Bloomin' beautiful

Thanks to the encouragement of my good friend Nancy, I joined a Yahoo Group earlier this year that has fast become near and dear to me. Photo Art Journals is a group devoted to both the love of words as well as the art (and love!) of photography. Is that not me, or what! A few times a year, the group produces a book of photographs, all accompanied by meaningful quotes or personal poetry or prose. Photo Art Journals' creator is the amazingly talented Catherine Anderson, who takes everyone's photographs, puts them together, and creates magic. I have seen the books with Nancy's contributions and now I'm delighted to be a part of the newest book, BLOOM. It arrived earlier this week and what a treat that was!

First, I heard the sound of the mailman at the door. And sure enough, there was a small box waiting for me. I knew exactly what it was -- I'd been expecting it, as the contributors in the U.S. had already announced on our group message board that their books were arriving -- and I must admit I was excited as I opened it. Here is what I saw:


Isn't that a beautiful pouch! But what it contained was even better:


Truly stunning! The cover, the peace rose, is a photograph by Vivian Montre. Lovely!

This thick book -- ripe with photographs -- was an obvious labour of love, as its creation must have entailed hours at the cutting table and sewing machine, creating a wonderous fabric-bound book of floral photographs. The images are all attached at the top on one long strip of fabric, then the book was closed accordion-style, and held together by a large safety pin. If I undo the pin, it unfolds to a bloomin' beauty that I could -- and likely will -- hang across a wall in my studio. It's so beautiful and so inspiring.

By the way, here's my contribution. The words are my own creation.


So this is a public THANK YOU to both Catherine and the other group members. Thank you for sharing your art. I can't tell you how much I look forward to the next book, and the next one after that, and the next.........