Undying Tales - (Eye of Newt) by Stephanie Law (Hardcover)

About the Book

Undying Tales: Mythologies of creatures on the verge of extinction is a book that highlights species listed on the IUCN's Red List and pairs them with mythologies and legends that they have inspired.

Book Synopsis

Traverse the world through mythology and illustration and be inspired to think of and act for the endangered creatures that still share this planet with us. While the tales will live on in our cultural memory, the creatures may not. Every culture tells stories to describe the origins of existence, to explain how all the wonders that we live with and see today came to be, and how humans have coped within this world. All peoples looked around themselves, at the earth and sky, at the mountains, rivers, forests, and seas, at the unimaginable variety of living creatures that populate those vast reaches, and they marvel, and then they craft and tell tales. It is painful to think that some of these species that we live with today and that have inspired artists and storytellers for ages, might one day only survive in myth and story if action is not taken. Stephanie Law presents this book in the hopes that it will inspire readers through the enchantment and beauty of art to move through their days with more awareness. Our actions and lifestyle decisions affect our environment, take notice. Let's support our living world.

About the Author

Stephanie Law's images trace the boundary between dream and reality. She delves into the pictorial language of allegory, explores mythology in new contexts, chases tiny worlds of wonder from an insect's viewpoint, and highlights the beauty of growth and decay found in nature. She interweaves texture, watercolor, ink, gold, and silver leaf, and creates intricate layered artistic pieces. Her paintings pose a question on the nature of perception and beauty, and it is against this backdrop that the ephemeral guides and strange creatures dance and beckon the viewer to follow through her various series. With Undying Tales she layers mythology and immortality with ecological stewardship and endangered species. She hopes that this art book will inspire you to move through your days with more awareness of how our actions and lifestyle decisions affect the Earth and inspire you to take action, both large and small, to affect changes to our living world.