Nature's Got My Number

I finished my section of Designs in Nature and it's now been given to the talented hands of Seth Apter from The Altered Page to begin his interpretation of my theme. This has been a uniquely special project for me, being my first collaboration and on the theme of nature- an entity so a part of me that my greatest challenge has been to create just a few pages to express the feelings and energies that it evokes within me.

Nature

Our trusted, most astounding friend
With exceptions of it's forces gone awry
It is the most gracious of hosts.
Always welcoming, always accepting.
And is the singular relationship that we will ever have-
Where we are always a special "insider".

It's a soulful relationship
With all of our senses
With that which is before us.
Comprised of life's natural signatures
Nature's beauty is an unwritten seamless poem.

In its awe inspiring infinite variety of patterns
With unique colors, lines, dots, textures, distinct shapes
And its ever magical grace and style,
Throughout our lives, nature flirts with us.

We get signs.. at first, oh so subtle signs.
Revealing ever so slowly,
Little by little,
Then a bit more and more.
From trees with erupting multi layered buds
To flowers as gorgeous as we can ever imagine.

The sea, the incredible sea
Glimmering bright with tides rolling in and out,
White foam topped rolling waves
Sounds of music playing above us
And a golden mosaic of sand under our feet.

Sea creatures hidden under the shore,
Swimming in the vast wide blue-green ocean
Whose size we can't begin to fathom
Brimming with trillions of gorgeous shells,
Home to sea life we may never see.

Birds' nests filled with tiny baby birds eating berries
Breathtaking sunrises and sunsets, the illuminating moon
Shining down on us with the brilliance of stars shining bright.
The amazing colorful rainbows, at times double rainbows
Born out of the magnificence of rain
Meeting the sun on it's journey out.

Tiny intricately woven spider webs
So perfectly shaped and spaced-
A weave of incomparable duplication.
Nature's designs, the greatest art work imaginable,
Is where my heart always finds home.

The Layers Within

I am finding our project to be both inspiring and challenging. I feel that my book and I are both literally and figuratively on a journey. As our books zig zag across the United States and Canada, we are all sharing a piece of our selves in the artwork that we create. I find the process tremendously satisfying.

I chose my theme, Distressed Elements, for several reasons. Most simply, I am mesmerized by a distressed surface - marks, scratches, dents, chips, rust, frayed edges, layers and the like speak to me. For this project, though, I also wanted to explore the layers beneath the surface. The layers within. And maybe to use this project to tap into the awareness and expression of some deeper and darker feelings. The book I have altered, Oracle Nights by Paul Auster, lends itself so well to this theme.

I have chosen to post only select images below so that when it is each artist's turn to receive the book, there will still be a sense of surprise and discovery when they open package. Some additional images can be found here on my blog, The Altered Page, as well.

On Paper Wings - Helen Keller Altered Book makes its first stop

Here are a couple of shots of the book I have been working on altering... the theme is on Helen Keller's life...She truly was a remarkable woman who defied the pessimists who said she couldn't pursue a life of academia or any of the other joys of life that most of us take for granted as privileged seeing and hearing individuals..She is an authentic role model for me, reminding me that if I set my mind, heart and soul on my dreams and any aspiration I can imagine...I can do anything ...In fact we can do anything.......I am in awe of her passion to learn to read, write and speak...and her pursuit of college and her activism & advocacy for all other individuals who could not hear or speak..She was a fine strong woman.  

I decided to call the altered book I am doing "On Paper Wings" as she over her lifetime wrote many letters to her many fans, friends and family ..and it was the letters that she both wrote and received that kept her motivated to keep her dream alive and make them into reality... and this determinism to accomplish all she did was kept on fire by the many admiring letters she received..perhaps because she knew she was making a difference in people's lives in whatever small or grand way.

The written word in all forms is a powerful element to our lives, such as the books of inspiration we read...or even the blogging world where we reach out to our virtual friends and those comments that come back help keep each one of our motivations alive to keep doing what we love the most..following my heart and passion is fueled by the ability to share and blog...so thank you to all of you for reading and sharing your thoughts and comments..it is a wonderful thing - the community of blogging.

The book is now on route to the lovely Roxanne of River Garden Studio, who is working with the theme: Earth Tones.  And I am now going to delve into the fabulous book I received from Veronica on the theme of Friendship...past, present and to come....

Designs in Nature Continues

Before I send my book off and present final pictures and a completed product, I would like to share with you some of my earlier steps before it will have journeyed to it's final phase of completeness.



Here are a few pictures of my book's journey.






This collaborative altered book project has been one of the most enjoyable artistic experiences I've ever had. Challenging because I've never done this kind of project before, but so exciting and inspiring that I can't help but think about it all the time. I'm so grateful to be working with everyone- Supria, Seth, Rita, Veronica and Roxanne. Since my first posting of this collaboration, I've experienced so many coincidences and synchronicity of our projects. To begin with, I was awestruck to receive a comment from Reva Solomon, a reader of our blog, indicating that she knows the author of my book choice for about 13 years through The Society of Children's Book Writers & Illustrators - scbwi.org. I'm hoping that the author, Nancy Smiler Levinson, will be happy with the final results of our collaboration, knowing that this kind of project is done as an act of love of the book we've chosen and our connections to it.

The next coincidence came when I read about Supria's theme of Helen Keller for her project. I've always been fascinated by Helen Keller and to this day, marvel that she learned to see and hear without the workings of her biological eyes and ears, but rather through her intelligence, mind and senses. When I was creating the inside of my book cover (still in the works) I had glued an additional page from another book into this book for a butterfly shape I once cut out. As I started to read the words on the page, I was shocked to see that the writing was about Helen Keller.



The paragraph that was showing through (although may actually end up hidden) details the meaning of the word Sensuist - defined as a person who revels in life's sensory experiences. It goes on to say that Helen Keller was one of the greatest sensuists of all time. Based on this definition, I would characterize myself and would think most artists would fall into this category.

While working on this project, I've been overwhelmed by all of the energy I feel, highlighted by the connection toward all of my collaborator's themes which have been so inspiring to me. With this, I send a special thank you to everyone for sharing so much of themselves through their altered books, and again, a very special thank you to Supria who selected me as the 6th and final artist to complete our Inner Works team- and for that, I will forever be grateful.



Seth Apter of The Altered Page

Theme: Distressed Elements

The topic of distressed elements was originally foreign to me. The only distressed items I've previously been drawn to are antiques, old books and all parts of old houses. However, since the time that Seth selected his theme, I've slowly been drawn to distressed and rusted metals. So much so that I may now fit the category of an official rustonian! There is a certain beauty about these items that I have a new found appreciation for. It's a new world that's opened up to me- a whole new sphere of art to love.




























Veronica Funk of Simple Pleasures

Theme: Friendship





On the surface, it may seem as if everyone knows about friendship. But actually, I think it's one of the most misunderstood kinds of relationships that abound. Thinking about the title enabled me to reflect again on the complexities of friendship. A year or two ago, someone sent me a poem, author unknown, that begins with this phrase: "People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime. When you know which one it is, you will know what to do for that person...." I find that this sentiment often helps me to better understand the character and nature of many of my friendships and has helped me to understand the direction that they've taken. Friendship is one of the greatest gifts we can give to each other and ourselves.











Supria Karmakar of An Artist's 'Encaustic Musings'

Theme: Helen Keller


Helen Keller's aquisition of knowledge and ability to learn and accomplish all that she did in her lifetime remains a mystery to me. Not too long ago, I was walking in midtown Manhattan, New York City and saw a double billboard of both Helen Keller and the Dalai Lama.



I at once snapped pictures of it and wanted to incorporate Helen's piece into my bronx city scene painting- but unfortunately, it just didn't fit. The sign says, "Helen Keller Could Only see the Possibilities, Foresight ... Pass It On". What a beautiful thought for all of us to follow.










Roxanne Evans-Stout of River Garden Studio


Roxanne Evans-Stout

Theme: Earth Tones

How can we not be connected to Earth Tones, the foundation for our place on earth, our "air" below us, our ground and our connection to the world we live in. This past summer I traveled to Sedona and am forever now connected to these brilliant tones of our existence. They've become a part of me- so much so that I was inspired to create a painting of my relationship to these beautiful, peaceful yet exciting new found colors.

























Rita Vindedzis of Rita Vindedzis

Theme: Gift From the Sea


The sea, another one of the great gifts of our earth is such an important part of my life. I've always been drawn to the sea and it's treasure trove of shells. I love both to collect them and be dazzled by their shapes, colors, textures- chameleon character- and how they are the protective homes to the sea creatures which they are entrusted to protect. The gift of the sea is not one thing, but encompasses so much. From the tides, fish, plankton, shells and all life within, it's always been such an amazing entity to me. I have this need to always be near a body of water- and thankfully, or maybe for this reason, I am gifted to be able to look out my window every day and see the Henry Hudson River in New York.













Jill Zaheer of Jazworks

Theme: Designs of Nature

I've chosen designs in nature as my theme to celebrate the natural beauty in all that nature has to offer and to capture the exquisite textures, relationships of space, lines, colors, dimension and overwhelming endless visual kaleidoscope of life's artistic blessings all around us.