I received an intriguing invitation from my publisher: Would I like to join a group of writers and sell my book at the Sandy Bay Twilight Markets on 23 November 2017? I wavered. After all, I’d participated in markets before, mainly as a volunteer and I knew what they were like. Unwelcome images invaded my thoughts: in competition for a few sales, such a long way to drive with the prospect of sitting at a table selling nothing, no one interested in me or my book. But it seemed there was quite a group going so I stopped giving myself reasons to opt out and began to prepare. There were eight of us with extra books by authors who were unable to attend. I didn’t know the people I would meet nor what to expect from them. But when I did meet them the quality of the books displayed by these committed authors and their various talents was impressive.
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I was pleased I had made the right decision to share this event with them. In no particular order they were:
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Aeronautical Engineer/Science Author Shanna Rudov-Clark - Magic in the Sky-the story of the Aurora; Crime Writer Stephen [SJ] Brown-High Beam, Dead Wood, Big Stake; Author of Fairy Stories/Felt Toymaker Jen Fitzgibbon- the Mindful Fairies, the Red Rubber Ball; Performer/ Director/ Historic Novellist Anne Blyth-Cooper-the Shape of Water; Scientist/ Children’s Author/ Illustrator/ Felt Toymaker Fiona Levings-The Moonbow; Maritime Historian Geoff Herriot-In the South, Tales of Sail and Yearning; Children’s author/ Poet Anne Morgan-Captain Clawbeak Series and several other books; and myself, Fantasy Author/ Illustrator Irene Cowell-Rainbow Island Tapestry of Time. Other authors were represented by their books: Poet Demelza-All the Birds of the Air; Children’s Author Marion Lucy-The Giant Bowl of Chocolate; Author Marlene Levings-Living with Jezebel, a life in Tasmanian and Bass Strait Lighthouses.
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You would have to admit that the book subjects and writing styles represented by these eleven Tasmanian authors were wide-ranging and different. We filled the tables in the marquee, leaving only a small amount of room for those interested to come in and meet us. But they did. We all talked to, and fielded questions by, interested and sometimes admiring readers, and occasionally we sold.
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Later I reflected on participating in this event and concluded that sometimes you need to accept that when trying new activities over which you have little control you might fail, of course there’s also a good chance you’ll be successful. But either way you can meet some truly interesting people.
The Twilight Market
When participating in a mixed exhibition with Art at the Point Gallery, I noticed several pieces of artwork beautifully framed by Drew Murphy. And displayed in a glass case there were perfectly formed small wooden figures sculpted by him. When I met him, he was the new framer for Artbeat [which unfortunately no longer operates].
I tracked him down to Astray Studio, a small artist-run gallery/workspace in Liverpool St Hobart that he shares with Gina Haywood. When looking at the Astray Facebook page I discovered Drew [Andrew] was very skilled when it came to sculpting and building with wood and was particularly taken by the beautiful currach [coracle/small boat] he built some years ago.
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What talent!
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I had one drawing “Hu Li” inspired by a character from my novel framed by Drew which was exhibited in a Bruny Bird Festival group exhibition. There were a further three drawings I wanted to paint. I had them digitally printed and painted them using gold leaf and egg tempera to get the glowing effect I wanted. Two were used on the cover of my novel. All three were framed by Drew. I am very happy with them, they look beautiful in their frames. I have yet to decide when and how these will be shown.
Framing my work
First came the sculptures:
The Empress of Time
Mermaid in Flight
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All my sculptures were made with paper and the found objects I used with them were collected from the beaches of Bruny Island.
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The sculpture of the Empress of Time in its initial construction had three heads representing the people she devoured. But in a later version she had one head with the addition of the figures of the Harbinger- a skeletal bird, Stanley Steadfast- a tortured little creature whittled from the Heartwood and her vicious snake, Striker. Along the way more sculptures were added to the group, as I continued with my theme of Rainbow Island. There was: Into the Mist-three mermaids clinging to a barge; Turris Lunae-the Tower of the Moon; the Playful Pup- a wooden dinghy with white breasted heron and nest atop the mast; Raven-a mystical being, half woman half raven holding the All-seeing Eye; Seraphon of the Heartwood- a mythical creature growing into a tree, the owl Tyto Nova, perched on a limb. These were all exhibited at various times-during Rediscover the Arts on Bruny Island, Long Gallery and at Art at the Point Gallery.
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But I still needed a different vehicle to express my ideas. A story kept filling my head, begging to be written as a novel. There were several attempts made until I finally settled on the main premise: Regna Roth, the daughter of the Empress of Time, her emergence from Turris Lunae and her interaction with human civilizations beginning with the colonisation of Van Diemens Land [Tasmania] by the English; her predilection for violence fulfilled then and later at the time of the Second World War. It would conclude with Regna Roth and her mother, Emit Roth, the Empress of Time joining forces in attempting to destroy the Earth. Their nemesis is the loosely-knit group of individuals known as the Hidden, who have, over the centuries, defied them.
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Even after years of thinking and writing on this topic I was still ready to do more. When Lucinda Sharp, 40 South Publisher, suggested that we could use illustrations for my book I was ready for this challenge. I did numerous ink on paper illustrations that were intended to be chapter headers. When these were finished there were some I could see that would be impressive in colour. But they needed to glow.
I decided to use gold leaf with egg tempera, as an appropriate way of painting and presenting these images. Two of these were used on the front and back covers of my book and we finally agreed to one pen and ink drawing of the masked owl, Tyto Nova, eating a dragonfly, as the final image.
From brush stroke to book
