A Second Wind is a retrospective arrangement of beautiful new photographs of Jerry Wennstrom’s artwork, by Seattle architectural photographer, Andrew van Leeuwen, and earlier pictures spanning a period of over 50 years. A Second Wind is a retrospective arrangement of beautiful new photographs of Jerry Wennstrom’s artwork, by Seattle architectural photographer, Andrew van Leeuwen, and earlier pictures spanning a period of over 50 years. The book’s 260 pages include rescued images of his destroyed paintings; (in 1979) a creative act of liberation and the turning point of Wennstrom’s life where he gave himself to becoming and living the creation by giving away his possession, abandoning the life of a studio painter, and living a monk-like life for over a decade. Representing Wennstrom’s “Second Wind” of art, the book also features colorful full-page spreads of the exotic, archetypal carved figures that came later. Wennstrom speaks to the new level of creative freedom by saying in the book; Art abandoned for the meaningful allurement of a higher calling ... and the return to art without compulsion, for no reason at all. Included in the book are many stories — both art-related and transformational — written by the author along with “creative responses” by over 50 notables who have been impressed with Wennstrom’s works over the decades. Those responses include stories and creative expressions by and of cultural anthropologists Margaret Mead and Jean Houston; Jungian analysts and scholars Marion Woodman, Claire Dunne, and Corwin Fergus; psychologists/drug researchers Ralph Metzner and Christopher Bache; cosmologist Brian Swimme , storytellers Laura Simms and Vi Hilbert; poet David Whyte, artist Deborah Koff-Chapin and visionary financiers Charlie Hess and Vici Robin; the Dalai Lama’s Gyuto monks, and even legendary chanteuse Lotte Lenya (of The Threepenny Opera and From Russia With Love fame). A joyful celebration of life and art... This is a colossal literary/mixed media work, the capstone of the life and work of a creative artist and spiritual pilgrim that is without parallel. I am not aware of any coffee table book with such a lush combination of original art, photography, poetry, epiphanies, stories, cameo endorsements, and memoir. This beautifully-printed book is also a communal work, a tribute and labor of love from Wennstrom‘s incredibly talented circle of friends ... In 1979, after his paintings were on the brink of artistic acclaim in NYC’s art world, Jerry’s Inner Muse urged him to begin his life over. Abandoning his paintings and leaving his studio behind, Jerry embarked on a daily spiritual odyssey that years later landed him on Whidbey Island, a New Age enclave, where he was to meet his future wife and Outer Muse, Marilyn Strong. It was in this new realm that Jerry’s creative genius again took root and blossomed. No longer painting, his new endeavor would be creating incredible archetypal carved statues and mystical interactive structures, serendipitously assembled from recovered bits and pieces. Hence, this Second Wind and Resurrection. -- Joe Kulin, former publisher for Parabola This is no ordinary coffee table book that one might glance through and put back down. This book of art is so unique it is far in the future and demands that you get involved yourself and insists on a response that is often deep and even unconscious. Jerry’s art is both dark and light it captures all of life, sometimes with levity sometimes with uncompromising truth that for some is hard to embrace. Not only is the book full of Jerry’s masterful pieces of art but stories that bring one closer to what art is all about and how important it is that we listen to our artists, poets, and even dreamers. Throughout the book, the reader gets to know Jerry’s extraordinary journey so that by the end you feel you know a man who has done his inner work, who has renounced what does not serve humanity, and has kept a steady course navigating his own integrity which can be lonely and at the same time produce breathtaking art. T he book is jam packed with stories that are far from superficial – they only serve to deepen the reader’s experience so that while reading this book you question your own life, your own values, and even ask the question why am I here? Jerry dives deeply into the source of existence, those often difficult places we find ourselves. And always there is art to heighten the experience and force the reader to look directly at what makes us human. With humor and levity, he has us look at death and our fear of death. Looking through this book is like having your own life-changing dream. When you turn the last page you resolve to be more human, more fearless, more compassionate, and with the knowledge that every one of us lives on the edge of vast experiences. -- Judith Adams, Poet, Author of "A Place Inside" I suppose this piece – my poem “Sweet Darkness”– is really about how much attention are you willing to