First up: Magnificent Beast and Bold Heart
I was recently asked to create an artist book about Diana, the Goddess of Hunting. In researching Diana, I discovered the story of Diana and Actaeon, the deer hunter. Having grown up in a deer hunting family in the Midwest this story really hit home.

But, having grown into a non-hunter myself, this story has also brought up a lot of mixed feelings—for example, an appreciation for the passions of the hunting men in my family, a disinterest the sport itself, and a concern about gun violence. Hunting is a sport where men hold all the power—so opposite to everything that Diana is about.

Today, women hunters are the sport’s fastest growing demographic. These modern day Diana figures are skilled with bows and guns, love the thrill of the hunt, the community, the competition, the victory of a trophy, and providing food for their families. I’m intrigued by 
the idea that women have innate qualities that might make them better hunters such as patience, perseverance. Some say women even have better spatial vision, better ability to see the deer through the trees.

After much time delving into Diana, this book has turned into a series of six artist books. Magnificent Beast (shown in orange photo above) is the first and Bold Heart (shown at top of page) is the second in that series. Click on the links to learn more about these books and stay tuned as I complete the next four books in the Modern Day Diana series.

Happy hunting!

Laura