Unconventional Means - Softcover

Williams, Anne Richardson

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1597190012 ISBN 13: 9781597190015

Publisher: Pearlsong Press, 2005

Synopsis

Unconventional Means: The Dream Down Under is a combination of memoir and personal adventure in which the lives of an upper-middle-class artist from Nashville, TN and an Aboriginal Australian elder intersect. Contains traditional Aboriginal stories and artwork by the author. Sixteen-year-old Anne Williams, shattered by a family tragedy, tries to cope through art and reading. She eventually finds solace in Nevil Shute's novel A Town Like Alice. His heroine's journey through the tribulations of war to find love and a new home modeled after the town of Alice Springs, Australia gives teenage Anne hope "that there is something on the other side of the terrible things" for her, too. Someday, she promises herself, she will go to Australia and to Alice Springs. Decades later, Anne's call to Australia deepens. Now an artist and successful businesswoman, she is reading a book about the continent's Aboriginal people when a photograph of Aborginal elder Lorraine Mafi-Williams mesmerizes her. She feels an immediate kinship, even though others find it ridiculous that this upper-middle-class Southern white woman and an Aboriginal elder could share more than a common last name. When Anne finally sets out for Australia, she adds to her desire to see Alice Springs the dream of also meeting Lorraine. But with no address, no phone number, no conventional way to get in touch with an Aboriginal woman, Anne must rely on unconventional means -- dreams, visions, meditation and intuition -- to guide her halfway around the world to find the woman whose ancient tales of a land and its people will help to heal her.

About this title

About the Author

Anne Richardson Williams graduated in 1969 from Vanderbilt University/Peabody College with a BFA in printmaking and painting. While owning and running a conservation framers/art gallery in Nashville, Tennessee, she continued to experiment and work with many different painting and drawing media.

Watercolor is her painting medium of choice, because — to paraphrase J.S. Sargent — she loves the thrill of creating art in an emergency situation. She also enjoys (and teaches) Book Arts, that is, using the book as an art form and as a medium for combining interests in expressing through both visual art and the written word.

From the Inside Flap

Sixteen-year-old Anne Williams, shattered by a family tragedy, tries to cope through art and reading. She eventually finds solace in Nevil Shute's novel A Town Like Alice. His heroine's passage through the tribulations of war to find love and a new home modeled after the town of Alice Springs, Australia gives teenage Anne hope that "there is something on the other side of the terrible things" for her, too. Some day, she promises herself, she will go to Australia and to Alice Springs.

Decades later, Anne's call to Australia deepens. Now an artist and successful businesswoman, she is reading a book about the continent's Aboriginal people when a photograph of Aboriginal elder Lorraine Mafi-Williams mesmerizes her. She feels an immediate kinship, even though others find it ridiculous that this upper-middle-class Southern white woman and an Aboriginal elder could share more than a common last name.

When Anne finally sets out for Australia, she adds to her desire to see Alice Springs the dream of also meeting Lorraine. But with no address, no phone number, no conventional way to get in touch with an Aboriginal woman, Anne must rely on uncoventional means -- dreams, visions, meditation and intuition -- to guide her halfway across the world to find the woman whose ancient stories of a land and its people will help heal her.

Edition details

• Publisher: Pearlsong Press
• Publication date: 2005
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1597190012
• ISBN 13: 9781597190015
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 236