As the days get longer and birdsong shifts
Days go by, some slipping swift through fingers, others moving slower. And I have been loving escaping from my studio out into the wild. I’m searching for words, dwelling on peace and finding peace, and working away at the Book of Birds.
Some walks are slower and shorter and with cats, others further afield:
All the corvids have been out, apart from the hooded crows, and the ravens have been displaying their prowess with upside down flight. I love the sound of their voices, so rich, so deep.
Stones have been left out in wild places, and I re-encountered one that has been resting in water for about 2 1/2 months now.
Next week I hope to go to London, to take paintings to the publisher for scanning. I’m also hoping to go to the Fantasy exhibition at the British Library, where they have a wall of the Robin Hobb books on display. They’ve amended their signage now, to include me, as the illustrator and Stephen Raw as the calligrapher.
Meanwhile I am working with Graffeg on a large poster for peace, of a dove in flight. ( More on this later) In the process many doves were painted and these are flying to Seven Fables for sale.
Other doves have been moving through the postal system.
These are my ‘unwinding’. Thinking aloud for a new book proposal I am working on.
And, meanwhile I have been working with Eva John on new work, Wild Folk Charms. These are now for sale through Seven Fables. There will be more. Each one is unique. I am very much wanting to do a peace spell that can be worn in this way ( though I think the peace spell will be 1 of 7).
Wild Folk is still funding and Tamsin and I have both been working on this. Such a joy to see the work coming through from Tamsin. I’m all in a muddle with one of the stories as I have been writing and rewriting the beginning. I need to take my notebook to a high hill and let the ravens speak and the stones guide my words. The Unbound website is settling now, and it’s much easier to upgrade pledges and buy different books at the same time. Very slow to funding are the Hare and Hound accordion books, so it looks as if they might never come to light ( if you have already pledged for these and this happens, don’t worry, you will be refunded.) It will be sad if they don’t make it though, as I really hope to write the words to go with Ivy’s images.
And finally, I have a question. Can you leave a comment that simply says what the word for ‘peace’ is in your mother-tongue, and which language this is. I will pick people out from the comments at random to send an occasional card to by way of thanks.
Paix – French
I have some Danish blood and their word is “fred.”
But I’m from NZ with Maori connections and their word is “maungarongo”
Heddwch – Peace in Welsh
not my mother tongue but my soul language
Pace….italian
Hi Jackie ,
Welsh is my mother tongue
Peace in Welsh is Heddwch .
Hello, Jackie. Nvwadohiyadv means peace in Cherokee.
Siochain is peace in gaelic /irish.
Frieden – German.
It was my grandmother’s language.
She fled the end of the Second World War and came to Australia.
In my region of southern Colorado, the Spanish were the first Europeans in this area, settling along the Rio Grande — and displacing the native people. Their word for peace is “paz” – or “la paz.” We could sure use much more paz along the Rio Grande where it forms the border between the US and Mexico… Thank you for the beauty you add to this world, Jackie!
Sending Imbolc blessings to you my dear dream catching troubadour!
Peace in my mother-tongue, being Dutch is.. Vrede.
The Swampy Cree word for Peace is Kiyam. If you are at peace with yourself nothing negative can affect you. This is just one word and meaning for Peace. There are many other words from different tribes with different meanings for Peace.