Shel Silverstein Poems

Like many of my generation, I grew up enjoying the poems and drawings of Shel Silverstein. On the right, "Zebra Question" is a humorous poem about looking at things from different perspectives. The boy asks a zebra if he's black with white stripes or white with black stripes. As an artist, I can appreciate this as a technically interesting notion about looking at positive and negative space. The zebra responds, as you can see, by asking similar questions to the boy until it becomes annoying. The point he is making is that it's a mistake to see something as simply black and white. Everything can be viewed in shades of gray, and the different sides of the spectrum can be more alike than you think. I think as an artist it's important to be open-minded and always ask these questions, especially when looking critically at your own art.


"Whatif" is something I think everyone has to deal with at some point or another. The doubts, fears, insecurities and thoughts that sneak into our minds as we're falling asleep can be the hardest part of the day, for some people. I'm a terrible sleeper personally, and I can't help laying in bed at night reflecting on the day I just had, and wondering what will happen in the day to come. As important as it is to reflect, I also think it's essential sometimes to quiet your mind enough to put these worries aside. I think it takes a healthy and fulfilled person to master the Whatifs.