Meet Ellen Palestrant
South African-born writer and artist and filmmaker, Ellen Palestrant, currently resides in Arizona. She was educated in South Africa and Britain and immigrated with her family to the USA in 1987. Palestrant has been a writer, artist, creativity expert, game inventor, hydroponic farmer, special education teacher, television scriptwriter (adult documentary and children's animation), film producer, college instructor (English, Humanities, Creative Writing) and co-publisher of a college press.
Her published books include: NOSEDIVE, JOHANNESBURG ONE HUNDRED, REMEMBERING DOLORES, I TOUCHED A STAR IN MY DREAM LAST NIGHT, HAVE YOU EVER HAD A HUNCH? The Importance of Creative Thinking, PRETZEL ON PROZAC: The Story of An Immigrant Dog, THE WORLD OF GLIMPSE and IF YOU CAN MAKE IT, MR. HARRIS… SO CAN I (letters, workbook), KOPTOE Transcending Boundaries: The Comrades Marathon, CONVERSATIONS ABOUT CREATIVITY: Art, Writing, Music, Filmmaking, Theatre, Education, Science & The Synergy of Imagination and QUOTES ABOUT CREATIVITY: What Makes Creative People Tick, Inspirational Thoughts About Creativity Through the Ages.
Her ethereal, multi-dimensional paintings invite viewers into her dream-like worlds…
"My paintings begin with a glimpse of possibility. I have a sense of what I want and then feel my way. As my boundaries of reality disappear, uncensored spontaneity takes over and I enter my world of dreams. My journey into fantasy is open-ended; anything can happen. My fleeting images undulate simultaneously on varied surfaces. Using a combination of acrylic paints, watercolor, and iridescent inks, I create a complex color spectrum. In addition to being a painter, I am also a filmmaker and the author of thirteen books, seven of which I have illustrated. I have lectured extensively on the subject of creativity."
South African-born writer and artist and filmmaker, Ellen Palestrant, currently resides in Arizona. She was educated in South Africa and Britain and immigrated with her family to the USA in 1987. Palestrant has been a writer, artist, creativity expert, game inventor, hydroponic farmer, special education teacher, television scriptwriter (adult documentary and children's animation), film producer, college instructor (English, Humanities, Creative Writing) and co-publisher of a college press.
Her published books include: NOSEDIVE, JOHANNESBURG ONE HUNDRED, REMEMBERING DOLORES, I TOUCHED A STAR IN MY DREAM LAST NIGHT, HAVE YOU EVER HAD A HUNCH? The Importance of Creative Thinking, PRETZEL ON PROZAC: The Story of An Immigrant Dog, THE WORLD OF GLIMPSE and IF YOU CAN MAKE IT, MR. HARRIS… SO CAN I (letters, workbook), KOPTOE Transcending Boundaries: The Comrades Marathon, CONVERSATIONS ABOUT CREATIVITY: Art, Writing, Music, Filmmaking, Theatre, Education, Science & The Synergy of Imagination and QUOTES ABOUT CREATIVITY: What Makes Creative People Tick, Inspirational Thoughts About Creativity Through the Ages.
Her ethereal, multi-dimensional paintings invite viewers into her dream-like worlds…
"My paintings begin with a glimpse of possibility. I have a sense of what I want and then feel my way. As my boundaries of reality disappear, uncensored spontaneity takes over and I enter my world of dreams. My journey into fantasy is open-ended; anything can happen. My fleeting images undulate simultaneously on varied surfaces. Using a combination of acrylic paints, watercolor, and iridescent inks, I create a complex color spectrum. In addition to being a painter, I am also a filmmaker and the author of about twelve books, six of which I have illustrated. I have lectured extensively on the subject of creativity."
From Ellen’s Blog
WHO ARE WE AND WHO ARE YOU?
An internal and external awareness are both important ingredients in our creative balance because our creative production affects in varying degrees, others as well. So why not keep exploring simultaneously, both your internal and the external worlds. Be curious enough to try to understand the global circumstances as they unfold while also keeping at the fore, your own sense of self because your originality springs from within – from who you are – from YOUR MANY SELVES!
OUR EARTH: OUR CHOICE
We pay tribute to the many committed individuals and institutions whose life’s work is the PRESERVATION of the BIODIVERSITY of our EARTH. Let us remember that decisions have footprints – our prints left behind for our children and all those to come. Let us be cognitive of our actions because we as individuals still have options: OUR EARTH: OUR CHOICE.
CONVERSATIONS ABOUT CREATIVITY: What Makes Creative People Tick?
What makes creative people tick? My latest book, CONVERSATIONS ABOUT CREATIVITY: Art, Writing, Music, Filmmaking, Theatre, Education, Science & the Synergy of Imagination, is now available for sale on AMAZON. I spent a large part of 2017 interviewing a wide-range of...
“An insight into the spirit and beautiful mind of author-artist Ellen Palestrant and her stunningly original collector coffee table art book The World of Glimpse … the full frontal sensory barrage is unlike anything I’ve encountered outside of Walt Disney’s Fantasia – yet this is a book!”
– Oliver X, Reno Tahoe Tonight Magazine
More Reviews
KOPTOE - Transcending Boundaries: The Comrades Marathon
KOPTOE - TRANSCENDING BOUNDARIES: THE COMRADES MARATHON, is a story about two runners and the COMRADES ULTRAMARATHON (a race of 56 miles between Pietermaritzburg and Durban in South Africa.) The book is also about the connection between RUNNING, WRITING & CREATING MARATHONS - about the various marathons in our lives.
Reviews
When Ellen Palestrant rang and said she had a short novel and some stories I readily agreed to read them. To my delight the novel was a very original piece of writing and the few short stories were little jewels. As I have become an avid jogger and Comrades runner, I found the story entitled 'Koptoe' a most appropriate one with which to close this small 'harvest' of writing.
-Adrian Donker, Ad. Donker Publishing
Ellen Palestrant's strong inborn talent is many-sided. Her main gift is a vigorous comic inventiveness which she adapts to purposes of fantasy, farce or satire with equal facility and zest. She can be playfully inventive also in her use of language. By contrast, she is capable too, of persuasive realistic writing, and has written stories of poignant force.
-Lionel Abrahams, South African novelist, poet, editor and critic
KOPTOE FIRST APPEARED IN ELLEN PALESTRANT"S SHORT STORY COLLECTION: NOSEDIVE & OTHER WRITINGS
Here we have a novella and four short stories by a cleverly original South African author. This is Ellen Palestrant's debut. That there will be more of her delightfully amusing "off-beat" writings, I feel no doubt - I surely hope so. The stories, written with sprinklings of the South African vernacular, also include familiar place names and streets scattered throughout - all adding to their intriguing quality...Nosedive is superb...(it) goes to the heights - or is it depths - of hyperbole. I believe this must undoubtedly be one of the funniest books I've ever read.
-Doug Slack, The Star
Ellen Palestrant's writing is the perfect foil. She... sees the human condition without illusion, and especially the condition of the part of humanity which speaks with a South African accent... hers is the comic vision. Nosedive is a zany farce with strong satirical undertones. The writing is exuberant and refreshing and the author's sense of the absurd is wholly delightful. If you are in need of a tonic... Ellen Palestrant is what you need.
-Natal Witness
The World of Glimpse
The World of Glimpse
DVD - $15.95
The World of Glimpse
Signed Book - $49
THE WORLD OF GLIMPSE has its own glossary called
THE GLIMPSARY
The World of Glimpse
Limited Edition Book and DVD Combo - $59.95