Speaking Fire at Stones (Hardcover)

When Robert Shetterly gave a collection of his drawings and etchings to William Carpenter, he asked him to write an essay about them for a proposed book. Instead, Carpenter wrote one poem per picture, delving deep into Shetterly's themes of searching for the truth, the personal, and the hero inside of us. The resulting book, Speaking Fire at Stones, is an unusual collaboration. Normally, artists are asked to illustrate poems; here the tables are turned and the result is elegant, speaking in one new voice. Shetterly's drawings link the ether of emotion, inspiration, and impulse with the visible world. His images are cauldrons of voyagers, half-human/half-animal creatures, hermits, and fantastic landscapes where earth and spirit mix, forming new myths. Carpenter ties these images together with the twine of revelation. Everyone seeks something in these pairings; some succeed and some fail in the quest, yet all discover something or someone. Echoes of the Odyssey abound.