Metro Roundup: Father-son book project becomes a ‘labor of love’

It was only a matter of time until Homewood resident and author Charles Ghigna would work on a project with his son, Chip.

Charles lives in a 1927 red brick English Tudor cottage that’s covered in books (although he prefers to write in his treehouse). Many of their family friends are artists, writers and musicians. Their dinner conversations often involve talking about art, poetry, music and movies. Charles has already written a couple of books with his wife, Debra, and Chip’s been creating art since he could hold a crayon, Charles said.

They didn’t set out to create a book together, though. But over the past few years, Charles started writing a few poems based on Chip’s art, and then Chip started creating a few paintings and drawings to go with Charles’ poems.

“Our book simply evolved when we kept seeing the theme of dreams and illusions appear in each other’s work,” Charles said. “Before long, to our surprise, we had a collection of poems and art.”

Their book, called “Illusions: Poetry & Art for the Young at Heart,” showcases 22 poems and black-and-white illustrations for “the young at heart.”

“Some think the poems of ‘Illusions’ are for teens, some think they are for middle-schoolers and others think it’s for young adults and grownups,” Charles said. “We like to think there is a youthful, positive, imaginative exuberance in poems and in the art.”

When asked which poem or drawing in “Illusions” is his favorite, both Chip and Charles have trouble answering. It’s like trying to ask who your favorite child is, Charles said.

Charles likes all of the black-and-white illustrations in the book — especially the illustration for the book’s last poem — he said. But he calls the cover a “real gem.”

“The editors are still enamored over the colorful cover he painted for the book,” he said. “It captures the mood and theme of the book and adds a touch of mystery and magic that make the reader want to pick it up and look inside.”

If Chip had to pick a favorite poem, he said he would pick “Be Still.”

“I think that’s my mother’s favorite, too,” Chip said. “My dad’s poem and my illustration really do connect with us individually and with each other. I think the poem and art also provide a fitting finale to the theme of the book.”

It took approximately a year to complete the poetry and art that appear in “Illusions.” The most challenging part was choosing which poems and art to include and which to leave out, Charles said.

But working with family has never been a challenge, he said. When Charles and his wife started working on their first book together, their friends would joke that they would either have a really good book or a really good divorce.

“Ha! I’m happy to report that after 45 years, we’re still happily married,” Charles said. “Our family has always been supportive of each other’s work, and that includes all the poems, books, songs and art work we’ve created.”

“Illusions” is available on hardback, paperback and on Kindle. Visit charlesghigna.com for more information.

“This book was truly a labor of love,” Charles said. “We hope others will like it, too.”