Woman on the Edge of Reality: I read the first chapter and was hooked. This is because, as someone that works with women for a huge part of my working day, Destiny accurately captured what they say and feel; and what they share with others in the same boat. What I found as I carried on reading was that this is not so much a book about Art, but about how Art became the means of self expression of a woman who didn’t understand how to change herself and her life.
Story Circle Book Reviews: Allison did a superb job of pouring her heart and soul onto the page and creating an inspiring volume that bridges sculpture to other creative arts and life in general.
Midwest Book Review: “We come to many conflicts in our lives and the choices we make decide who we are. “Shaping Destiny: A Quest for Meaning in Art and Life” is a memoir from Destiny Allison as she speaks on her own experiences and how she was driven to become an artist, seeking to inspire people to make their own way, determining what they want out of themselves. “Shaping Destiny” is a fine pick for inspirational and motivational memoir collections.” — Paul Vogel, MBR, Vogel’s Bookshelf
Book Review at Novel D’Tales: “Shaping Destiny is a beautifully written novel about the journey Destiny Allison took to learn who she was as a person, mother, artist, friend and woman. This unique novel was written with such passion, skill and finesse that I from the very first paragraph I was drawn in and couldn’t put it down. Destiny writing style is absolutely flawless and incredible. She paints a picture in your mind so vivid you feel as if it is your life. The entire journey I was taken on really hit home, being that I am a young woman, and showed me that if I find something I am passionate about I too can become the person I aspire to be.
Destiny Allison mixed the art and becoming a woman perfectly. She showed us how passion drives us, how woman are who they want to be and really drove home what shapes our lives. Men, don’t think you can’t read this novel and learn a thing of two. The life lessons can still be understood and the story is phenomenal! The most impressive part about this novel is how she manages to teach and entertain in a way that isn’t Chicken Soup for the Soul-ish, very obvious *life lessons* that make you feel like a bad person. The one thing I wish I could have from this book…is more! I hope that Destiny Allison continues writing and producing literary gems like this one. I am your new and loyal fan!!” — Hilary
http://rachelrmrblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/shaping-destiny-by-destiny-allison.html: This is a cool review by a young woman, recently graduated from highschool. I love her willingness to think, challenge, and engage. Here is a partial quote from her review. “For Shaping Destiny is almost a discussion, an invitation to think and challenge the artist’s mind. So I share my thoughts.
Shaping Destiny is the story of a woman’s soul. Bare. Real. Bold. It’s unlike anything I have ever read. Yet there are hints of humanness, and how we are all flawed. And here I do the human thing, I judge, I play the critic. I am aware of this.” Click here to read the whole thing.
Reader Reviews
I just finished your book and I am changed by your wisdom and insight. Thank you so much for sharing your revelations and truths! — R. Kaye on Facebook
Shaping Destiny is the quintessential spiritual journey to discover the authentic soul of the artist who transformed life through art. It is a heartfelt, beautiful story that truly gives the reader the courage to ask the questions that will move them forward on their path. — J. Redmond on Facebook
I just finished Shaping Destiny. What can I say? It’s intimate, probing, revealing, confronting, inspiring. Such an honest portrayal of a life committed to self discovery and art. Thank you for sharing your courageous path with us. — D. Quat on Facebook
Destiny Allison has written a wonderful (!) book about the interaction of life and art, and the lessons to be gained from both. While many books talk about how and why art gets made, precious few draw the line between life and art with such unflinching autobiographical honesty. “Shaping Destiny” is not a book about freeing your inner child or talking to the angels sitting on your shoulder; it’s about the gritty day-to-day struggle to carve out a life in the arts in the face of — well, of everything the world drops into your lap uninvited. In drawing larger truths from the particulars of her own life, investing those truths into her art, and then relating that voyage of discovery to the rest of us with clarity and authenticity, Destiny Allison shares common ground with writers like Anne Lamott and Annie Dillard. This is no small accomplishment! — Ted Orland on Amazon.com
Destiny Allison’s compelling book is at its core the story of a woman finding her voice. For many women the experience of separating who they have learned they are supposed to be from who they actually are can be excruciating…and yet liberating. Destiny Allison is one of these women. She uses her deep intellect to unflinchingly explore intensely personal aspects of her life. And she does this through the emotional expression of making art. In her words, “Art is the vehicle through which we articulate ourselves to ourselves.” This is a beautifully written book. It is for the artist in each of us who wish to articulate ourselves to ourselves – on behalf of the world. — Christine Wagner on Amazon.com
Fiercely determined to extract meaning from the most intimate of experiences, Destiny Allison confronts her life with an unflinching honesty that may well leave the reader stunned. Chapters begin with lessons about creating three-dimensional art, the basic concepts of which are then applied to her roles as daughter, wife, mother, and sculptor. Insightfully, she weaves her dual journeys through art and life, revealing how each informed, challenged, and transformed the other. At the core of both is an unwavering commitment to truth and integrity. By the book’s end, Ms. Allison has sculpted her own life’s journey, itself, into a compelling work of art. — Sharon Ross on Amazon.com
In Shaping Destiny, Destiny Allison explores what art is, what it means to create art, and how to live your life as your authentic self. Her experiences and choices in life are revealed and examined with down-to-earth analysis and an original approach, and can serve as guidelines to anyone trying to live more authentically. Destiny insists on being true to herself and her art, and this journey is one of struggle and heartache and love. Shaping Destiny is a highly personal journey, but universal in its quest, and inspires in the reader the desire to live their life artfully and truthfully, whatever they do. — Lindsay Ahl on Amazon.com
I read many books each month and I try to choose those that I might learn from or somehow find a yet unknown vision of life. Destiny Allison’s work in this book not only fills both of my criteria, but goes miles beyond into a new paradigm of life from the point of view of someone who has lived it. I recommend this book with the highest of praise for its depth, emotion and art and an insight that I believe every person who reads it will find within its wonderfully written pages. — Richard Nesta on Amazon.com
