She is orange, wears glasses and answers to the name Tangerine. A unique Muppet—not even half as tall as Big Bird—arrived at The Naturalist's Notebook yesterday. She was brought in by Betsy Loredo, executive editor of Sesame Street books, to whom Tangerine bears a suspicious resemblance. Except for the orange part.
Note the resemblance between Tangerine and Betsy. That's Jowill, Betsy's husband and the designer of The Naturalist's Notebook logo, in the background.
Tonight at the Notebook, Betsy and Tangerine will be on hand for a fun and unique event that will blend art, nature and humor. Tangerine won't be the only highlight. At an open house from 4:30 to 8 p.m. we will be celebrating creative work of five members of the Woodman family:
• Bill Woodman, a gifted painter and New Yorker and Down East cartoonist
• Anne Woodman, Bill's daughter, whose nature-inspired jewelry has been worn by the likes of Venus Williams and is sold at Henri Bendel; she has designed a line of fish jewelry whose proceeds help save wildlife victimized by the Gulf oil spill
• Jowill Woodman, Bill's son, head of Woodman Creative in New York, who has put together a fascinating display book about the evolution of The Naturalist's Notebook logo, which he designed
• Betsy, Jowill's wife, who is also a children's author and will sign copies of her own books as well as Sesame Street's 40th-anniversary book, which she masterminded (special note: we have several copies of that book autographed by Kevin Clash, who is Elmo's Muppeteer!)
• Barbara Shelley, Anne's mom, whose botanical paintings and illustrations will be on display
Anne will show how she makes some of her beautiful pieces. This one is called Chaos.
In addition, we're expecting a visit from 94-year-old Ada Woodman, who is Bill's mother and perhaps the best blueberry-pie maker on Earth. We may discover whether Tangerine is a cousin of a more famous Muppet. Just call her Pie Monster?
Bill working on a cartoon at his studio in Portland.