Extraordinary Stories From An Ordinary Guy: The "Where The Wild Things Are" Story

Beautiful brass railing welcomes you to the
Lancaster Railroad Station in Lancaster, PA

It was an ordinary day. Sunny winter day with temperatures in the low 30s as I drove past the Lancaster Train Station. I have written about the place a few times in the past since I lived half a block from the train station as a youngster. Had my camera with me so I grabbed the nearest parking space and headed toward the station for a few photographs. In the front door and there it was in front of me...the shiny brass railing that my friends and I spent many an hour sliding down before we were told to leave. Up the stairs I went and headed toward the lobby which is above the outdoor tracks that carry the trains. I was partway down the aisle when I saw it. A big pink felt head sitting in the display case which usually holds artwork sponsored by "Lancaster Public Art".

Waiting room lobby above the railroad tracks.

The pink head immediately brought back memories of the book "Where The Wild Things Are" by Maurice Sendak which I read many times to my children as they were growing up in the early 70s. Stopped at the display cases and read about the artist who had made these really interesting felt sculptures. The pink creature's name was "Jötunn" and was created by Paolo Puck who was born in England, but currently resides in the United States.

Felt sculpture known as Jötunn by Paolo Puck.

He went to school to be an illustrator, but ended up working as a farmworker in Edinburgh. It was there that he taught himself wood- working which lead to his making small sculptures. Five years later, and with a new wife, they came to Lancaster, Pennsylvania which was the hometown of his wife.

"Vinegar Tom"

He has transitioned from small wood pieces to felt and large sculptures. And, from the look of the children standing with me as I snap a few photographs, they love "Jötunn" and the creature in the next showcase known as "Vinegar Tom." I "Googled" Paolo's name on my phone and read his artist's statement which tells about the why and how of his creations. One statement drew my attention. It read: It is my hope that the work I create challenges the viewer to examine the deeper nature of a subject. By obscuring the boundary between beauty and ugliness, the safe and the dangerous, the inviting and the repelling, the familiar and the foreign, the graceful and the grotesque, we are forced to consider that one might also be the other. So simple, but yet it applies to so much in life. For, as you see, as I turned away from the display, there was this innocent, young Amish child, being held at a window of the train station so she could see the trains and it struck me that the boundary here was being obscured between the familiar and the foreign, just as the artwork behind her. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.