Generations: Jane Dyer, Brooke Dyer
Jane Dyer and daughter Brooke Muir will include work that they have collaborated on, as well as paintings they done individually.
When Brooke was a just few months old, Jane put her in an infant seat and placed her on her drawing table. For many years, Brooke and younger sister Cecily were by her side. The studio included a large dollhouse made by their father, a violin and music stand, a balance beam, plus lots of books for hours of reading. In later years, when Jane had a Fedex pick-up scheduled, both girls were often requested to sit by their mother’s side and help complete paintings.
While Jane is self-taught, Brooke went to the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in conjunction with Tufts. Jane and Brooke have collaborated on three books and Brooke has done three books on her own, including SLEEP, BLACK BEAR, SLEEP — written by Jane Yolen and daughter Heidi Stemple. Brooke has taken time away from illustrating books to raise three children and teach art part-time.
Jane still spends every day working in her studio, except when taking time to visit grandchildren. She continues to paint, while also working in 3-dimensional material — clay and needle-felted wool from her sheep. Now there are only a dog and a cat by her side in the studio, and they can’t paint, at least not yet.
Jane Dyer
Jane Dyer grew up in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. After teaching, writing, and illustrating textbooks for many years, she began illustrating children’s books full time. She says much of her work today is inspired by her own childhood memories and by her two daughters, who grew up at her side in the studio.
Images of family and home dominate Jane Dyer’s paintings. Her work ranges from the gentle humor of the Piggins series to the lush romantic style of The Girl in the Golden Bower, to the classic paintings for Time for Bed and Cracked Corn and Snow Ice Cream. She has illustrated over 25 books for children and is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including two Parent’s Choice Honor Books for Illustration and several Notable Children’s Trade Book citations.
10.5×10.5 in
from Santa and the Three Bears
10×11.5 in
from There’s a Train out for Dreamland
7.5×8.5
from The Patchwork Lady
Brooke Dyer
Brooke Dyer grew up in an old house filled with books, artwork, paper, paints and colored pencils which lead her to the School of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, where she earned a joint B.F.A. from Tufts University. She is the illustrator of Lullaby Moon and A Silver Spoon: A Book of Bedtime Songs and Rhymes, which was praised by Booklist for being “both sweet and sassy” as well as Mama Always Comes Home by Karma Wilson cited by School Library Journal as “A gentle and reassuring picture book [with] consistently tender illustrations…Presented with a delicate and loving touch.”
10×8 in
from Lullaby Moons and a Silver Spoon
6×7 in
from Mama Always Comes Home
8.5×10.5 in
from Sleep, Black Bear, Sleep