The Look of Angels: Angels in Art
Angels in art go back a long time.
When angels walked through the gardens of the earliest civilizations and religions, thence down through the paths of history, art was there to illuminate their spiritual journey.
A veritable list of painters and sculptors have given visible form to the angelic beings hovering somewhere between God and man. Sometimes this was in keeping with the canons of religion and the cultures in which artists lived. At other times, artists depicted angels according to their idiosyncratic visions.
These are angels for our times.
In the tradition of the eighteenth-century English artist William Blake, I use angel imagery in my paintings, poems, songs and short stories. Far from being irrelevant in these sophisticated times, my angels symbolize a spiritual dimension that I feel must be present, in some form at least, for a fulfilling life and for any real, lasting solutions to problems, from the personal to the global.
Ordering info:
The Look of Angels: Angels in Art
ISBN 0-9694447-1-0
Published in 2004 by Geoff Butler,
P.O. Box 29, Granville Ferry, Nova Scotia, Canada, B0S 1K0.
Price $40. Soft cover, 10 x 8 1/2 in., 144 pages, illustrated throughout.
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Our Own Little World: in paintings and verse
by Geoff Butler
The earth is our own little world in space, and the particular countries we live in are its neighbourhoods. We also live in our own private little worlds. The paintings and verse in this book peer into each of these worlds.
150 colour paintings with poems
176 pages, soft cover. ISBN 978-0-9694447-3-2
$35.00.
Published in 2013 by Geoff Butler RCA, Granville Ferry, NS, B0S1K0
Tel: ( 902) 532-5707
Email: [email protected], [email protected]
Often, when beleagured by the troubles of this world, we ask, “What can one person do?”
In With Every Breath We Take: a modern fable in which a snowflake helps put an end to war, there is a grandmother who asks herself this question and then lets her imagination run wild.
She is sick and tired of war. How can she put an end to it?
Inspired by the World War I Christmas truce in which soldiers came out of their trenches and and fraternized with their enemies, she crochets snowflakes to bring about an unexpected snowstorm and a modern day reenactment of that World War I truce.
The rapprochement of the combatants recognizes the commonality of the Golden Rule in their religions.
When we breathe, we exhale moisture that will likely end up, at some time in some place, in snowflakes. As we look at militarism and warfare and ask ourselves, “What can we do?” perhaps we can act in grandmotherly fashion and metaphorically send these droplets of moisture on their way around the world to spread a blanket of peace, justice, and goodwill.
With Every Breath We Take: a modern fable in which a snowflake helps put an end to war
ISBN 978-0-9694447-2-5
Published in 2007 by Geoff Butler, 5318 Granville Rd., Granville Ferry, Nova Scotia, Canada, B0S 1K0.
Price $17.50. Soft cover, 7 x 5 “, 132 pages, illustrated throughout by pencil drawings.
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Art of War: Painting it out of the picture
"War art" has tended to focus, in a more or less documentary manner, on the military aspect of war. Perhaps that is so because most of it has been commissioned by the warring parties.
In the tradition of the Spanish artist, Goya, who created his scathing "Disasters of War" series in the early 1800's, I express my personal view of warfare and its underpinnings. Looking beyond the obvious military markings of this most tragic human institution, my "Art of War" is satirical and irreverent. War will not like its portrait.
This book celebrates the end of war. In fact, in eager anticipation of its death, I have created a graffiti-covered tombstone that bears an appropriate epitaph. Day after day, with great patience, it stands ready and waiting.
I open the book with a letter to "the recently departed", which is war in its personified form. Then, so it will not forget us, I send along a picture album, with running commentary, so war can reminisce as it sits by the fire in hell.
Ordering info:
Art of War: Painting it out of the picture
ISBN 0-9694447-0-2.
Published in 1990 by Geoff Butler,
PO Box 29, Granville Ferry,Nova Scotia, Canada, BOS lKO.
$ 35. (Cdn.) Soft-cover, size 8 1/2 by 11 in., 104 pages. Fully illustrated, with 133 paintings and drawings, of which 75 are in full colour.)
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Ode to Newfoundland
The song, Ode to Newfoundland, is the anthem of Newfoundland and Labrador. The words were written by Sir Cavendish Boyle, governor of Newfoundland from 1901 to 1904. The music was composed by Sir C. Hubert H. Parry.
Ode to Newfoundland. ISBN# 0-88776-631-5
Published in 2003 by Tundra Books / McClelland & Stewart Children's Books
$19.99 (Cdn.), jacketed hardcover, 32 pages, 11 1/2 x 8 3/4 in. This book is currently out of print.
The Killick: A Newfoundland Story.
This is a story about the dehumanization of people. The people I use as an example are the Newfoundland sealers, who have been characterized as barbarians.
I use the children's verse about "sticks and stones" and name-calling to tie the story together.
There is a reference to wars in the story. War is an extreme example of dehumanization, and the killick, being a home-made anchor of "sticks and stones", becomes, as the story unfolds, a memorial to innocent victims of warfare.
The main characters in the story are Skipper Fred and his grandson, George. Both are described as they attend a Remembrance Day service. In the spring, they take a boat to the island where Skipper Fred grew up. The grandfather takes along his war medals and, on their return trip as they get caught in a fierce snowstorm, he performs a supremely selfless act, which underscores what human nature can be at its best.
Ordering info.
The Killick: A Newfoundland Story
ISBN 0-88776-336-7.
Published in 1995 by Tundra Books/McClelland & Stewart Children's Books.
$16.95 (Cdn.) jacketed hardcover, 32 pages, full-colour throughout.
and
ISBN 0-88776-449-5, paperback, $11.99 (Cdn.), 32 pages, 10 x 8 in.
Available at bookstores everywhere.
Order from Random House of Canada.
The Hangashore.
The hero in this story is a teenager with Down's Syndrome, named John. He comes to arouse the ire of the local magistrate, particularly when John confronts the magistrate for not allowing soldiers returning from the Second World War to sit in his church pew for a special service held in their honour. But, later, John's actions during a near-tragedy at sea demonstrate to the magistrate that all human beings have value.
The Dictionary of Newfoundland English indicates the original meaning of "hangashore" comes from an Irish word, "angish", meaning weak, sickly, or pitiful. So, a person thus described would be an "angishore". Because Newfoundlanders often pronounce the aspirate [ h ] before vowels, angishore evolved into hangashore. In this form, hangashore seems to be more related to "hanging by the shore", and one would only be doing that if he were a worthless fellow who was too lazy to fish. In addition, someone who was idle like that would be more apt to get into mischief. Calling someone a hangashore, then, would not be very complimentary. In fact, it's downright insulting.
Ordering info.
The Hangashore
ISBN 0-88776-444-4
Published in 1998 by Tundra Books/McClelland & Stewart Children's Books.
$17.99 (Cdn.) jacketed hardcover, 32 pages, 8 1/2 x 10 5/8 in. Full-colour throughout.
Available at bookstores everywhere.
Order from Random House of Canada.
Lullabies for Seniors: illustrated throughout with music notations
by Geoff Butler
220 pages, soft cover, $30
ISBN 978-0-9694447-5-6
Published in 2020 by Geoff Butler, 5318 Granville Road, Granville Ferry, Nova Scotia, B0S1A0
Email: < [email protected] >
In this book there are paintings of seniors at various stages of napping being comforted by lullabies. The lyrics of the lullabies relate to the seniors’ walks in life. In that regard, the author offers commentaries on various things in, of and beyond the world.
Why do seniors need lullabies?
Would not their age dictate otherwise?
They’re rarely in cradles or on mothers’ laps
like wiggly babies being primed for a nap
with, first, the telling of fairy tales
when in the arms of someone who cares!
Now seniors have joints that creak and ache,
and gnawing worries that keep them awake,
but really that’s just a part reason why
they’d like the lulling of rock-a-byes.
It’s more seeking comfort in the fading light
when saying last words and setting things right,
about to enter their eternal home,
not facing the darkest sleep alone.
by Geoff Butler
220 pages, soft cover, $30
ISBN 978-0-9694447-5-6
Published in 2020 by Geoff Butler, 5318 Granville Road, Granville Ferry, Nova Scotia, B0S1A0
Email: < [email protected] >
In this book there are paintings of seniors at various stages of napping being comforted by lullabies. The lyrics of the lullabies relate to the seniors’ walks in life. In that regard, the author offers commentaries on various things in, of and beyond the world.
Why do seniors need lullabies?
Would not their age dictate otherwise?
They’re rarely in cradles or on mothers’ laps
like wiggly babies being primed for a nap
with, first, the telling of fairy tales
- and then sweet singing like a nightingale.
when in the arms of someone who cares!
Now seniors have joints that creak and ache,
and gnawing worries that keep them awake,
but really that’s just a part reason why
they’d like the lulling of rock-a-byes.
It’s more seeking comfort in the fading light
when saying last words and setting things right,
about to enter their eternal home,
not facing the darkest sleep alone.
A troubadour from medieval times is awakened from his deep sleep by the musical sounds of June bugs and seabirds as they attack, in the bright moonlight, the strings of a harp, disgorged upon a beach by a great fish that has taken upon itself the job of clearing the oceans of garbage and debris. The troubadour sees both familiar and new things as he is transported to this modern world. For example, though he is familiar with the plague, he is astonished to learn of vaccines, in this case for COVID-19. Eventually, the harp is played more melodiously by a beachcomber who, by her example, encourages more people to take over the responsibility of dealing with pollution and other things of modern concerns.
Within this book are compositions in art and music by the troubadour of what he witnessed in this new age, before departing to earlier times.
A Troubadour’s Journey: from medieval times to the present day and age by Geoff Butler. 160 pages, soft cover with sewn binding. $25. ISBN 978-0-9694447-6-3. Published in 2022 by Geoff Butler, 5318 Granville Road, Granville Ferry, Nova Scotia, B0S 1A0. < [email protected] >
Within this book are compositions in art and music by the troubadour of what he witnessed in this new age, before departing to earlier times.
A Troubadour’s Journey: from medieval times to the present day and age by Geoff Butler. 160 pages, soft cover with sewn binding. $25. ISBN 978-0-9694447-6-3. Published in 2022 by Geoff Butler, 5318 Granville Road, Granville Ferry, Nova Scotia, B0S 1A0. < [email protected] >