From Penguins to Polar Bears: Antarctica

Ice as ancient as time, falling in to the sea.

In February 2005 I enjoyed the immense privilege of being able to visit Antarctica, via the Falkland Islands and South Georgia. It is an experience I will never forget.

It is a journey that still lives inside me, and one that lead me to finding home; home in Maleny and home within myself.

Just over one year after my Antarctic experience, in July 2006, I visited the European Arctic. I went from penguins to polar bears … from south to north … from bottom to top of the world.

I was driven to visit Antarctica for two reasons:
1) to fulfill a lifelong dream to walk on the frozen continent and experience her extreme beauty with my own senses; and
2) I was in my mid-thirties, and stuck. I went in search of a deeply moving and personal experience, I was looking for ‘something’. And I found it.

From Penguins to Polar Bears: Antarctic is Book 1 of a 2 book series. From Penguins to Polar Bears: The Arctic is Book 2. Both books reside in a private collection, where they are both well loved and cared for.

The words below were been taken from a travel journal I kept while on my trip. The photos are my own, from my Antarctic experience. I don’t believe it is possible to convey the sheer majesty and beauty and drama on this grand white continent; but I hope that my book may come some way to conveying my experience of her.

White. Wild. Isolated.

Fog fell over the mountains as we sailed.
You could see the snow lifting in the wind.
We were sailing into our first sea adventure.

Ice as ancient as time.
Falling into the sea.

The sea, the motion for adventure.
The feeling of knowing we may choose the direction.
We may choose the path.
But we are at the mercy of
        mother nature
                and whatever weather
                                she chooses to share with us.

The world is happening. But I am here.
    Sheltered and protected.
Let me always escape to this place
    When I close my eyes.

I could feel the lump in my throat.
Bigger that the continent I had just visited.

I journeyed to a place on a map.
I went with a blind desire
to open my heart and taste where I was going.
I wanted to feel something.

I did.

I feel overwhelmed and weighted with a desire not to return home.

From Penguins to Polar Bears: Antarctic is the first in a 2 book series.
The story continues in book 2 – From Penguins to Polar Bears: The Arctic …

Colophon

Words by me, my personal experience, my journey

Papers
Cover – Stonehenge white 245gsm
Text – Epson Archival Matt Heavy Inkjet paper

Cover
Encaustic monotype print with silver leaf along the paper edges

Content Pages
Inkjet printed with archival inks on Archival Inkjet paper

Imagery
My own photos from my Antarctic experience in February 2005

Structure/Binding
Cover folded with internal pages folded concertina style and hand stitched to the cover

Casing
Both books are wrapped in a natural silk, coloured much like the tundra of the Artic.

Edition Size – 1

Completed April 2014