Making It Started With The Starlings

I wanted my book to create the feeling I have in one of those moments when time seems to stop, when nothing else matters, when we forget about being busy worrying humans and let ourselves be part of the world and watch the world. Seeing a Starling murmuration for the first time started this for me.

I wanted someone who read and held the book to feel a certain way - to feel like they do after seeing nature at its best or after listening to music they know well.

I tried to build rhythm and calmness into the pages.

I let birds fly from one page to the next.

Large buildings climb onto the next page.

People walk across the paper.

I tried to place the words sparingly and as carefully as the pictures and maps.

I went on a behind the scenes tour of a small museum many years ago and as part of the tour I was shown a handmade book. It was a study of Australian birds that someone had made to record a trip they had made there - in a time before photography when enjoying the beautiful wildlife generally meant killing it with a gun and then stuffing it. 

The book was so sensitive and glowed with the feelings of the author and illustrator for the birds and the book itself. It contrasted so obviously with mass produced books and also everything digital. At the time all the experts were busy explaining that ebooks and kindle would be the death of printed books. 

Holding this book was special.

 

I posted an idea on instagram to share a copy of the book and see where it took you. Anyone could have the book for a week and could add anything that felt right to them. They would then send it on to someone else to repeat the process. 

The book went all over the country and eventually came back to me full of life - and paintings, poetry, embroidery, prints and more.

I made a little 3 min film to try to show the book - you can see it here

It Started With The Starlings, but I'm not sure where it ends.