Dear Readers,You may know me as an artist, illustrator, or writer; perhaps all three.But did you know that I am also a time-traveller? For the past five years I've journeyed back through the millennia to research my new book, Between Heaven & Earth: An Illuminated Torah Commentary.And what an adventure it has been! I have never considered myself a scholar in the traditional sense, yet this project has provoked an insatiable quality to my natural curiosity and led me to studies in Torah, Talmud, Aggadah (non-legal texts of rabbinic literature) and Jewish mysticism. Along the way, I also explored the eerily similar stories of many other cultures. But what actually peaked my interest in this whole project is fully explained in the book's introduction.While no book has been reframed for relevancy more than the Bible,my new visual commentary (midrash) on the Torah (Old Testament) is designed to be understood from multiple perspectives. It is a unique fusion of selected quotations and highly detailed illustrations from all 54 parashiyot(weekly readings) that honor historic sources and artifacts while allowing the multi-layered back stories within the Torah to speak. I have also provided a section of in-depth commentary to reveal my thought process in creating the illustrations and perhaps to raise more questions than it answers...I invite you to post your questions and comments at my blog:http://imaginarius13.wordpress.com/******************************************************************************Author and illustrator Ilene Winn-Lederer attended The Art Institute of Chicago and The Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. Based in Pittsburgh, she creates original imagery that navigates the delicate bridge between the mundane and mystical theaters of human experience.Winn-Lederer's clients include The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Hadassah, NY., The Progressive Magazine, Lilith Magazine, Children's Television Workshop, Scholastic, Pomegranate, Charlesbridge Publishers, Simon & Schuster and Cricket Magazine. Her works are in collections throughout the United States and Europe.WebFolios: www.winnlederer.com, http://www.paperroadart.com/en/portfolios/details.asp?navid=2&artistID=67WebGallery: www.magiceyegallery.com