Author: Joy Murray

Reading Sophia Wood’s Marie’s Atlas series is like entering a complex and intriguing dream.  The third book in this series has just been released and it’s the most complex yet.

It opens with a puzzle based on Sierpinski triangles, a fractal of equilateral triangles, a mathematically generated pattern that can be reproduced at any magnification or reduction.   As in the previous novels, this puzzle opens the door for Marie to join with her metaphysical companion Atlas.

“Atlas was her friend that existed within her hand and communicated through thought.  Atlas was found in one of her parents’ paleontology dig sites that came to Marie as a Fibonacci egg-shaped puzzle.  When she solved the puzzle, Atlas fused into Marie’s hand and they set out on an amazing adventure.”

The Sierpinski triangle puzzle, on a silver box, reveals an inscription:

Needed are the logically skilled

A quest must be fulfilled

Find the triangle’s relation to your past gates

Another adventure awaits 

How will the Sierpinski triangle relate to the Fibonacci Sequence?  This is just the beginning of a series of puzzles, time travel, and logic that Marie and Atlas must solve. All in a quest to find out why a civilization is in decline.

It’s a technical civilization that has descended into chaos and meaninglessness.

Use virtue, knowledge and skill

Help them or this planet will become still.

She is only given limited help and clues to challenging puzzles to figure out how the civilization is meant to work and why it’s gone wrong.

There are many parallels to Alice in Wonderland in Refractals.  Repeating patterns are found in the puzzles as well as in the causes for decline.  Civilizations tend to repeat their virtues as well as their mistakes.  But Marie and Atlas explore ways of bringing chaos to order, correcting the patterns that have set in motion the deterioration of good systems.

You’re plunged into puzzles from the opening and it’s a fast paced book.  The illustrations are engaging and are as much a part of the narrative as the prose.

It’s written for middle grade students, but I think it’s a good one for high school and even college level readers who are interested in mathematics, adventure, and fantasy.  It’s a great way to breathe life into math for a student who is struggling with the meaning of it all.  In my review of the previous books of this series, I called it “mathmagic.”

I could see this being a good book for a family to read together, discussing both the puzzles and the conflicts that Marie and Atlas face.

Here’s a link to Sophie Wood’s Amazon Author’s page:  https://www.amazon.com/Sophia-Estelle-Wood/e/B00RVZHKAA/ref=dp_byline_cont_pop_book_1

If you’d like to read my review of the first two books you can read it here.

Thanks for reading my blog and happy reading!

I’d hoped to keep posting daily while I get ready for my art show and my move to Memphis from Portland, Oregon.  I have gotten caught in the whirlwind of the last minute, though, and am trying to finish up a few larger pieces of art.  My art show is on Saturday, and I’m moving on April 30th.  My posting will be a little more erratic for the next few months as I resettle.  I’ll be posting more of my finished art and also return to book reviews.

Meanwhile, here are few excerpts from my sketchbook from last year.  I had some paper doilies so I pasted them in the sketchbook and painted on top of them. They held the paint very well:

I got a Stillman and Birn Beta series sketchbook and painted this owl.  I liked the paper and it stood up to a lot of very wet watercolor:

Thanks for looking at my blog!

Today is Easter, a celebration of resurrection, all that is green and verdant is returning to life.  Those of you who are following the blog, know that this has been a rough winter for me.  I lost faith in my ability to re-bloom, but through good counseling, good medicine, and a good art practice, I made it.  I know now I will grow stronger again.

Yesterday, I drew and painted a portrait of a 9 year old girl I mentor.  She was in a bad mood, but I drew her as she as if she wasn’t.  She was wearing a pink shirt with hearts on it.  I didn’t try to capture her perfectly, just a pretty picture to cheer her up.  She approved, but said, I wasn’t smiling.  I told her that artists can see to the smile inside her, however slight.

I’m drawing daily to help manage depression, long-term disability, and life in general. If you’d like to see the beginning of this project, you can see it here. You can also follow me through WordPress or on Facebook.

Your thoughts and shares are appreciated

I did some test paintings on Arches paper, trying to decide if I like cold or hot press more.  The first one is on hot press paper.  I used ink for the drawing and granulating pigments for background and hair.

The next was on cold press paper using the same pigments, and others, and I did the outlines in pencil:

I wanted particularly to see the difference it made in creating smooth skin tones and background washes.

I like the way the background colors settled more in the cold press paper but I liked the way the ink flowed smoothly on the hot press.  The skin tones seemed to settle smoothly enough of on both.

I  realize these are different paintings, but do you have any opinions or preferences?  Does one seem to have richer colors than the other?

Thanks in advance for your comments.

I’m drawing daily to help manage depression, long-term disability, and life in general. If you’d like to see the beginning of this project, you can see it here. You can also follow me through WordPress or on Facebook.

Your thoughts and shares are appreciated