LatinosUSA

Hi everyone, its Robbie Cheadle here today with an Art Flash post on LatinosUSA – English Edition.

Today, I’m delighted to introduce Dawn Pisturino, poet and author, who has recently published a colouring book for adults.

Tell us a bit about Dawn Pisturino and how you transitioned to a poet and author

I’ve wanted to be a published author since I was a child. My mother instilled a love of reading in my brother and I, and going to the library was a big treat. We treated books like precious treasures. I was always an advanced reader and became familiar with the great British novelists and poets as a teenager. I taught myself to write sonnets, inspired by Elizabeth Barret Browning. I took creative writing in high school and my first round of college classes. After my daughter was born, she inspired me to submit work to some anthologies. Some were accepted and some were not. Then life became more complicated, and I put off writing for a long while to work and care for my family. Later on, when my daughter went off to college, I had time to take writing more seriously.

Your adult colouring book is an interesting idea. What inspired it?

When I worked as a psychiatric nurse, art therapy became an important part of unit activities. Engaging in art projects allowed our clients to express themselves creatively, helped them cope with their current crisis, gave them an element of control, focused their attention away from their problems, improved concentration, and relieved their anxiety and depression enough so that they felt comfortable interacting with other people and talking about their issues. An actual art therapist would visit the unit, but the techs would also provide coloring pages for the clients to color in their free time. I thought it would be fun to make a coloring book.

Cozy Hedgehog Mummy Sewing Days is available from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/Cozy-Hedgehog-Mummy-Sewing-Days/dp/B0HHX1LFSX/

Tell us a bit about the creation process for this book? How did you put it together?

I’m not an artist, so I used Google Gemini AI to generate the coloring pages and the cover. After I uploaded the Superprompt, AI generated the prompt for each coloring page. It sounds quick and easy, but it took a lot of hours to generate the images and then upscale them and change the DPI so they would be suitable for printing. I used Canva to put the whole thing together, but that didn’t turn out right, so I made my own template on MS Word.

What do you hope users of the book will gain from it?

Fun, relaxation, a chance to play and forget about the worries and responsibilities of daily life.

What’s next for Dawn Pisturino?

I’m working on a memoir of the three years I spent at Synanon, a therapeutic community and experimental society that turned into a cult. I’m taking breaks here and there to complete short projects, such as coloring books, short reads, and children’s storybooks.

My review of Ariel’s Song: Published Poems, 1987 – 2023

Ariel’s Song is a wonderful collection of poems written by Dawn Pisturino’s over a three-decade period. The themes and styles of the poems is wildly varied, and its body collectively represents the plethora of passions and interests of the poet. This passion comes across strongly in each and every poem, Dawn Pisturino most certainly has a well-defined personal voice that is easily recognisable in every poem in the collection. Many of the poems have been previously published in various poetry anthologies, publications, and literary blogs.

There is an interesting and thought-provoking thread of religious belief woven through many of these poems which I found intriguing. One such poem which I really loved is Nature’s Child. This is a short extract of this poem:

«Her nakedness gleamed in moonlight and candlelight,
Sunlight and lamplight,
But she feared not the shadows of or the darkness of night.
They called her a witch, priestess, sorceress of the Devil.
She laughed at their ignorance –
These holy men of the Church –
And covered her nakedness with rose petals and fern.»

Another poem that has remained with me is My Grave. These are the introductory lines:

«I think that I shall never crave
A home as lovely as a grave.
A restful place deep in the ground
Without a trace of light or sound.
A grassy mound high on a hill,
Host to yellow daffodil.»

I found the first line very intriguing, given the peaceful and appealing nature of the rest of the poem.

I recommend this collection to all lovers of passionate and inspiring poetry.

You can purchase Ariel’s Song by Dawn Pisturino from Amazon US here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Dawn-Pisturino/author/B0CYM7BV37

About Dawn Pisturino

Dawn Pisturino is a retired registered nurse in Arizona whose international publishing credits include poems, short stories, articles, and a children’s mystery novel. She has published five poetry collections, including her most recent release, Ancient Voices: Poems About Ancient Egypt, which achieved #1 Amazon New Release status in African Poetry, History of Egypt, History of Africa, and History of North Africa. She is a member of the Mystery Writers of America and the Arizona Authors Association.

About Robbie Cheadle

South African author, photographer, and artist, Robbie Cheadle, has written and illustrated seventeen children’s books, illustrated a further three children’s books, written and illustrated four poetry books and written and illustrated one celebration of cake and fondant art book with recipes. Her work has also appeared in poetry and short story anthologies.

Robbie also has two novels and a collection of short stories published under the name of Roberta Eaton Cheadle and has horror, paranormal, and fantasy short stories featured in several anthologies under this name.

You can find Robbie Cheadle’s artwork, fondant and cake artwork, and all her books on her website here: https://www.robbiecheadle.co.za/

Social Media Links

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/robbiecheadle.bsky.social
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVyFo_OJLPqFa9ZhHnCfHUA
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/15584446.Robbie_Cheadle
TSL Publications: https://tslbooks.uk/product-tag/robbie-cheadle/
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Robbie-Cheadle/author/B01N9J62GQ
Unsplash profile: https://unsplash.com/@r_cheadle