This is a story about a life experience as told through the eyes of a cat. It applies to all living beings. It is a story about setting out on a life journey, the driving quest for "something" (this varies, just like individuals), who you meet, where you go, time passes, things are happening, seasons changing, the goal is met, reflection on achievements, life goes on … then, of course, the moral to the story. Hilton artist Barbara Palmer's latest artistic endeavor is a children's book which she wrote and illustrated entitled The Journey of Cattail, a story about a cat named Cattailwho has a long, wite-tipped tail and who sets out to meet Karen cat. It is his story, and in some form, every child's and adult's story about quests. "The illustrations came first; then I wrote the words. It's not the usual way it's done, but I don't do things the usual way," Palmer says. If you look at any of Palmer's landscapes these are often several little stories happening throughout the paintings. For example, a painting depicts a father leaving a barn with a male goose, who doesn't know that across the road, behind the house, mother goose is being chased by the family dog. The young son, arms waving and shouting, is following close behind the dog; while on the other side of the farmhouse, mother hangs quilts on the clothes line right next to the large "Quilts For Sale" sign. Not far down the road a buggy full of potential quilt purchasers are riding into the chaos that is about to happen when everyone's paths cross in the middle. All of the activity occurs at a specific time of day as indicated by lighting, and the clues to the time of year are found in the landscape, foliage and many other fine details - all this in one folk art painting. The illustrations for this new book are these landscapes with little stories, and always Cattail, the subject of the book, appearing in each picture. Palmer's signature apple trees are ever present, with landscapes painted in every season. "The landscape layout, houses and buildings are not of specific places," Palmer says, "They are combinations of settings I've seen during my travels to and from shows." Palmer received editing help on her book from Jennifer Meagher. "I contacted Writers and Books on University Avenue in Rochester. Through them I met Jennifer. She kept me in line, told me to keep it simple and let the pictures help tell the story. That's what I did," Palmer says. The original paintings for the book where done on velvet which Palmer hand dyes using coffee and/or tea. The texture the velvet lends to her work is the effect the artist hopes to achieve. "The velvet responds to the paint exactly the way I see it in my mind," she says. Palmer uses oil, acrylic, and pastels which create a powdered pigment when worked on the velvet. She keeps the paints very transparent for the layering effect used in her style of painting. There are only a couple of colors on her pallet that are not transparent. The transparency of the paint on the textured velvet base gives depth and life to the work. All of the illustrations for the book were done using this process. The decision to take the big step into children's books was prompted by Palmer's search for extensions of her work that explore a new way of looking at things. "In my early work, I put words and sayings around my paintings on the borders. Sometimes it was about what was going on in the painting, so I guess I've been doing that right along anyway," she says. The processing of her painting technique is mostly about the mental preparation, thinking out exactly how to put it down on velvet. She let the words for her book come about as the paintings evolved. The first edition of 3,500 copies of The Journey of Cattail is currently available from the artist at her shows (she does an average of 35 shows a year) and by phone. She will personally autograph the first edition. "I like meeting the people who enjoy my work. I get some good ideas from people I talk to around the country," she says. Barbara Palmer is currently returning to her painting roots. She began as a portrait painter and some of her new works are portraits of children that are achieved using her current painting medium and techniques. "It is not a specific child's portrait, but a portrait of anyone's young, blond child," she says. Palmer is also working on her second book, the story of a cat named Fido and a dog named Buttons. The Journey of Cattail can be ordered from Barbara A. Palmer, 486 Manitou Beach Road, Hilton, NY 14468. Phone: 585-392-3391; Fax: 585-392-1322; email: bpfoldart@aol.com. |
