Cora’s Quest

Celebrating Lauren Scott’s New Book

Recently, wandering the urban forest, I espied a patch of colour. Turning the corner, a stunning autumn hued tarn with hikers appeared.

Instantly, I thought of Lauren Scott, and her love of country hiking. The next thought was “Isn’t she writing a children’s book? It must be almost finished.”

Well, I asked her. Turns out YES!  Cora’s Quest is just released! As we are having an endless postal strike in Canada, I purchased the EBook.

The Blurb

Cora is a curious fawn who loves spending time with her parents. On one beautiful day, they stroll deep into the wilderness. They trot along on the trails, and Cora finds other animals fascinating. They skitter and fly around her with joyful purpose. Every unique sound catches her attention, stirring her curiosity to discover just where that sound came from. But suddenly her delightful family day takes a turn that begins to test the courage inside of her

I know Lauren is unhappy with how the Ebook formatting came out. She got one from amazon. I got mine from Kobo. Yes, it is not perfect, but it’s all there.

Geared to 2- 5 year old children, this sweet and loving story, complete with enchanting illustrations by Chris Mendez, is the type of book a child might want to hold, carry around or even take to bed.

So, a real book works the magic an EBook can’t!

About Lauren

Cora’s Quest is available in ebook and/or hard copy on:

BARNES & NOBLE

Kobo

Congratulations Lauren!

Mural Pics taken by Resa – November 19, 2024

Toronto, Canada

Mural Artist:

Exterior

Round about the Painted House go!

In this 9th & last post showcasing The Painted House, we finish viewing the exterior. The east side begins with this gorgeous bird.

Then a cool head,

…..leads to a flower with an eye, then continues in Slide Show below.

I adore the Sunflower Woman.

Enter the backyard by Thistle Head, to find a floral back wall w/skeleton. Note the dog door on far left! This is the entrance to the house, and appeared in Kitchen segment.

The Backyard has its own post. Then we come around to the west side of the house, in Slide Show.

A painted walkway,

..leads us out the front gate. Bye, bye Painted House! You were a lot of fun.

Pics taken by Resa – August 11, 2024

Toronto, Canada

Artists, in order of appearance:

@life_inthestreets

@bkez

@oblsk1

@mac.the.maker

SOWL

@whatismorty

Anika Becker

@nixostreetart

To view all Painted House Posts, Click on the Doors Face on the Sidebar

Latin American Art – 1954

Misty Dancers

Held in Brazil, in 1954, almost 2,000 works of art out of 4,000, were from Latin American Countries

Marketgoers From Venezuela

Harmony

As this magazine is 70 years there is a lot of fading & yellowing. I turned up the white & blacks points a bit to get a better look.

Hot Sextet From Havana

Metal Maiden

Tropic of Cancer

The Embrace

Leather Lady

This article is arranged in the same order as in the magazine LIFE May, 1954. The last page is one image.

Chickens

Houses

Three Graces

Procession

Blind Leading Blind

Shanties

Here is the cover of the magazine I found this article in. Following is the intro, which is on page 1. I put this out of order, as I wanted to get right to the art.

Pics from photos in magazine © Resa McConaghy – November 2024

The Halloween Feast

It’s for you!

Funny how the ring comes after I answer. MAWHAAAAA

Good News! Your rat and mandrake root pizza is ready!

The Mandrake root is specially grown in dead pumpkin graveyards.

It’s an exciting narcotic flavour, with hallucinogenic overtones.

However, we are unable to find grain fed rats anymore.

All rats are now 100% rat fed.

It makes for a tough chew, but with enough pepper on it, it doubles quite nicely for pepperoni.

It would be highly appreciated if you could pick your order up as soon as possible!

My entire family has shown up, and they’ve all got their eye sockets on your pizza.

Our pastry chef has just arrived with his secret ingredients for your birthday cake.

Skullorita said she would bring it by before the party!

She’s bringing a bunch of happy-go-lucky party skulls along with her.

DJ No Way here to spin you tonight!

Call me crazy, but every time I hear this song,I get hungry!

Pics taken by Resa – November 2023 – October 2024

Toronto , Canada

The Artists:

Artemis or Diana?

Original thoughts went to Artemis.

Then again, I have read a bit about Artemis, and almost nothing about Diana.

This piece is 3 years old.

I’m crazy about it.

The abstract background is killer.

Artemis or Diana – In the end I see an amazing Power Woman.

BONUS

Recently Dan Anton over at No Facilities posted a series on his visit to the Heinz Museum, in Pittsburg.

A Woman’s Place (the name being grist for the mill) is one of the exhibits. Fabulous and important women of Pittsburg featured in the exhibit are: Mary Schenley, Nellie Bly and Ava Duvernay.

Other notable women of Pittsburg include: Mary Cassatt, Martha Graham, Gertrude Stein, Mary Dee Dudley and Mary Cardwell Dawson.

Pics taken by Resa – September 22, 2024

Toronto, Canada

The Artist: (not fooled by the tags)

Art Child?! (I’d put money on it)

There’s still 2 more Painted House posts coming up, after Halloween. Lots of pics to sort through.

Kitchen – The Painted House

It was mayhem, a potpourri of colour.

I fell in love with the tiger. I thought of all my cat pals.

Upon entering there is a face to the left.

Straight ahead, left side of the kitchen is another face and the stunning leopard head.

Everything was painted: the cupboards, the stove, the range hood, the walls, the windows and nothing was left to paint, except the paint itself.

So, the paint was painted.

On the right side is an all over abstract mural. I saw the eye, but didn’t see the face until looking at pics.

Here’s a slide show of some more kitchen bits.

Pics taken by Resa – August 11 , 2024

Toronto, Canada

The Artists:

& Natasha Dichpan (@the_illust)

And the Grave Awaits – by: Roberta Eaton Cheadle

These roses have been drawn. Unlike real roses, their image will never die. They will wait for us, forever.

Curtia Wright

Much is to be gleaned, at the foot of a grave; more than you know. Roberta Eaton Cheadle takes us to more than one place of eternal rest. She has fifteen tales for us to learn from.

Be it an icy death, in a cold cruel world of the future,

Sumartist

…. or a legend fraught from old wives’ tales, where tables turn in the wretched pit of a spider’s lair, should we be afraid?

Resa – Robbie, in And the Grave Awaits, Whether you have built a story from an old legend or an actual happening, there is something to be gleaned from each: a moral, life lesson or historical fact.

In other books, IE: Lion Scream, your sublime poetry (accompanied by brilliant photography)is filled with nature’s beauty, although animals and environment might cry out. 

“A Ghost and his Gold” shows the horror and senselessness of war. Yet, reveals a better nature of man, through its riveting story .

All the while you are teaching about the Boer War.

Your children’s books teach about many things, and are a positive energy.

WHAT DRIVES YOU TO DO THE GOOD WORK?

Robbie – Your question is an interesting one. I am a sensitive person and I see a lot of things that make me feel saddened. On the other hand, I am a very positive person and I usually manage to find the silver lining in life. I think both of these aspects of my personality, the seeing and the positivity, come through in my writing.

I love to share information, photographs, and interesting bits and pieces with other people. It promotes conversations and ignites new thought processes and ideas.

Fondant spider made by Robbie

I think this love of sharing knowledge also comes through in my writing.

I especially like to teach children.

They are so eager to learn and discover.

Beehive cake art made by Robbie

Resa – From what age through adult do you think  And the Grave Awaits is cool to read?

Robbie – And the Grave Awaits is for adults, 18 years and upwards. 

Resa – I had to ask because  so many movies that are extremely violent and sexually suggestive are rated 14+ these days. When I was a kid, those same movies would have been restricted to 18+ , and we would have to show ID to get into the theatre.

Video games can be wildly violent, sexually suggestive, and seem to have very little parental oversight. This book seems mild compared to the games and movies I am referencing. I hope you don’t think I’m silly for asking. It occurred to me out of the blue, while working on the post.

Robbie– It is a thought provoking question and one I found a little difficult to answer. I listed this book on Amazon as a ‘normal’ adult book. No explicit sex obviously, and not overly dark compared to other books.

South Africa is still a conservative society, but it’s what I know and what I use as a benchmark. My aim with this book was to make people think about historical events and the reasons behind them. My purpose is to remind people what can happen if we don’t retain the human rights our ancestors fought for. People quickly forget the past and don’t know how easily rights can be undermined to the detriment of the ordinary person. 

I don’t consider it to be a YA book, although teens could read it, because the characters are not teens. My understanding from what I’ve read is its the age of the characters rather than the content per say, that separates YA and adult. 

Resa – I really appreciate your thoughtfulness on this topic. I have read a lot of your books, and have become a huge fan, because of your intrepid stance on what you convey through all of your artistic endeavours.

Following is a selection of street art. As in the first images of this post and in the cake and fondant art of Robbie’s, each image represents a tale in And the Grave Awaits.

If you’ve read the book and can’t figure what an image could represent, just ask in comments. If you haven’t read the book, you’ll have to read it to figure them out!

Robbie is a prolific writer. You can find her books on Amazon sites around the globe. Just search “Robbie Cheadle” for children and youth books – “Roberta Eaton Cheadle” for adult books.

Some of her books are also available on KOBO.

Visit Robbie on her blogs:

Roberta Writes and Robbies Inspiration

Robbie has a YouTube Channel  filled with African wildlife videos, readings and cooking videos.

On Robbie’s Unsplash Page find African nature & wildlife for free downloads.

Pics of street art © Resa McConaghy