Overview

Eartha & Aetherias is an illustrated journey set in a planetary utopia in the late 22nd century, on the Hawaiian island of Maui and, also, while traveling through space. Alicia Bay Laurel hand-lettered the entire book in her cursive script, and illustrated the pages with her flowing surrealist ink line drawings. As in most of Alicia Bay Laurel's previous illustrated books, the figures in the drawings are mostly unclothed, so this is not a children's book. Eartha, born into a warm and creative tribal family, doesn't feel at home among humans; she prefers the company of light beings who are invisible to her human kin and friends. Aetherias is an ageless extraterrestrial who travels as a light wave, and longs for his missing mate, who he last saw flying toward the Earth. He determines to find her. What neither know is that incarnating as a human on planet Earth causes instant amnesia. She meets him in a dream as he lands in human form in a meadow near the remote rural village where she lies sleeping. They feel immense attraction to one another, but neither knows who the other is. Worse still, when they meet again, Eartha is not the light being she had been in her dream, but, instead, in human form, and Aetherias doesn't realize she is the same being he had embraced the entire night before, who had appeared to him then as a floating woman made of light. Thus, they begin their separate heroic journeys to find one another again. As they continue, they are encouraged and assisted by wise elder light beings with whom they both honestly communicate. Aetherias discovers that the human travelers he has joined on his quest have considerable spiritual gifts of their own, and they help him to learn the power of community. Of course, at the end of the story, Eartha and Aetherias are joyously reunited, emotionally evolved from their challenging journeys, and able to appreciate the people in their lives, including Eartha's lovable human family. They remember who they are, and teach human beings how to become light rays at will, travel through space, and return to human form again. Then they dance through the cosmos together, happily ever after.

Full Product Details

9798218821838

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Set in the future in a tropical paradise where indigenous spirituality is supreme over economics, Eartha & Aetherias is the story of transformational love, a world where human beings can transcend their corporal existence into light and spirit. Our island home, Gaia, has been recognized as a living, breathing organism. The earth is no longer in crisis but rather a safe and loving home for all of its creatures. ""Alicia defines her book as an ""eco sci-fi romantasy graphic novella,"" but it is so much more than that. The book's illustrations are whimsical and intricate, drawing the reader deeply into Alicia's magical world. The line drawings alternate with handwritten text in a beautiful, legible script. The prose is lyrical and poetic. Not every page contains text, but every page is illustrated in some form. ""I have spoken at length about Alicia's beautiful prose, but her illustrations are equally enchanting. Ethereal figures and light beings are depicted with dotted line drawings. Creatures and humans are drawn with solid lines. Every illustration is a delightful exploration of the unexpected. In a single drawing, one discovers two beautiful women wading in a river, fish swimming at their feet, lotus flowers blooming in the hills, faeries keeping watch, and dotted-line depictions of spiderwebs and spiders in the borders. (page 5) As I paged through the novella, I found myself pausing multiple times to admire the complexity of her drawings. ""Many of the full page illustrations-colored or uncolored--are worthy of framing. Alicia's style emulates the illustrated manuscripts produced by monks and scholars during the Dark and Middle Ages, and like the illuminated manuscripts, Alicia often begins the text with an illustrated first letter. For example, a capital letter A overlays a night sky with a quarter moon and stars, and a capital letter E is entwined with a flower. ""This is a book you will want to savor and explore, and if you would like to have separate pages to color and frame, Alicia will be offering some of the illustrations as print-on-demand frameable prints."" Jeanne Gassman Novelist and professor of creative writing, Eastern New Mexico University-Ruidoso Written for Tiferet Literary Journal A modern fairy tale for child-hearted adults, ""Eartha and Aetherias"" tells the tale of the reunion of two eternal lovers, and the travails they must experience in order to manifest as pure spirit and recognize their existence as ever-entwined souls. On their journeys, they encounter concepts such as harmony with our earthly planet, the role of various other-worldly beings including fairies, angels, and elves, love for fellow humans, and the necessity of the transcendental experience in self-realization. For those who seek to reclaim the innocence and idealism of the early 1970's (or discover it anew) it is a lovely coda to a meaning-filled life. For all of us, now, more than ever, we need a story which can help us rise above darkness of days; offering another perspective - one of hope, joy and love; a bright star sparkling in a sometimes very black sky. Terri Van Orman Retired Executive Director of Folklore Village, Dodgeville, Wisconsin Board Member of the Folk Education Association of America Earha & Aetherias is a magnificent piece of work. We love the book. It harkens back to Alicia's earliest publications but very much stands on its own as a work of contemporary (and future!) art/literature. Alicia's sweetly compassionate voice and vision are needed now more than ever. Alastair Gordon, Author, Professor, Harvard Graduate School of Design Barbara de Vries, Artist, Fashion Designer, Interior Designer, Book Designer, Author Gordon de Vries Studio, New York

Author Information

California born and raised, Alicia Bay Laurel rose to fame in 1970 with the publication of her first hand-written, illustrated book, Living on the Earth, a counterculture classic detailing artisanal living skills, and which became a bestseller for Random House in 1971 and is still selling in its 50th Anniversary 5th English language edition. Translations followed in Japanese, Korean, Spanish and French. In 2012, the book was chosen as one of the 101 most influential cookbooks published in the USA during the 20th century. In 2017 it was featured in counterculture exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Berkeley Art Museum and the Sonoma County (California) Historical Society. Her seminal book design and illustration style have been widely imitated, and her vision of living close to nature influenced thousands of her readers in the USA, Japan and in Europe to explore nature-friendly life styles. Alicia wrote, illustrated and designed other books, and also illustrated books for other authors, plus illustrated other merchandise, including fashion wear, home decor, music album covers and graphics for magazines. She has also gained a following as a singer/songwriter/guitarist/storyteller, recording eight albums of original and historic songs and touring in the USA, Japan and Europe. For more detail, please see her author/artist/musician website at https: //aliciabaylaurel.com. California born and raised, Alicia Bay Laurel rose to fame in 1970 with the publication of her first hand-written, illustrated book, Living on the Earth, a counterculture classic detailing artisanal living skills, and which became a bestseller for Random House in 1971 and is still selling in its 50th Anniversary 5th English language edition. Translations followed in Japanese, Korean, Spanish and French. In 2012, the book was chosen as one of the 101 most influential cookbooks published in the USA during the 20th century. In 2017 it was featured in counterculture exhibitions at the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Berkeley Art Museum and the Sonoma County (California) Historical Society. Her seminal book design and illustration style have been widely imitated, and her vision of living close to nature influenced thousands of her readers in the USA, Japan and in Europe to explore nature-friendly life styles. Alicia wrote, illustrated and designed other books, and also illustrated books for other authors, plus illustrated other merchandise, including fashion wear, home decor, music album covers and graphics for magazines. She has also gained a following as a singer/songwriter/guitarist/storyteller, recording eight albums of original and historic songs and touring in the USA, Japan and Europe. For more detail, please see her author/artist/musician website at https: //aliciabaylaurel.com.

Tab Content 6

Countries Available