'TAKE A WALK WITH ME'
PUBLISHED ART/POETRY
ABOUT & REVIEW
My book, twenty years in the making.
Let me introduce you to my eighty-eight page book, 'Take a Walk with Me'. This book took me about 20 years to compile and it showcases some of my art, photography and forty-one poems. A most difficult aspect of the book was coming up with a title and cover. Believe me, folks, I even prayed about this as I was stumped. After months of trying to come up with a title, one day, I was looking at one of my paintings called 'Stargazer on the Dunes' of a camel gazing at the stars when I had a 'light-bulb' moment - I knew that this was the cover for the book. In that moment I recalled a short poem I had written, 'Take a Walk with Me'. The painting and the poem complemented each other and so the title and cover were 'born'.
My poetry is illustrated with one hundred and thirteen works of art and forty of my photographs including a number of pen drawings. I also added inspirational quotes alongside the poetry to give the reader a little something to ponder on. Each page of the book is illustrated in full color.
This book is a culmination not only of a portion of my life-work but my spiritual journey which for me started with the great Creator and His creative works. Through my journey of discovering nature and trying to fathom out life, people and relationships I came to the realization that I was pouring all of these experiences into my art, poetry and photography. One of my poems describes this very well. http://www.carolinestreetart.com/spirit-of-nature.html.
The contents of the book are diverse and because of this, I have difficulty explaining it in depth without going into a long description and I would rather keep this explanation short. One constant in my journey was nature and I have discovered that through the study of nature all paths lead to one answer to all of the questions I had, and that answer is God. Nature is answerable only to its Creator and by applying that knowledge to my life, my life has done a turn-around! My former life is a mere shadow of what I have become thanks to the amazing impact of God.
This book is a culmination not only of a portion of my life-work but my spiritual journey which for me started with the great Creator and His creative works. Through my journey of discovering nature and trying to fathom out life, people and relationships I came to the realization that I was pouring all of these experiences into my art, poetry and photography. One of my poems describes this very well. http://www.carolinestreetart.com/spirit-of-nature.html.
The contents of the book are diverse and because of this, I have difficulty explaining it in depth without going into a long description and I would rather keep this explanation short. One constant in my journey was nature and I have discovered that through the study of nature all paths lead to one answer to all of the questions I had, and that answer is God. Nature is answerable only to its Creator and by applying that knowledge to my life, my life has done a turn-around! My former life is a mere shadow of what I have become thanks to the amazing impact of God.
The poetry in the book is made up of some short poetry, with titles like 'Little Lizard', 'Tiny Spider', 'Touch of a Garden', but there are also story poems like 'A Rhino's Tale', 'The Tombstone', 'The Loneliest Buffalo', 'Hidden Identities', 'It is not for a Tree to tell a Tale' etc. Every single poem is something I have studied or experienced about nature and my thoughts on life. Art and photography have taught me to see what most people do not notice.
One aspect of my life which has shaped me is my environment. I am truly blessed to have grown up and still currently reside in one of the most diverse environments in the world, the Lowveld of South Africa. I am surrounded by nature, have a miniature botanical garden ten meters from where I sit and I live an hour away from the Kruger National Park. Life does not get more inspirational than this, especially for a creative person.
The poetry in the book is made up of some short poetry, with titles like 'Little Lizard', 'Tiny Spider', 'Touch of a Garden', but there are also story poems like 'A Rhino's Tale', 'The Tombstone', 'The Loneliest Buffalo', 'Hidden Identities', 'It is not for a Tree to tell a Tale' etc. Every single poem is something I have studied or experienced about nature and my thoughts on life. Art and photography have taught me to see what most people do not notice.
One aspect of my life which has shaped me is my environment. I am truly blessed to have grown up and still currently reside in one of the most diverse environments in the world, the Lowveld of South Africa. I am surrounded by nature, have a miniature botanical garden ten meters from where I sit and I live an hour away from the Kruger National Park. Life does not get more inspirational than this, especially for a creative person.
With regard to my talents, I accept them humbly as they are a gift. I believe that when God sees that we use our talents in a wholesome way that glorifies Him, He blesses us with more talents. I started off as an artist and never in my wildest dreams did I think I would write poetry or publish a book. It was like a river that took me along for the ride (a bumpy one at that) and opened up doors that I never thought I would enter.
With regard to my talents, I accept them humbly as they are a gift. I believe that when God sees that we use our talents in a wholesome way that glorifies Him, He blesses us with more talents. I started off as an artist and never in my wildest dreams did I think I would write poetry or publish a book. It was like a river that took me along for the ride (a bumpy one at that) and opened up doors that I never thought I would enter.
This book is inspiration for the contemplative soul and would be best enjoyed while quietly sitting under the shade of tree, watching the sea in its moods or even huddled under a blanket on a cold winter's day as long as one is in a tranquil setting. I hope for a time the book will remove the stresses of life and replace it with a touch of beauty and tranquility.
CLARION BOOK REVIEW
Take a Walk with Me is an innovative and intriguing collection of poetry and art that excels at emphasizing the
relationship between humans and the natural world.
In the poems and artwork of Take a Walk with Me, Caroline Street captures what it means to be one with
nature. Stemming from her wealth of experiences in South Africa, Street’s book combines spirituality and nature for an
organic, memorable experience.
The book’s forty-one poems are tethered together by biblical phrases, grounding the collection in spirituality
and nature and loosely guiding the series. Poems are smoothly written and easy to follow, with concise and visceral
lines.
While interconnected, pieces are not reliant on one another. The collection is organized alphabetically by title.
Artwork helps one poem flow into the next, bringing greater depth to the book’s nature-centered messages. Other
than a few photographs, most of the images are either watercolor or oil paintings, all presenting an array of wild colors.
“Take a Walk with Me” is one of the shortest poems of the collection, but aptly encapsulates the book’s
mission, which is to provide a fully immersive experience between nature and humans. The opening lines of the poem
serve as an invitation to embrace the connection with nature: “Take a walk with me, / Into a scene you see: /
Mountains, hills, a tree!”
Poems like “Insomnia” bring human subjects into the universalizing context of nature with lines like “Sleep is
evasive for the insomniac / As the sounds of nature are magnified.” The sense of sound is seamlessly invoked with
rich auditory descriptions like “the scurrying scratch of a rat” and “the hoot of an eagle owl.”
“Death of a Child” stands out as one of the most notable poems, with short stanzas that pack punches. It
straddles the line between peaceful, lyrical writing and heartbreaking content, pushing forward a narrative of loss:
“When a child is called to Heaven, / The heart is permanently broken.” Simple vocabulary and syntax are used to
convey a deep, compassionate understanding of heavier subjects.
The collection succeeds in showing the symbiotic relationship between humans and nature. Images of familiar landscapes are woven together with skill, making personal poems feel universal and providing a driving force for the book.
Take a Walk with Me is an innovative and intriguing collection of poetry and art that excels at emphasizing the
relationship between humans and the natural world.
Take a Walk with Me is an innovative and intriguing collection of poetry and art that excels at emphasizing the
relationship between humans and the natural world.
In the poems and artwork of Take a Walk with Me, Caroline Street captures what it means to be one with
nature. Stemming from her wealth of experiences in South Africa, Street’s book combines spirituality and nature for an
organic, memorable experience.
The book’s forty-one poems are tethered together by biblical phrases, grounding the collection in spirituality
and nature and loosely guiding the series. Poems are smoothly written and easy to follow, with concise and visceral
lines.
While interconnected, pieces are not reliant on one another. The collection is organized alphabetically by title.
Artwork helps one poem flow into the next, bringing greater depth to the book’s nature-centered messages. Other
than a few photographs, most of the images are either watercolor or oil paintings, all presenting an array of wild colors.
“Take a Walk with Me” is one of the shortest poems of the collection, but aptly encapsulates the book’s
mission, which is to provide a fully immersive experience between nature and humans. The opening lines of the poem
serve as an invitation to embrace the connection with nature: “Take a walk with me, / Into a scene you see: /
Mountains, hills, a tree!”
Poems like “Insomnia” bring human subjects into the universalizing context of nature with lines like “Sleep is
evasive for the insomniac / As the sounds of nature are magnified.” The sense of sound is seamlessly invoked with
rich auditory descriptions like “the scurrying scratch of a rat” and “the hoot of an eagle owl.”
“Death of a Child” stands out as one of the most notable poems, with short stanzas that pack punches. It
straddles the line between peaceful, lyrical writing and heartbreaking content, pushing forward a narrative of loss:
“When a child is called to Heaven, / The heart is permanently broken.” Simple vocabulary and syntax are used to
convey a deep, compassionate understanding of heavier subjects.
The collection succeeds in showing the symbiotic relationship between humans and nature. Images of familiar landscapes are woven together with skill, making personal poems feel universal and providing a driving force for the book.
Take a Walk with Me is an innovative and intriguing collection of poetry and art that excels at emphasizing the
relationship between humans and the natural world.
PLEASE NOTE: Most of my poetry can be viewed on this site under the heading PUBLISHED POEMS (see above), which has a drop down menu displaying all the poems. My Blog, https://carolinestreetblog.wordpress.com/ features new poetry and articles not displayed on this site.
Copyright © 2016 Caroline Street. (Art, Poetry, Photography) All rights reserved.
