In a small garden near the great city of Beijing, five peas rest patiently in the same shell. As the peas grow, so do their dreams. One pea longs to fly to the sun and another to the moon. Two more hope to dine with the emperor. But it is the smallest pea whose journey transforms the life of a mother and daughter.

Amy Lowry Poole gives a unique setting to a tale by Hans Christian Andersen. Her exquisite paintings on rice paper and eloquent retelling bring together Eastern and Western traditions, lending a new meaning to an old story. 

Amy Lowry Poole dusts the story off and gives it new clothes in a picture-book version she calls simply ”The Pea Blossom.” As she sets the story near Beijing, the new clothes are Chinese. The pictures are gentle and controlled, and they are an unexpectedly good fit. In the text, Poole tailors the fate of the peas to the Chinese setting as well, as two peas end up in the emperor’s rice bowl. She adds details from Chinese folklore, legends of sun and moon. All these amendments are very appropriate for Andersen, who was a traveler, fascinated by world folklore. Poole’s psychological chinoiserie makes for a version that is both true to the spirit of Andersen and suitable for the current picture-book crowd.

- The New York Times (read full review)

Poole has taken Hans Christian Andersen’s “Five Peas from One Pod” and pared down the text, eliminating the religious overtones but retaining the humor and poignancy of the original… Her luminous ink-and-gouache illustrations on rice paper reflect both her training in traditional Chinese techniques and her own creative spark. The result is paintings that are both graceful and intricate, with animals nestled below ground and in trees for the observant to discover. An informative author’s note completes this worthy addition to the picture-book shelves.

- School Library Journal

Poole gives her retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s story of five peas in a pod an Eastern flavor by setting it in “a small garden near the great city of Beijing… Poole successfully repackages Andersen’s familiar tale of transformation by adding bits of Chinese mythology as well as ink, gouache and rice-paper illustrations whose delicate lines and muted earth tones evoke Chinese scroll paintings. First class.

- Kirkus Reviews

…uncluttered illustrations evoke traditional Chinese scrolls: the off-white rice paper provides a textured background for people, plants and animals rendered in soft line strokes in earth tones. A sense of quiet humor and wonder pervade this story: insects and birds appear fascinated by the events; and gouache outlines transform a treetop into a host of birds, cats and squirrels… Poole’s verbal and visual eloquence brings a timeless tale to a new generation.

- Publishers Weekly

Long ago, a carefree grasshopper shared a corner of the Emperor’s courtyard with a hardworking family of ants. While the grasshopper danced and sang for the royal household all through the summer, the ants diligently gathered grain for winter. They urged their frind to prepare for the coming cold, but the grasshopper could not be bothered. How could he know that the Emperor and his court would soon be leaving their summer quarters for the Forbidden City?

Amy Lowry Poole’s unique rendition of this fable by Aesop is set in the Imperial Chinese Emperor’s Summer Palace. Her stunning paintings and expressive retelling belend Eastern and Western traditions to bring a new meaning to a favorite tale.

…Aesop’s fable is transported to the Chinese emperor’s summer palace, and it is an effective move. . .Poole’s paintings and simple text capture the wistful nature of the story, evoking the lazy days and magical nights of summer. A wonderfully refreshing spin on the familiar fable.

- Booklist

…an ideal backdrop for this tale. . .Bold, well-composed illustrations are painted with a traditional Chinese brush using ink and gouache on rice paper. This handsome offering is well worth adding to any collection.

- School Library Journal

…this smooth retelling of Aesop’s classic fable is set in the summer palace of the Chinese emperor. Poole once again applies the techniques of scroll-making to luxurious effect in calming hues of orange, brown and green. . .a well retold tale.

- Publishers Weekly

…the moral here is a familiar one but the setting is unusual. The grasshopper, which nature and Amy Lowry Poole’s paintings appears to have been given a robe of imperial beauty. . .wins and easy sympathy from the readers who can understand the pleasures of a little fiddling. . .

- The Chicago Tribune

…this title’s wonderful artwork makes the fable of THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER even more universal.This should be in every collection of fables.

- American Booksellers Association

Long ago, when six suns blazed in the sky, a drought came to China. The heat of the suns dried up the fields, and the emperor asked the village elders to help save the harvest. The suggested that a skilled archer shoot the suns out of the sky.

There were great hissing noises as the first five suns plunged into a pool of wather. Terrified, the sixth sun fled into a cave. At first there was a great rejoicing, but the people soon faced another dilemma. With no sun at all in the sky, how would their crops grow? This time the village elders could not help. The solution came instead from an animal who was so humble and familiar that no one had considered his unique talents.

Amy Lowry Poole has eloquently retold this Miao folktake from Western China. Her exquisite paintings were created using traditional Chinese materials and techniques. Rich in symbolism and bold in color. they bring together elemets of Western and Eastern cultures to tell a story with universal appeal.

A great combination: cryptically amusing, ancient Chinese tale retold with verve and respect for the original, accompanied by stunningly beautiful, transporting artwork. This story, with many gratifying elements to explore, and exquisite illustrations to behold. . .will keep on giving with each reading.

- Kirkus Reviews

…most remarkable are Amy Lowry Poole’s amazing paintings, using traditional Chinese materials and techniques, ith bold colors breaking forth from a specially textured rice-paper background.

- The Chicago Tribune

Distinctive ink-and-gouache paintings combine with a well-honed text in this satisfying retelling of a Chinese pourquoi tale. . .executed in glowing colors and rich patterns.

- Booklist

Poole delves into the mythology of Western China for this competent retelling of a Miao Folktale with arresting illustrations.

- Publisher’s Weekly

The World Conservation Union (IUCN) Red List of threatened species currently lists over 300 species that are directly affected by climate change.As the climate becomes warmer, species around the world are being forced to move into new ranges or alter habits as they respond to changes in the temperature and timing of seasons.

Rising temperatures have already affected the polar ice edge ecosystem, the habitat of seals, penguins, polar bears and many others. They are threatened by the decline of food sources such as Krill, and the elimination of breeding grounds due to the extensive melting of ice shelves. Rising sea levels threaten the lives of coastal wildlife such as manatees and sea turtles, due to the erosion of wetlands, beaches, and the increase of saline in freshwater.

Our global ecosystem is based on an intrinsic balance of nature in which all species interact to produce a stable, continuing system of life on earth. This state of equilibrium is being disrupted at an alarming rate. Without action, climate change will cause the extinction of countless species and destroy some of the world’s most precious ecosystems.

- Amy Lowry

In 2007 I received a call for submissions to a show called MISUSE.  The show wanted to explore the premise of reverse functionality, and invited artists to take recognizable objects and give them contradictory meanings.

I came up with the idea of making a cake out of mosaic using shards of glass, ceramic and tile.  Cake by definition is a soft item of food made of sugar, eggs, and flour, and often decorated, thus the contradiction.  This particular cake featured a large pink ceramic rose resting on a bed of porcelain doll hands, each slightly varied in color.  A small plastic toy soldier holding a gun stands on top, and toy letters spell out “Bring Me Home”.  The viewer is attracted to the cake as a familiar item most often associated with joy, comfort, and celebration.  Upon closer inspection, the viewer realizes that these cakes are not meant to celebrate, but to provoke. The domestic becomes exotic, the benign, political. ” – Amy Lowry

This formal distillation is particularly evocative in Lowry’s exaggerated and simplified interpretations of plants and insects that are graphic pictographs of bold shapes and saturated colors placed against muted backgrounds. Isolating our attention on enlarged, singular images of striking simplicity, she compels us to view the microscopic and organic as possessing unusual mystical powers. As a result of viewing Lowry’s works, we listen to the hum of the mosquito in a different way. Perhaps it is not a est, but instead a messenger bearing wisdom. Through her body of images we are made receptive to such potential visits.”

John Brunetti, June 2000 – Chicago Arts Critics Association

The output from her Chinese immersion is a curious blend of American wit, bold and challenging, and Oriental mystery and minimalism. Lowry paints small things in nature, both for their own beauty_although not as a realist_and for what they represent. A thistle, a crow, a garlic bulb, the images are deceptively simple but supercharged with color that is both warm and natural but startlingly intense, as color may be in the spiky flower on a thistle or the sheen of a pomegranate seed.

Chinese painting is about looki ng at something until it is truly seen. The thing is often small and simple, but it must be studied – not to be understood but to be experienced. That experience is an enlightenment that comes not from the object, but from the observer. I believe it is this kind of “Aha!” experience; so does Lowry. Small as they are, these paintings have the energy and grace of big, art-like Georgia O’Keefe or Helen Frankenthaler.”

Margaret Hawkin – Chicago Sun Times

Lowry’s vibrant blossoms, bursting pods and cavorting wildlife fuse bold slashes of color and sensual compositions with traditional Chinese painting techniques.  The captivating, seductive nature of the endangered flora and fauna used as subjects in this exhibition belies their inherent fragility.

Ann Nathan Gallery:

212 W. Superior Street • Chicago, IL  60654 • phone  312-664-6622 •  fax  312-664-9392