For his next self-portrait, Jeremiah Trammell ought to consider painting the piece in coffee.
That鈥檚 because it was at a little espresso stand, The Denali Coffee Co., in Anchorage, Alaska, where it all came together for Trammell. There, with some drawings on a menu, began a professional illustrating career that today seems on the verge of going big time.
| UW employee Jeremiah Trammell. At page top, a moose and his friends work to bring a giant cabbage to the fair in a new children鈥檚 book called The Giant Cabbage. All illustrations in the book are by Trammell. |
“It鈥檚 just amazing,” said the UW employee, a night lead at Etc. in the HUB. “There are some people who go to school for four, five and six years to become an illustrator. I got lucky.”
The 26-year-old Trammell has been drawing since he can remember 鈥� a hobby he picked up from his father. So it was only natural for him to illustrate the menus at the coffee shop where he worked as a barista. But when the art director for Alaska Magazine, a regular customer of Trammell鈥檚, took notice, it looked as if something besides java might be brewing for the native Alaskan.
She encouraged him to stop by the magazine offices with a portfolio of his work.
“I just thought, 鈥榊eah sure. Whatever,鈥� ” Trammel recalled. He鈥檚 shy by nature and perhaps that鈥檚 why he was ready to pass up the offer. But then another regular customer, a professional photographer, intervened.
“He finally gave me the courage I needed,” Trammel said. “He told me how to present myself to the art director. So I finally went and showed them my stuff. It all started with coffee.”
The editor and art director at Alaska got him an assignment on the spot and today, more than five years later, he鈥檚 still illustrating for the Anchorage-based magazine. In fact he did the cover art for the publication鈥檚 65th anniversary edition. It was the first illustration to grace the cover of the magazine in 20 years.
And he鈥檚 still in the coffee business too. His job at Etc., Trammell says, serves as a safety net for the artist. It helps pay the bills and keeps him insured.
“I鈥檓 a really shy guy,” he said. “I鈥檓 humble. It鈥檚 hard for me to say, 鈥楬ey look at my stuff, I鈥檓 great.鈥� So I鈥檓 taking baby steps, which I鈥檓 happy with. I love working here too. These are probably the best people I鈥檝e ever worked with. That makes it easy to stay.”
His first illustrated children鈥檚 book, The Giant Cabbage: An Alaska Folktale, was released last month by Seattle鈥檚 Sasquatch Publishing. The book is doing relatively well for the regional publisher and Trammell hopes it leads to more such opportunities. He鈥檚 a devotee of children鈥檚 books, his favorite being the classic, Where the Wild Things Are with The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip coming in a close second.
“I love the art of it. I love how they look and how they flow and how the illustrations bring them together,” he said of his fondness for children鈥檚 books. “When I started doing illustrations I knew that鈥檚 what I wanted to do. I love how kids enjoy them and get so much out of them, more than TV or anything else. They just love being read to. I could do this forever. I could be a children鈥檚 illustrator until the end of my days.”
Cherie Stihler, who authored The Giant Cabbage, hopes that鈥檚 the case and that the two will pair up on another project. The first-time author said Trammell鈥檚 interpretation of the story was virtually perfect.
“His oil paintings bring the characters to life,” Stihler said. “I never imagined the critters in clothes, but he captured exactly the persona I had in mind for each of them in perfect detail. I don鈥檛 know how he does it, but he captured exactly what I envisioned for each animal.”
The story follows a moose and his efforts to bring a giant cabbage to the state fair, where it鈥檚 sure to be a winner in the giant cabbage contest. The only problem is, this particular cabbage is so big the moose is unable to hoist it into the back of his pickup. With the help of several of his friends 鈥� a bear, a wolf, a rabbit, fox and assorted others 鈥� they eventually get the plant into the truck and to the fair.
It wins the prize and the moose rewards his friends with a soup feast made with none other than the victorious head of cabbage. “And there are still probably leftovers, if you want some,” the book concludes.
It鈥檚 a quaint story and the artwork reflects that tone. That鈥檚 a departure from the style Trammell uses in other projects. His favorite piece, for example, is an eerie depiction of a man, a gorilla and that familiar toy ape that clangs two symbols together.
The man in the painting is holding the toy ape while sitting in the deep woods. By isolating himself the man, according to Trammell, was hoping to avoid offending anyone with his mockery of the gorilla. But then the real gorilla walks by and, with an offended look on his face, watches as the toy performs. The piece is titled The Offended, a Christmas present for his father.
“That was the first time I saw my dad get teary-eyed. I think that鈥檚 why it鈥檚 my favorite.”
The painting is framed and on a wall in his father鈥檚 house. But Trammell鈥檚 more focused on children鈥檚 books these days.
Now that The Giant Cabbage is wrapped up he鈥檚 turned his attention to at least two other projects. One, inspired by his niece, is about a little girl and an imagination that brings her stuffed animals to life. The other, a collaborative work with his fiancee, is about a girl faced with having to set her Teddy bear free. In each of those projects Trammell writes in addition to illustrating. But he says there鈥檚 no danger of him giving up illustrating to become a wordsmith.
“I鈥檓 always going to paint, whether I get paid for it or not.”