Wk. 9, Book 9: The Ancestors Book

i've been traveling and inundated with life lately, which is why this Wk. 9 post is way overdue, but it's here now. you know, sometimes it pays to move on Spirit's time rather than your own. i've been meaning to call the artist William Rhodes for a while now, ever since he posted that YouTube video on the making of his mouth-dropping piece "Cross Burning" (everybody's gotta gotta gotta check that out). but i kept putting that call off until one day a few weeks ago; something said CALL HIM NOW. so i did and juicy conversation made short, William suggested i dedicate this month to the ancestors as a thematic focus. i felt that inspiration down in my bones.

two ideas immediately came to mind, but this book-in-progress i've been fiddlin' with for nearly 11-12 years took priority. it's a repository of all the obituaries i've kept and inherited from my mother, who was also an obit collector. how fitting to begin with this one. the initial problem with the book was how to bind it with so many different sized obits??? i have settled on a 3-ring binder for now--that may change AGAIN, as have the covers, although i like the 12 little Kente cloth strips surrounding pics of my parents, now ancestors. i also like the simple Kente cloth-covered spine, which comes from Ghana. so the use of the Kente cloth represents my ancestral bloodline as a woman of African descent.    

this book has 5 different chapters: my mother's bloodline; father's bloodline; extended family; close friends; beloved teachers; and those i call "remembered ones."

i had no idea when i took this picture that it would come out sideways. anyway, this is the first chapter, beginning with my mother's bloodline and my grandmother Blanche Elizabeth Kea Johnson's obit. it's the only chapter that does not begin with the most recently departed person in that group. i like seeing my grandmother's face first whenever i go through the book.

then William sent me some pics of his ancestor room and the ideas really began to ricochet off that initial wave of inspiration. check out HIS ancestor room.

is that too fabulous or WHAT? i mean, his room is a LIVING BOOK in itself. i love his use of colors and images and different textures. i get to rise to this occasion of presencing our ancestors in such a rich and full and colorful way--in three more books. ask me am i pumped?!