“Unfolding dialogues in a landscape of the imagination. This is how I would describe this new book by Kristy Deetz and Edward Louis. ‘Holidays Unfolding’ chronicles the continuing adventures of the fictional characters Rabbit and Kitty Boy. Following the true ekphrastic process the paintings were first produced by Deetz as part of her ongoing series ‘Through the Veil’ and then the stories were written by Louis as descriptive and lyrical responses to these works of visual art. There is of course, out of necessity, a collaborative effort taking place. A unique dialogue is going on here, between artist and writer, Deetz and Louis, as well as between Rabbit and Kitty Boy. Somehow this harks back to other dialogues in imaginary landscapes. Literary journeys and adventures, along with drawings and sculptures. It dawns on me now, that this landscape of the imagination created by Kristy Deetz and Edward Louis is well within the terrain created by other great story tellers, from Antoine St. Exupery to Samuel Beckett.”

– Richard Emery Nickolson, Professor Emeritus, Herron School of Art & Design, IUPUI, Indianapolis, Indiana  

“Beautifully horrific…Horrifically beautiful…More Orwellian than Rockwellesque, Holidays Unfolding: The Continuing Adventures of Rabbit and Kitty Boy flip quintessential American holidays into dystopian cyphers that recount Rabbit’s year-long search to find his way back to safety, home and friends. The stuff of hallucinations, Deetz’s unsettling images paired with Louis’ circular narratives describe compelling, but competing themes of chronic anxiety and steadfast hope.  To escape the danger and repair the fabric of being – simply read to the end – wake from the nightmares to dream of fantastic new adventures with Rabbit and Kitty Boy.”

– Reni Gower, Curator/Director, Wylie Contemporary, Inc, Professor Emerita, VCU Arts, Dept. of Painting & Printmaking, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, Virginia

“Most of us have imaginary friends we conjured into childhood companions. For Kristy Deetz and her writing collaborator Edward S. Louis, the central characters Rabbit and Kitty Boy serve a similar role, sentient animals who are tangible, warm, curious, vulnerable, and empathetic companions. They also exist in a meta-narrative in relation to the marvelously detailed works of “the artist,” who seems to float beyond their existence like a deity, conjuring both Rabbit and Kitty Boy and their representations. This book is a well-conceived embodiment of Deetz’s paintings, which invite narrative musings, while generously embracing anthropomorphism. In Holidays Unfolding, the story takes place over the course of a year, a calendrical sequence happening in places that are both familiar (such as roads where you might get struck by a car), and the otherworldly (where animals play banjos). These are spaces where animal-human connections are manifest, as well as a surreal world of rabbit and feline dreams, imaginings, possibly fueled by a taste of catnip. Once experienced, you may never regard your companion animals, or narrative painting, the same way.”

– Beauvais Lyons, Chancellor’s Professor of Art, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville

“The fantastical second book of Rabbit and Kitty Boy unfolds like dreams layered within dreams that journey along an unfolding pageantry of holidays and seasons. Deetz and Louis create densely layered visual and textual realms that combine into complex imaginal spaces. Chapters cycle through the months with playful-then-dark, familiar-then-enigmatic stories. The characters’ stories are interwoven and transposed into rich multi-dimensional tapestries of metaphor, word play, visions, fables, and mental wanderings. It is unclear who is dreaming whom in this story. Do the ‘the Artist’ and ‘the Writer’ – who both quietly haunt the backdrop of this story – breathe life into Rabbit and Kitty Boy or is it perhaps the other way round? It is also a tale of friendship lost and found; between Kitty Boy and Rabbit first and foremost, but also The Artist, The Writer, Bo-Doggie and the strange cast of characters that come in and out of our field of vision as the pages turn. Eventually, by the end of the old year and start of the new, all is set right again. The crew is safely reunited at home dreaming together once again until their next adventures begin.”

– Heather Harvey, Associate Professor of Art and Art History, Washington College, Chestertown, Maryland 

“Holidays Unfolding is a sumptuous feast of visual and literary narratives, and the viewer/reader is lured back and forth between the two modes of expression in order to come up with personal interpretations of what is being seen and heard.  Sometimes Rabbit and Kitty Boy seem childlike in how they respond to the complex world around them while at the same time being acutely aware of nature and its snares.  Despite the complexity of their challenges, both are made stronger by their bond of friendship.  Although there are dark moments in the story, I truly felt enlightened by my encounter with these two incredible characters!”

– Virginia Derryberry, Professor Emerita, Dept. of Art and Art History, University of North Carolina, Asheville

“In Holidays Unfolding author Edward S. Louis and visual artist Kristy Deetz have joined creative forces again and resumed the adventures of Rabbit and Kitty Boy. This time Rabbit has gotten lost and separated from his friends, Kitty Boy, Bo-Doggie and The Artist and takes a long journey through time and space, seasons and holidays. His adventures are phantasmagorical, festive and sometimes alarming. Is it all a dream? Is Rabbit lost in one of the imaginative visions of the Artist?  Or could it be something he ate?  Edward S. Louis’ witty tale sends Rabbit on an odyssey that gives a nod to Lewis Carroll while it seems to have sprung directly out of one of Kristy Deetz’s lushly imaginative embroidered paintings. It is a beautifully compassionate and compelling story that reveals an essential truth about the delirium of the holidays, the mysteries of the unconscious, and the preciousness of friendship.”

– Gina Litherland, Visual Artist, Cedarburg, WI

“Holiday Unfolding is a delightful story about friendship, adventure, and undreamed-of possibilities. Kristy Deetz’ exquisite paintings and Edward S. Louis’ lively storytelling remind us all of the infinite power of art and play”.

– Judith Rushin-Knopf, Associate Professor, Area Head, Painting and Drawing, Co-Director, Facility for Arts Research, Dept. of Art, College of Fine Arts, Florida State University