am horrified by your health problems-- but then amazed that you hiked 17 miles in nine hours. I am so glad your guardian angel took care of you and that other people's blood gave you that kind of energy and endurance that few people have.
Dear Sue,
As Gilda Radner's book title says, "It's Always Something." I wish I could have an entire decade without excitement. But then what would I write about?
Thank you for your good words.