Painted In Words

Painted Words is a collection of twenty-five poems where poet Chantal Wolf finds her artistic voice again following a diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease. These poems reflect on and investigate the complexities of the disease, what it means to be human, the natural world, as well as the author’s sense of self. Persistence, positivity, and love permeate this stunning collection. With themes of connection, healing, and surmounting challenges, Painted Words is a poetic exploration of universal and deeply personal motifs. “Amidst the self-imposed, self-directed, self-judging pressure to keep up,” Wolf shows us the ways we can continue on. Rich with imagery, metaphors, and sound, these poems share the poet’s unique perspective and vulnerabilities. This book reaches beyond poetry lovers with its accessible language and attention to detail that will be sure to take hold of anyone who cracks its spine. If you’re searching to reclaim your own voice, for whatever reason, Wolf shares a way to find it.

Collection by writers in the postgraduate course of Creative Writing at the University of Adelaide.

At my first sight of a painting by Samuel Bak, I had the keen sense that he was telling me stories with his brush. Now that at long last he has written this book, I find it no wonder that he has painted with his pen.... Among the tens and hundreds of books I have read about the pre-Shoah and post-Shoah period... Bak’s book is unique. Despite being suffused with a sense of loss, horror, degradation, and death, it is ultimately a sanguine, funny book, full of the love of life, rocking with an almost cathartic joy. At times I found myself bursting out laughing... a marvelous ode, a colorful hymn to the forces of life, love, creation, and the joys of the senses. —From the Foreword by Amos Oz In Painted in Words internationally renowned artist Samuel Bak sets aside his brushes to narrate the stories of his life—as a child in Nazi-occupied Vilna, as a youth in European refugee camps, and as a maturing artist in Israel, France, Italy, Switzerland, and the United States. With gentle humor, the child prodigy of the faraway past and the accomplished artist of today engage in a spirited dialogue from which emerges a self-portrait of "The Artist as a Young—and middle-aged and aging—Survivor." The brilliance, vision, and virtuosity that Bak brings to his painting are equally in evidence in his writing. This deeply touching work is an important contribution to Holocaust literature and art history.

Craved from our first breath until the last, love's splendor guides us toward our salvation. Challenging anyone who dares to take on the gauntlet called life. From a womb's darkness to the light of day, along the end of each, we're rocked by love's lullabies beneath stars and dreams. Why our circled beginnings starts out as the purest form of having nothing. As our tiny hands holds small change, growing in the wealth of each embrace. Of being overwhelmed by love's warmth and stunned by its chills; these seasons come and go. From the lessons in how we learn to crawl before you can walk. As each step taken allows everyone to find their balance, our self-worth. For love is a priceless piece of art, as its hues will take on different emotions. We're drawn by each stroke throughout living. Of our belief in God, family, friends, goals, loss, success, failure, and truth, these torches we pass down to our children. So permit me this chance of being my model, and I will paint you such stories of love. Get comfortable in your favorite chair, or just lie in your bed snuggled beneath the sheets. I shall attempt to turn you up, down, and around throughout loves' magical. It's amazing without any strings attached. And at its end, you may think I was right there the whole time.

Through Painted Words is a poetic journey into the heart and mind of Coralia Vallas. As she struggles through the pain of the loss of loved ones, she will gently take your hand. She will offer you a glimmer of hope within the bleak dark valleys of life until you ultimately find your own place of refuge. Her poetry releases both tragedy and sorrow, tempered by forgiveness and love, as she awakens the dawn of healing within you. Eloquently, she constructs each poem, as a beautiful thread in the majestic colorful tapestry of emotions, until you discover the passion and strength within your own heart to continue your own personal journey.