As the written work draws, finally, to a close on this first book in my singing series of Nature Teachers, the painted pieces are piling up rapidly! I've been pleased thus far with the couplings of images and words that have grown. There is a sense of "belonging" as each one is completed; separate but a part of the whole.
From this collection of illustrations, this book's theme should be fairly obvious. Water is the beginning of all Life from our point of view. So what better place to begin talking about the wisdom, lessons and inspiration to be found from All Our Relations in Nature?
Some of these Teachers have been old friends, companions along my life road. Others have been completely new to me; a wonderful journey of discovery. Land or water, air or fire, the connective lessons that All Our Relations want us to return to are all about being part of the Wheel of Life; community, living cooperatively with Nature's laws, conservation, balance, stewardship. All vital issues that need to be returned to rather than obstructed, fought against, debated.
A big challenge with these visual pieces has been to keep them from all being boringly similar with so much water in every one. Water is all about being adaptable though and loves to show us over and over how best to remain true to self while constantly adapting to necessary change. Not all of these images are completely finished, as I often like to leave a little detail work out prior to calling a piece "done"; saving a little bit of something special just to keep it fresh and unique when presented as a finished product. These are not "all" the illustrations I have right now either, just the ones done but for those finishing details. The others are in a messy stage of production right now lol sometimes not even looking like the featured "Teacher" yet, so not share worthy just yet.
This work has been a long process with lots of interruptions along the way. I think the next book will flow much quicker into the channels I've been building over time. It will certainly be a bit of a relief to turn to something "new" too. I plan on offering this first book in an ebook format with the first chapter free. So close to turning it all over to my personal printer for formatting, layout, etc. and we are both So Excited for that bit of the process.
There have been a lot of people who have followed these pieces online over the years. People who have contributed to each new piece I write with their feedback and shared personal experiences. Hopefully, there will be many more who come to share as I finally get these available to readers! Each of these illustrations has an internet length posting of poetry and information available right here on my blog. With this posting though, I just wanted to see how all the pics I have completed "hang" together.
I've three chapters and three paintings left to finish for book one. Time to start thinking beyond the working title, "Who Sings Now?" ? All thoughts and feedback, welcome of course :)
2017 is shaping up to be an extremely interesting, creatively productive year for me and I can't wait!
