From the Co-Editor - Karla Van Vliet

Dear Reader,

For many years now I have been fascinated with the visual language of Chinese. (I was totally taken when I discovered a character that meant the sound of wind and rain upon the roof.) What I love about the language is the how the layering of imagery creates meaning and conveys a feeling or understanding. Much like the dream does.

The character means bee, it holds a component meaning insect, and descend. is the radical for bird. Together, have the meaning of hummingbird; the bee bird. Hence its use on the cover of Deluge this issue.

The hummingbird is seen in many cultures of the world as a symbol for joy, love, the spirit, and the messenger. In thinking about creating the cover it came to me that the dream comes in the night to us like a hummingbird, bringing us a message. I painted images of the bird and the Chinese Kanji characters for hummingbird in white on the rice paper. I then painted the backside of the rice paper in ink. This created the ghostly image of the birds, a shimmering light in the darkness, like the dream.

I hope that you enjoy our new issue of Deluge. Please pass it on to friends and family.

With warm regards,

Karla Van Vliet
Co-Editor