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"Ah, but I love to draw beautiful words, like trumpets of light....... I adore you, words who are sensitive to our sufferings, words in red and lemon-yellow, words in the steel-blue color of certain insects, words with the scent of vibrant silks, subtle words of fragrant roses and seaweed, prickly words of sky-blue wasps, words with powerful snouts, words of spotless ermine, words spat out by the sands of the sea, words greener than the Cyrene fleece, discreet words whispered by fishes in the pink ears of shells, bitter words, words of fleur-de-lis and Flemish cornflowers, sweet words with a pictorial ring, plaintive words of horses being beaten, evil words, festive words, tornado and storm-tossed words, windy words, reedy words, the wise words of children, rainy, tearful words, words without rhyme or reason, I love you! I love you!" -James Ensor What is The Word Project? The Word Project is an illustrated dictionary of odd & obscure words that was begun in late October, 2002 with one of those rare bolts of inspiration- well, rare for me. I had been working in my new 'paper-doll' style for about one year. I had been collecting odd & obscure words for several years before that. The inspiration was to combine the two- to illustrate the words in my new style. 
Where did the words come from in the first place? Well, a friend had given me a subscription to Anu Garg's "A-Word-A-Day" email service: every weekday, a new word, along with its pronunciation, usage and derivation, would appear in my email inbox. It has been a constant source of delight ever since. I delete about half of the words immediately because I already know them. Of the remaining half, about half again are deleted because while I may not know the word, it doesn't move me or tickle my imagination. The remaining quarter are put into a file, and there they would still sit if not for the Word Project.Once friends and family saw what I was doing, other sources for odd words appeared- an email with a link to Steven Chrisomalis's site "The Phrontistery"; a battered copy of Halliwell & Phillipps's "Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words;" and so on. The initial inspiration ignited a storm of creativity- I produced the first 30 words in thirty days. After that, reality reared its ugly head and I had to tend to my life a bit more. I continued to work on the words, sometimes in spurts of energy, usually just a word here and there. In the intervening years I have built a studio and have had the immense pleasure of being able to work on my Words and other illustration projects in a lovely, lively space. I have illustrated over 100 of them and here we are- The Word Project. |
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The Word Project Words
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The newest additions to The Word Project:
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Word Project FAQ's  (But its not the materials, its how one uses them...) "Where can I see The Word Project on display?" The Arts Upstairs Main Street, Phoenicia, NY May 17-June 15, 2008; Opening Reception: May 17; 6-9pm The Little Gallery/ Sage College, New Scotland Avenue, Albany, NY July 1-31, 2008; Opening Reception: TBA There are also plans afoot to display the works at a gallery on Long Island, NY. I will announce dates as soon as those arrangements are final. If you have a venue that would like to host The Word Project, please contact me using the information below. "What's next for The Word Project?" The literary agent has thrown in the towel so I am looking for new representation. I am focussing attention on British publishers this time around. Hope springs eternal. "Why don't you have all The Word Project images on your site?" 1. Frankly, too much time/effort. 2. Too many image-thieves on the internet. (My apologies to all those honest folks out there, but such is the state of artist's rights.) 3. I hope there will be a book available in the near future that will put the whole kit & caboodle in your hands. "Are these all real words, or did you make these words up?" Yes, they are all real words. The English language consists of about 3 million words, most well-educated English speakers have a working vocabulary of around 2500 words- that leaves a lot of room to explore. That said, these words, by and large, have earned their obscurity. Who would rather say "smaregdine" instead of "emerald?" You, yeah you, in the back of the room with your hand up- get a life! "What is the most mis-used word from the Word Project?" Hands down- "Wowser." People assume it means something that causes one to say "wow!" and is therefore, a compliment. But it is not a compliment unless one has been attempting to be a puritanical killjoy... "Are you working on any new Words?" I am up to my eyeballs in projects so, of course, I suddenly have the urge to do Words... See the list above for the newest additions. "Can I send you a word and my idea of how to draw it?" No, thank you. I cannot accept unsolicited ideas from outside sources- it opens all sorts of cans of worms. I can and do accept your good wishes- and gratefully so- but that must be the extent of it. |
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 Updated: 6/4/08 |