This is part two of Rosemary Scherba’s research and visual images created for her Graphic Design project at Anne Arundel County Community College in Maryland.
So honored to be chosen for this research and art project by Rosemary Scherba.
She has spent a month researching my life and feel so luck she chose me to be part of a project
to highlight artist who should be more visible who are unrepresented on the internet.
She interviewed me on the phone 4 times and wrote this article.
She wrote about my contributions to bringing an environmental awareness to the world and base my work on peace, harmony, creativity and beauty.
See Rosemary Scherba’s article Part 2:
As Della continued her storytelling and workshops for children in Canada and abroad, in the 1980’s her paintings and stories began to focus on the environment and she began performing environmental stories as part of a project opportunity in Harlem, New York City. For years her agent approached publishers about the story; yet, it wasn’t until 1990 that The Magical Earth Secrets was picked up as a book by the Western Canada Wilderness Committee. The book “creates an optimistic message for children about things they can do to help the environment when they are bombarded with so many unpleasant messages about the state of the environment.” (Della) Gwyneth Evans agrees with message of hope for children. “Certainly, young readers need hope, and while gloomy views of a future in which the earth has been denuded and utterly contaminated may appeal to adolescent angst, most writers feel the need to offer a possibility for action to change this nightmare vision. Children’s books can play a valuable part in helping children both to feel and to understand: and both feeling and understanding are badly needed now in our dealings with the natural world.” (Evans)
In the background of her professional success with painting and storytelling, beginning in her twenties, experiences shifted Della’s perspectives of herself, and the meaning and her outlook on life. “The realization that ‘all is one’ came to her first in India in 1973 when in her 20s and then twice when she was faced with a cancer diagnosis. These setbacks brought her to ask ‘why’ and to see a bigger picture of her life. She intended to create opportunities to make peace, harmony, creativity, and beauty in the world, as part of her life.” (Art for One World, p 4) This continual search for meaning and healing for herself and for the world has drawn her to visionaries in art such as Brigid Marlin, and others connected with the New Age Movement, “an eclectic mix of eastern and western spiritual traditions and practices along with positive thinking and psychological personal growth techniques, … characterized by an individual and eclectic approach to spiritual exploration. It is concerned with the integration of mind,
body and spirit, and is characterized by an eclectic interest in a variety of beliefs and practices, including astrology, meditation, mysticism and holistic medicine.”
Article written by Rosemary Scherba
Burford, Della. Magical Earth Secrets. Western Canada Wilderness, 1 January 1990.
Burford, Della. Star Galaxy for the World. Azatlan Publishing, 2019.
Clark, Hugh A. “Our Beautiful World, The Green Revolution Comes to Kids’ Books,” Volume 18 Number 5 1990 September ( CM: A Reviewing Journal of Canadian Materials for Young People: https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/eppp-archive/100/201/300/cm/html/1995-2000/cm.b10/cmarchive/vol18no5/bigbeautifulworld.html)
“Della Burford – author interviewed Book/Play.” YouTube, uploaded by dellabirdhelmet, 10 November 2009, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=biie6hY5V-w
“Della Burford – Visionary Art Award Russia.” YouTube, uploaded by Visionary Art Award Russia, 16 April 2018, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e-oOPzTQLXQ
Evans, Gwyneth. “Children’s Books from Feeling to Thought–Children’s Books & the Environment.” Humanist in Canada, vol. 37, no. 148, 2004, p. 40+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A136651451/AONE?u=aacc_ref&sid=AONE&xid=5a65d190.
Hay, Susan. “Professional Artists are Helping to Enrich Arts Programming in Inner City Schools.” Global News. 5 June 2013. https://globalnews.ca/news/616900/professional-artists-are-helping-to-enrich-arts-programming-in-inner-city-schools/
“New Age.” Chambers Dictionary of the Unexplained, edited by Una McGovern, Chambers Harrap, 1st edition, 2007. Credo Reference, http://ezproxy.aacc.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/chambun/new_age/0?institutionId=1890.
Seel, Benjamin. “New Age.” International Encyclopedia of Environmental Politics, edited by John Barry, and E. Gene Frankland, Routledge, 1st edition, 2002. Credo Reference, http://ezproxy.aacc.edu/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/routenvpol/new_age/0?institutionId=1890.
Swanson, Judy. “…who enjoy a good story.” The Province (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) Sun, May 13, 1990 · Page 97
Reference in article – Acrylic on canvas, published in Star Galaxy for the World. From the “Healing” page in the artist’s portfolio on her website. I choose this painting to show the many nuances that the artists includes in her paintings, such as the third eye on the hand and the rainbow finger. – Rosemary Scherba
Create a Dream, with Della Burford 