A Nigerian student gave my father-in-law, a professor, a gift of appreciation: a bolt of cloth from his home country. My mother-in-law decided not to make curtains from it and passed it along to me. I loved the patterns and the animals in the fabric, and I studied it carefully, wondering what sort of book it would become. A friend (okay, my husband) said, "Snake got up and put on his suit," and the story was off and running. The cloth became the book's cover, and I carved linoleum blocks to honor the patterns and animals. Although I created the final book, it felt like a communal family effort, and I am grateful.
It became a story of searching for self, identity, and feeling at home in one's own skin.
Lizard's Snake Suit (1996)
More book art videos at my channel, never mind.
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