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VOLUME 8 NUMBER 3 AUGUST 2000
An Interview with David Carter: Part One of Three Kate Sterling Corte Madera, California
David Carter
On May 20, 2000 David A. Carter, the originator of the Bug Books series of pop-up books, was interviewed at his rural home in Auburn, California where he lives with his wife Noelle and their daughters Molly and Emma. The interviewer was Kate Sterling, movable book dealer at www.popupparadise.com.
Here is a pop, pop-up quiz. The answers are to be found in David's interview: 1) What is the maiden name of David Carter's wife Noelle?
2) What is the name of David Carter's first movable book? Hint, it has not been published but exists in full mock-up. 3) What book is illustrated by John Strejan?
4) Who wrote the directions for the engineering demonstrations in Elements of Pop-Up? 5) What is the name of the series that Noelle and David Carter collaborated on and in what country is it very
underneath. The north light makes it nice. But it's messy and I need more storage space.
K: What is a regular workday for you? D: On a regular workday during the school year I take the kids to school, come back, and I usually get to work around 9:30 or 10:00 a.m. I work all day until 6:00 p.m., except I take a break for lunch. Usually I work on two or three books at the same time, so if I'm working on the final art for one book, then I'm thinking about the editorial for the next book, or I have some papers sitting on the side. That's about it. I work all day long.
K: Would you tell us about your commute? D: (Laughs) Thirty steps. It's a nice little commute. Before
8) In Bugs In Space, the rocket is launched from what state?
we built the studio my commute was only upstairs. I worked for a long time in my own studio in my house in Santa Monica. It started out with a studio that was just in one of the other bedrooms, so there was virtually no commute at all. And then we had Molly and she took over that bedroom so I rented a different apartment in the same building, which was an old house. Now, here in Auburn, I just walk from the house to the studio.
9) Who owns the domain name www.popupbooks.com?
K: So for a long time you have worked basically at home?
popular?
6) Who illustrated Skyscraper Going Up? 7) What is Waldo Hunt's middle name?
10) Who probably did the mechanical man on the cover of The Genius ofLothar Meggendorfer?
K: Can we begin with a description of your work space? D: Sure. Messy studio. The studio is built above our garage, an A frame shaped attic space. Good lighting with a lot of trees around. There are two dormers with tables
D: Yes, for a long time. I worked at Intervisual for seven years, which means that I would commute every day to work, and that was driving from Santa Monica to the airport area, near LAX where the Intervisual office was. 1 think I left Intervisual in about 1989.
K: Recently you were working on The Nutcracker and Easter Bugs. What are you working on now?