Overview

Sea Witch, a book of photography and poetry by Maine native, Kristie Billings - images and words of the sea, nature, folk art, dolls, loss, grief, love, acceptance, rage, music, life.From punk rock to menopause to swimming with seals! A middle-aged story of a Sea Witch. Kristie Billings comes from a long line of lovers of the sea: fishermen, clamdiggers, and sardine packers. The ocean is home. She is a poet, a photographer, and a year-round swimmer. She is currently living in Ellsworth, Maine, and a native of Stonington, on Deer Isle. A great lover of music, of art, and life, Kristie is drawn to beauty, even in the most ordinary, mundane way. She is drawn to what others may pass by, unnoticed. Kristie has worn many hats over the years. She is a long time Saturday night DJ on Community Radio, WERU 89.9 FM, in Orland, Maine. From small town grocery clerk, to making tie dye t-shirts for the local import shop, sometimes working at a fish market, or selling men's suits, she owned her own shoe store. She has been an Arts Educator at a local theater, and lobster fisher, barista, and antique seller. Kristie is married to her best friend, Ed. They share a home with their rambunctious cats, who keep them on their toes. Kristie is a collector. Of stories, of emotions, of dolls, of feelings, wigs, mannequin parts, record albums, memories, beauty, laughter, vintage clothing, scallop shells, barnacles, hermit crabs. She is an observer. She's been writing poetry since childhood, beginning with her love of Edna St.Vincent Millay to the Beat poets, Bukowski, and beyond. As for photography, she has been taking pictures for years with an old Nikon, and has proceeded to collect more cameras since then. She is drawn with awe to the artists that may make you uncomfortable.

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Reviews

"""I certainly understand the attraction to Cherry Hill - we share a similar chorus of words that linger in our day-to-day. I like how Kristie Billings takes us through the stages of being a woman and all the expectations that come along with that. I also like how she represents those stages in various forms - dolls, self-portraits, make-up, domestic interiors. She has her own voice, but definitely one that people can easily connect with."" Jona Frank's books include ""High School"" (2004), ""Modern Kids"" (2016) Her films and photographs have been exhibited internationally including at the J. Paul Getty Museum, SFMOMA, and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, among others. Laura Dern is the photographic subject in ""Cherry Hill""--Jona Frank, Author of ""Cherry Hill: A Childhood Reimagined"" ""Kristie Billings' depth and breadth are impressive. Her images range from the sad to sexy to pretty friggin' creepy. She brings us to a shadowy world inhabited by freaks, critter and humanity. Lucky for us, her eye and lens expose a hauntingly real Maine that only she can see."" ""--Crash Barry, author and filmmaker ""Tough Island"" and ""Sex, Drugs and Blueberries."" If you are afraid of the darkness in this world, don't read this book. If you are afraid of the harsh realities in this world, well, again. If you are afraid of suffering, forget even picking up this book. But If you can breathe into the pain, this book will ease it. If you can let your eyes see magic, this book will show you. If you can marry the sadness with the joy, then you have found a book your heart will rejoice in--Sara Willis, Sara Willis is the long-time host and producer of In Tune, Maine Public Radio's music program featuring contemporary singer-songwriters, folk, blues, acoustic rock, jazz, alt-country, and world music. Kristie Billings' new work is a brilliantly sequenced portrait, visual and written, of her unstoppable and unchartered journey to record a world - both personal and relatable - that most of us find too unsettling to confront. Her gorgeous images embrace, with an unconditional love, the beauty, cruelty and grace of fading light, fading memories, fading colors and fading minds. Found in what is overlooked and discarded, both the everyday and the subtle, the images take us back to a time before we became so picture-perfect. Billings' entrancing images and poems move in a rhythmic, improvised riff back and forth across the pages creating connections that resonate deeply, even with our own stories, if we let them.--Maria Matthews, Visual artist and former faculty, International Center of Photography, NYC"

"""Kristie Billings' depth and breadth are impressive. Her images range from the sad to sexy to pretty friggin' creepy. She brings us to a shadowy world inhabited by freaks, critter and humanity. Lucky for us, her eye and lens expose a hauntingly real Maine that only she can see."" ""--Crash Barry, author and filmmaker ""Tough Island"" and ""Sex, Drugs and Blueberries."" If you are afraid of the darkness in this world, don't read this book. If you are afraid of the harsh realities in this world, well, again. If you are afraid of suffering, forget even picking up this book. But If you can breathe into the pain, this book will ease it. If you can let your eyes see magic, this book will show you. If you can marry the sadness with the joy, then you have found a book your heart will rejoice in--Sara Willis, Sara Willis is the long-time host and producer of In Tune, Maine Public Radio's music program featuring contemporary singer-songwriters, folk, blues, acoustic rock, jazz, alt-country, and world music. Kristie Billings' new work is a brilliantly sequenced portrait, visual and written, of her unstoppable and unchartered journey to record a world - both personal and relatable - that most of us find too unsettling to confront. Her gorgeous images embrace, with an unconditional love, the beauty, cruelty and grace of fading light, fading memories, fading colors and fading minds. Found in what is overlooked and discarded, both the everyday and the subtle, the images take us back to a time before we became so picture-perfect. Billings' entrancing images and poems move in a rhythmic, improvised riff back and forth across the pages creating connections that resonate deeply, even with our own stories, if we let them.--Maria Matthews, Visual artist and former faculty, International Center of Photography, NYC"

Author Information

"Kristie Billings was born and raised on Deer Isle, Maine. Kristie comes from a long line of lovers of the sea. She is: a poet, a collector, and an observer. Kristie tends to gravitate to things others may pass by, and that some may find unsettling. ""Life and art are sometimes uncomfortable. I like it when both make me take notice, hold my breath, and stand straighter.""Kristie has had her work shown at the Deer Isle Artists Association in numerous different shows, Ronald Harte's Art and Antique Gallery, solo exhibition at the Blue Hill Maine Public Library, Shaw Gallery in Northeast Harbor, and also was a featured artist for the Word Literary Arts Festival in Blue Hill.​"

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