Mirror

Picture via Jeannie Baker's website

So last week after our "stopping to smell the roses" discussion at work. I excused myself from a two hour, after school, language teachers meeting an hour early. A little bit cheeky, but not too naughty. Instead, I went to a talk at the NGA by Jeannie Baker, author/artist of Where the Forrest Meets the Sea, Window, Belonging, and a handful of other beautiful books.

I remember looking at her early books as a child and poring over the collages. The creativity and detail  was inspiring and still amazes me. I was not surprised when she said it had taken 5 years to create her latest book Mirror. Nor was I surprised that, when asked which of the artworks she liked best in Mirror, she answered that there wasn't really one as after working on her projects for so long, she doesn't want to look at them anymore!

When you open the cover of Mirror you come across two stories that open outwards. One follows the life of an Australian boy in Sydney and the other the life of a Moroccan boy living near the Valley of Roses in Morocco. While the lives of the boys seem so different on the surface, at the heart of the story is the fact that there are also many similarities in their lives when it comes to family and values. It really is a beautiful book.

It was an hour well spent as I came out relaxed and inspired with a new book under my arm which always makes me feel good!