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Middlebury Artist Pens A Book Celebrating Figures Of Speech

photo provided

photo provided Artwork by Cotey Gallagher

photo provided Artwork by Cotey Gallagher

Tuesday January 26, 2016

By Cookie Steponaitis

Middlebury artist Cotey Gallagher is a self-proclaimed word-nerd and first fell in love with words in third grade when her teacher gave her a Word a Day calendar to help expand her vocabulary and from that day forward Cotey never stopped learning and playing with words. ”I have never been much of an eloquent writer or speaker but I am most certainly a word nerd. I discovered Mad Libs around the same time and would play and laugh for hours with friends. We would always try to find the most outrageous words in which to fill in the blanks,” explained Gallagher.
    Gallagher is an avid puzzle fan and daily works crosswords and about fifteen years ago began to put together the idea of transforming idioms, metaphors and euphemisms into humorous illustrations. An artist by trade Gallagher has also been creating art for as long as she can remember. “While other kids were out scraping their knees I was inside with a pencil and a pad of paper trying to draw my favorite cartoon characters. As my knowledge for the arts and methods grew I found a love for my current medium which is Acrylic paint. It is versatile and can be used like oils or watercolors. Even still though, nothing beats that No. 2 pencil and sketch pad!”
    Gallagher’s picture book is silly and smart with fun colorful illustrations and definitions that take learning to an enjoyable level combining words and art as building blocks. Gallagher feels that learning needs to be fun and with humor as a universal language you can get even the most timid learner involved no matter what level they are at. At home Gallagher and her husband and son play word games and do puzzles all the time. Mad Libs is a favorite and they also love Password. Gallagher is hoping that the playful and artistic approach to words in her book The Literally Illustrated Collection of Idioms, Metaphors and Euphemisms will allow readers to develop a love of vocabulary. “I think the most important knowledge that one can take from my new book is that not everything is black and white,” expressed Gallagher. “Idioms, metaphors and euphemisms are used in language to cover those gray areas that are harder to put a label on. They can be confusing and tricky for a younger audience to grasp, so my idea is to add some humor to the presentation to open the mind to the abstract ideas.”
    People looking for her book can find it on Amazon in paperback or eBook format or at the following local libraries and book stores: The Brandon Public Library, Salisbury Free Public Library, Ilsley Public Library in Middlebury and Bixby Memorial Library in Vergennes,
The Bookmobile- Merchants Row, Rutland, VT, Book and Leaf Bookstore- Park Street, Brandon, VT, Compass Music and Arts Center- Jones Drive, Brandon, VT
The UPS Store- Route 7, Middlebury, VT.,The Vermont Book Shop- Main Street, Middlebury, VT, Malabar- Main Street, Vergennes, VT and the Flying Pig Bookstore- Shelburne Rd, Shelburne, VT. For more information visit www.figureofspeechbook.weebly.com and click on the contact link. Gallagher is also available for art talks, book readings and signings by contact through her website www.coteycillustration.com.

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