cover image Scratchings of a Madwoman

Scratchings of a Madwoman

Rhonda Nass. Ampersand Studios, $45 trade paper (64p) ISBN 978-0-692-44907-3

Nass has a good idea: combine colored-pencil drawings with spiritual stories. Her goals are to invite readers to do the same, to wipe out the myth that “God prefers to be aloof,” and to please God, who nudged her into the project. Nass marries her 18 drawings to 18 spiritual expressions, such as “prayer,” “Spirit-filled,” and “God’s will.” For “faith,” she draws old hands in prayer; for “creation,” she shows the life cycle of haircap moss. Her story for “love” spins off reduction (as in cooking); “hope” involves colored pencils, a disabled cleaning woman, and a Psalm. Each of her stories includes a closeness she experienced with God (always masculine and anthropomorphic), Bible verses, and her intricate, intimate drawings. Nass’s work in words and art displays well, but when she offers drawing lessons to encourage others to do the same, her efforts flag. Her instructions are chipper, but, despite their clarity and a glossary, they simply cannot do on paper what surely Nass does in her hands-on workshops. (BookLife)