Ett Base Template

Illustrator's home open to budding artists

Courier News

By TAMMY MCKILLIP • CORRESPONDENT • June 10, 2008

HAMPTON — The 150-year-old grist mill where Hampton award-winning artist and children's book illustrator Doris Ettlinger has lived with her family for the past 20 years sits in a tiny historic hamlet once known as "Imlaydale," on the border between Hunterdon and Warren counties.

Perched on the bank of the Musconetcong River, the three-story industrial space is a private haven and a gathering place for artists of all ages, who come to study, hang out in the third-floor studio and display their works in the home of a mentor. In fact, next month Ettlinger will teach a series of summer camp art workshops for ages 8-adult, as part of her "Art at the Mill" workshops.

The life Ettlinger shares with her husband, artist, cabinetmaker and sculptor-turned-Hunterdon Central Regional High School teacher, Michael McFadden, is anything but conventional.

From the nontraditional living quarters — gutted down to the wooden beams and studs to open up the rooms to more light — to the basset hound/Labrador retriever mix, dubbed Bruce Wayne, who greets visitors with a friendly kiss at the door — there is a "road less traveled" charm to this unique couple, and a sense of pastel serenity not unlike the much-acclaimed works of art that Ettlinger has created in her children's books.

"This mill has really become a big part of our identity," Ettlinger said. "When my daughter was in junior high, and we'd drive to a friend's house in a development, she'd heave a big sigh, like "Why couldn't I live in a house like that?' But now, she's come full circle. She really is very proud of the fact that she grew up in such an unorthodox home."

Since she and her husband had lived in a converted industrial loft in Manhattan's Tribeca area after college, Ettlinger said moving into the mill wasn't too much of a stretch when they relocated 20 years ago to New Jersey to raise their family.

"The first thing we did was rip out all of the walls to open it up," Ettlinger said of the mill. "Last year, we finally got the siding put on outside, so it looks presentable now, but the home will never be finished."

When McFadden recently opened up the mill's back wall and added a plate glass sliding door, the view of the rushing river became a backdrop to their loft-like second-floor living space, filled with canvases, paints, brushes and McFadden's own handcrafted instruments and furniture.

From her first-floor studio and office, Ettlinger, who has a master's of fine arts degree from the University of Wisconsin, spends her days drawing and painting, bringing the characters of popular children's authors to life. Her faithful companion, Bruce, sits by her feet as she creates and occasionally ends up in the background of one of her scenes.

"Bruce makes an appearance in "The Orange Shoes,"' Ettlinger said of her friendly black dog. "There's no mention of pets in the text, but that's something an illustrator gets to do — create a back-story in the pictures. My husband is also in the book, although I made him look older. He's a character called ‘Elder Browning’, an auctioneer. I usually combine my models with the characters as they appear in my head, so some of the pictures are of my daughter when she was a little girl, but people say they look a little like me. I guess there's a little of me in most of the characters."

In addition to dozens of acclaimed works, including "G is for Garden State," which was chosen in 2005 to represent New Jersey at the Library of Congress National Book Festival, books in "The Little House" series and her most recent title, "The Orange Shoes," Ettlinger also shares her expertise and love of drawing with students by teaching at home and visiting area schools to talk about the creative process.

"I teach the kids how to deal with the blank page," she said. "I tell them how I get my ideas and how I care about the characters that I'm drawing. After about 20 minutes of showing my work, the kids ask questions, and I'll do a demonstration. I'll start by drawing a figure, then the kids chime in and tell me what the person should look like and what they should be doing. I always get a lot of audience participation."

Her private students attend fairy workshops at her home in the summer, where they learn to draw and paint imaginary beasts and beings. Their works are displayed on every available wall space above the long art tables and comfortable sitting area upstairs. Ettlinger said the space has become a place where the young artists like to hang out and watch each other work.

Giant castles and a handmade dollhouse that opens up on hinges to provide walk-in play space for several kids at a time provide entertainment for drop-in neighborhood kids and her students' younger siblings who visit the studio.

"Kids are very comfortable here," she said.