Contributer post by Andrea of Hula Seventy

Every once in a while, an idea comes along that has me kicking myself-- an idea so fresh, so brilliant, I desperately wish it had been mine. The idea behind the book 'The Rest Is Up To You' is one such idea. Aye Jay Morano sent his third grade son Cohen's water color paintings out into the world to be altered and added to by an impressive collection of street artists, graffiti writers and children's illustrators. The result is an unforgettable sort of collaboration between an 8 year-old and the art world. It's a book I can't put down, a book that has me smiling from the first page to the last. Here are a few of my favorites:


Cohen with Barry McGee

In many instances, eight year-old Cohen offers his thoughts on the final pieces. He talks a little bit about his paintings and what he thinks about how the artist has altered his art work. For example, this is what he had to say about what artist Barry McGee did with his painting:

"People walk around. They always show different faces-- smiles with tongues sticking out. Pretty much faces like this one. But I never saw a person who looks like this before-- because of the eyes. No, I have never seen those eyes."



With KAWS

What Cohen says:

"He is dancing. That's all. He is dancing. And he is dancing because you just know he is. On the back it says Don't try this dance move. But I think this dance is called Scrambled Eggs. And you just have to do it. You put your hand in the fryer, then you cut it off, and then you have a delicious breakfast: roasted hand. Yeah. The Scrambled Eggs dance."

I don't know about you, but I'm pretty sure I love Cohen.



With Amanda Visell



With Tim Biskup



With Gary Baseman

What Cohen says:

"It's a worm coming out of the ground. Every worm comes out of the ground once in a while. I don't know why, though. Maybe to go poo? That makes good soil."



With KR



With Shepard Fairey

What Cohen says about the page on the right:

"Pretty Much I am wondering, Where did he get his clothes, this guy? I like them. The whole picture is very, very creative. The music note means this guy is into music. The lightning bolt means that when he performs, we are all shocked by how great he is. And the paint moving on and off his face means that he is a true artist."



With Mike 2600

And this one might be my favorite. Cohen's words:

"It's a person saying This is my guts. My painting sorta looks like guts, but I wasn't drawing guts. I was just putting colors and stuff together, and he thought it looked like guts. But that is cool because he kinda looked inside and saw my colors, and saw my guts. Art actually does come from our guts."

Well put, Cohen. My thoughts exactly.


'The Rest Is Up To You' is chock full of goodness.