Skin of the Oak
This book is a brother–sister collaboration. Bryan Long is a human who watches and listens and sometimes imagines he can hear, in the silent spaces, the voices of our non-human cousins. Vivian, as you have no doubt realized, is a visual artist, but when pressed will try her hand with words.
In Skin of the Oak, you will find 27 short poems spoken in the voice of many animals. What they say speaks of their lives and applies to ours, as well. The poems were written by either Bryan, or Vivian, and were illustrated by Vivian. The illustrations were created using scratchboard, which is a technique of drawing by removing ink, rather than applying it. I take a white substrate and cover it with ink, then scratch off the ink to reveal the white.The book is soft cover, printed on high quality paper for the best reproduction of the art work. For a sneak peak inside, look below.
Copyright © 1997 by Bryan K. Long & Vivian R. Long, all rights reserved. ISBN 0-9663342-2-1