Well, this was merely a bit of fun – or was it? My publisher produced the required text for the copyright page… but when I saw it, I just had to go and play with it, and ended up turning it into a goblet, with some added symbolism.
It’s a trophy – I think that sometimes we all deserve a prize for getting out of bed in the morning to face another day! The jewels in the stem speak of your dignity and worth.
It’s a cup – to toast the reader, hand in hand with the dedication on the facing page – a sincere gesture of respect.
I also think of it as a refreshing tonic – I hope my book of poems and artwork will prove a useful resource to my readers in self care and in their quest for self awareness and wholeness.
And, like a flavoursome cocktail, it is a foretaste of what is to come in the book: a kaleidoscope of word and image; of theme, thought and emotion… with the fizz of a little extra mystery.
To start with, I had no intention of shaping this page – only of re-arranging it pleasingly. As I did so, I felt the urge to turn it into something more, without knowing what on earth the image, or its meaning, would be. I simply carried on trusting what I call my unconscious guiding process until the image was fully formed.
On its own, this might seem like a gimmick, but in the context of the dedication page beside it, and in harmony with the aesthetics of the book as a whole, it means much more than that, and I rather like it.
Cheers!
