Animalia: Portraits in Poetry & Pencil is a collaboration between artist Tom Mielko and author Erin Graffy. The book contains 23 animal graphite portraits by Mielko paired with 18 of Graffy’s poems. Mielko is best known for his seascape paintings employing his signature style: romantic realism. Graffy is the author of a series of wry “guidebooks” titled How to Santa Barbara; her most recent book of history, Old Spanish Days, was the recipient of three national awards.
How did the idea for Animalia come about?
Tom Mielko: Erin and I had no idea we were going to do a book until Anne Luther saw the original drawings of graphite on clayboard. Erin asked me to send some images to her. The rest is history.
Erin Graffy: Tom and I have known each other for years. I have his first book, Tom Mielko: An Artist’s Journey, and have been to his exhibits featuring his celebrated paintings of landscapes from Nantucket to Santa Barbara. About a year and a half ago, a mutual friend — artist Anne Luther, who also works in art and antiques — sent me some of Tom’s latest passion: these black-and-white renderings of animals that he started doing about a year earlier. This was an utterly new genre for Tom and in a whole new medium. My reaction to his art was quite visceral. I immediately told Anne these drawings should be in a book and I would write poems to go with each one.