Clothed in Bark: Book Event

Clothed in Bark
A Book at the Junction of Art and Nature

An Author Event
with Sallie and Frank Lowenstein

at the Fisher Museum
324 North Main Street, Petersham, MA
on Thursday, May 1, 2014 at 7:00pm

All welcome. Light refreshments will be served.
(RSVP)

Full of the depth and shadow of the bark on forest trees, Sallie Lowenstein's forty-eight photo-drawings are so tactile that readers expect the pages to be as textured as the bark they describe. The book includes an essay by Frank Lowenstein (Deputy Director of the New England Forestry Foundation)--a tribute to trees and their longevity that brings home what is at stake environmentally.

Praise for Clothed in Bark:

“A book as unique in its thinking as in its garb--and a visceral reminder of what we’re losing as our forests disappear!” --Bill McKibben, author of eaarth and The End of Nature

"Clothed in Bark’s unconventional words and images connect the reader with the issues of forests, globalization and climate that haunt our world today.” --Carter Roberts, President & CEO, World Wildlife Fund

“Clothed in Bark reminds us that the sensory aspects of handmade books—the weight of good paper, smell and feel of real leather, and non-traditional dimensions—are increasingly special in this age of e-books and mass-market paperbacks. This focus on the senses extends beyond the book’s physical qualities as both text and illustrations entice us to slow down and pay attention to the world around us.” --Deborah Gaston, Director of Education, National Museum of Women in the Arts

• Read the full press release.
• Read an interview with the authors in the Orion blog.
• Check out the book review in Publishers Weekly.
• Learn more on the official Clothed in Bark website.

About the Authors

Fine artist, designer, autho, and illustrator Sallie Lowenstein got an early start on adventure as an eight-year-old when she traveled around the world on prop planes through seventeen Asian and European nations. Those experiences and subsequent journeys have colored her books, paintings, sculptures, and illustrations and shaped her beliefs on creativity and the independent spirit. As an art activist and mentor, she teaches art and writing to children and adults, appears at seminars and national book festivals, exhibits her paintings and sculptures, and runs writers workshops in schools. She says, “Writing, making books and art is like breathing. It is a way of life, not a profession. And I believe that any book, for any age, should leave the reader with an aftertaste of wonder.”

In 1997, Lowenstein founded Lion Stone Books, an independent publishing company of award-winning children’s, YA and Adult/YA books. In 2011, she added a line of artisanal, hand-bound books to the company’s list. Her books have been honored by NY Public Library, the Bank Street College Children’s Book Committee, The Society of School Librarians International, Washington Book Publishers and many others. The recently published Clothed in Bark is her 13^th book and is already included in the Peabody Essex Museum’s fine book collection and in the Mazza Museum’s collection of illustrated books.  In Fall 2014 her art will be included in the Peabody Essex Museum’s Trees as Art exhibit.



Frank Lowenstein (Harvard College '83) is the Deputy Director of the New England Forestry Foundation, where he oversees NEFF's fundraising and communications. Previously, he served as climate adaptation strategy lead for the Global Climate Change Team of The Nature Conservancy (TNC). His role included helping build the case for nature’s role in protecting people from climate impacts such as flood and drought, as well as tools and projects to advance that concept. As part of this work, he worked with Nature Conservancy field teams and partners in the United States, Colombia, China and Mexico to develop key adaptation projects.

Over the past 20 years, Lowenstein managed a community-based conservation program focused on eastern US forests and wetlands, supported community based conservation efforts in the Yucatan, developed fire management recommendations for pine forests in the Bahamas, negotiated land conservation transactions in the Northeast, and developed and implemented strategic communications campaigns to increase awareness of forest health issues, including the highly successful Don’t Move Firewood campaign in the United States. In 2009, he served as executive producer of the award-winning documentary Lurking in the Trees, which followed the Asian long-horned beetle infestation in Worcester, Mass., and has been shown on PBS channels throughout the country.

In 2008, Mr. Lowenstein completed a TNC Coda Conservation Fellowship focused on dry tropical forests of Ecuador’s Chogon Collonche. He also returned to Ecuador in 2009 as a volunteer for the local group Fundación Jatun Sacha working in the Chocó rainforest. He has written three books, including the new Clothed in Bark, and serves as a Senior Fellow in the U.S. Department of State's Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas. Mr. Lowenstein holds an MS in Botany from the University of Vermont and a BA in Geology from Harvard University. He is a Switzer Fellow and a past recipient of two Switzer Environmental Leadership Awards.