On We Go

(Hardback)

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Description

The book is developed from moments of intense connection with environments, landscapes and seasons, and the authors' shared understanding that simple but inspiring moments are a source of strength, a solution to the hysteria of contemporary life. The authors say: 'To be outdoors, that is the first thing.' So, the settings of the 21 poems and 26 paintings range from gardens in Munich to the bush around Eastbourne. They pause to note birds on lamp-posts, snow-laden trees and warm pavements. The authors also say 'To connect is the last thing. It's vital, in a well-lived human life to share moments with others. We're not separate from the natural world and its sublime complexity of organic inter-relationships. Small everyday acts of connection that honour it strengthen and ground us.'

Reviews

This collaboration between an artist and a poet, both raised near Wellington, is another beautiful hardcover book from Massey University Press, in a cute and compact poetry book size. Catherine Bagnalls dreamy, exquisitely coloured watercolours drift layers of meaning in the gauzy colours of summer leaves, spring greens and indigo skies through Jane Sayles interleaved lines: On we go Empty suitcase made of leaves and a stomach light as air just to walk up in the sky talking with you; There is something so alive about Sayles metaphors the empty suitcase made of leaves, the rabbit under the pillow/birds in the bed, an ember-winged monarch/breathes in and out/the shadow of daylight a spirit which sneaks through, over and under Bagnalls paintings of human forms transformed by mischievous animal cloaks. - Jenny Nicholls, Waiheke Weekender, 15 April 2021. ; A magical and unique reading experience. Paula Green

Author Bio

Catherine Bagnall is a senior lecturer in the School of Design at Massey University. Her work focuses on performance practices and its intersection with dress. Jane Sayle has been a dealer in curios and ephemera, an art writer and reviewer, and a lecturer in art and design history. For the past decade she has lived in California, France and Germany, and has recently returned home to New Zealand. This is her first book of poems.