So I thought I would share this story with you.
In the early days of Art Portfolio project, we were missing a lot of original illustrations. David suspected that they were lost or destroyed over the years as he had not seen them in a long time.
When I would go over there to visit or meet about the portfolio, I couldn't help but notice that there was a large stack of paintings and framed artwork on the floor leaning up against the wall. Every now and then, I would ask David if perhaps the other originals were buried in there somewhere. He would usually respond by saying he doubted it, then we would move onto other topics.
Sometimes I would offer to go through them for him, so we would walk over to the stack of paintings, and when we saw how many there were and the effort it would take to wade through them, it just seemed too arduous so we would sit back down and continue our discussion.
Then one day, I was over there and David was in another room looking for something I needed for the launch video. I was sitting at the dining room table and the paintings were on my right. Without putting much thought into it, I stood up and walked over to the stack. I started to flip through them, moving one painting at a time against my right leg so that I could get a look at what was under each one.
I kept going until I was close to the back, with the last few leaning against the wall. My legs were aching, my back was starting to protest because of the odd way I had to position myself in order to work my way through the artwork.
Then just as I was almost at the end, I came across a heavy cardstock sheet covered with grey paper. I recognized that paper from one of the originals I had seen before and I knew this was it. I grabbed the sheet, lifted up the paper covering, and there in front of me was an original illustration from the book.
It was about this time that David came back into the room and saw what I was up to. "You won't believe what I just found", I said. He was amazed. And I kept going. Right behind that one was another one! And behind that was yet another.
That day I discovered eleven original illustrations. It all felt very dream-like. The highlight of this discovery was that one of the most iconic illustrations from the book, the title page illustration, was among them.
It is a good thing these were discovered, because who can tell where they might have ultimately ended up. They will now be well cared for.
Enjoy!
Spoiler: