My book Water Paper Paint is available for pre-order!

A few weeks ago I mentioned that I would soon be sharing my book cover with you. Well, earlier today the cover proof (shown above) for my book Water Paper Paint, Exploring Creativity with Watercolor and Mixed Media arrived in the mail, then I got so excited that I promptly put together a newsletter to subscribers. And now I'm thrilled to share it with you!

For those of you who may be new here, Water Paper Paint is a project I have been writing and working on for over a year and is written for any creative person who wants to learn and explore watercolor. The book evokes the feeling of an artist's journal and is full of information, projects and inspiring visuals. It has nearly two hundred process and finished product shots photographed by my friend and artist Rachel Saldana and a gallery section I curated of paintings by contemporary artists working in watercolor. Water Paper Paint is being published by Quarry Books and will release January 1, 2011.

And I am so excited to announce it is now available for pre-order!

Wahoo!
H

ps. I wanted to put exclamation points all over the place in this post but really had to restrain myself. :)
pps. Feel free to share the news.

Sneak Peek - Water Paper Paint

Good morning!

Today it's an honor for me to share with you a few peeks inside my book, Water Paper Paint, Exploring Creativity with Watercolor and Mixed Media which releases January 1, 2011. This project, which is still going, has been nearly a year in the making. Last summer the executive editor for Rockport Publishers/Quarry Books, Mary Ann Hall, approached me with an idea. Through many conversations, exchanging thoughts and ideas, planning, writing, making, photographing, and everything ten times over, etc., here we are. This stage feels to me like a beautiful culmination of it all. Seeing the ideas come together and turning actual pages is so exciting!
I am very grateful for the hard work of my good friend Rachel (the photographer), Mary Ann, the artists and contributors who share their talents, and for the individuals who have been and are currently proofing, editing, and designing this book. Many hands help give shape to these ideas and the folks at Quarry Books have made this a truly great experience.

In other news, here's a couple great things to check out today:
habit has a treat in store for July which you can be part of and a new joy + ride is up.

Today I will be reading through each page and marking up the pages with a colored pen! Wahoo!

Thanks for stopping over, more soon!

H

just some good stuff

Look what arrived via FedEx today! The first set of layouts of my book! I'm so excited to see it on actual paper, not just in my head or on the computer. It's becoming a real tactile thing! In the next couple days I'll share a few sneak peeks, so I hope you'll check back!

Other little bits:

This weekend I finished reading "The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake" by Aimee Bender, which I'd reserved from the library. I read it in under three days, it was that good. 

We're swimming in cucumbers from the garden, all from volunteer plants. Last night we mixed up a little cucumber salad with dill, which M. really likes. Also we grilled slabs of garden broccoli and marinated squash, nice and easy when we finally decide to fix dinner after dark, 9 o'clock.

Progress on the house reno is moving along bit by bit. Our front porch, gone. Old front of the house, mostly gone. New sheathing, going up.

We could have kept the most adorable cocker spaniel puppy we met this weekend.  Her name is Honey and she's a sweetie.  But since we just spent an arm and a leg taking our three cats to the vet last week for their annual check-ups I said eh, maybe now's not the right time.  But she was pouring the cuteness on thick.

Jan is hosting Summer Colours Week all this week.

I'll return in a day or two with a book preview!

H 

More book news!

Today I'm so excited to share a bit more news about my book. When my editor and I were discussing possibilities for how to approach the photography in the book I immediately thought of one person. I knew one person who had the expertise, the vision, and the patience to work with me in this project. Thankfully my awesome editor agreed and selected none other than my good friend Rachel Saldana! Her photographs truly bring the ideas to life and capture the themes and nuances so beautifully. I'm thrilled!

Thanks so much for your comments about the glue batik pieces the preschoolers are making. We sewed them into pillows and they are adorable!

Gosh it's such a beautiful day here today. I hope to finish the writing I need to do so I can get out and work in the garden.

Have a nice Tuesday!

H

ps.  Check out this garden tour!

Hey, guess what?

You know how every now and then a rare opportunity steps into your path? Yet perhaps you look at it and wonder, can I do this? I've never done anything like it before!  Can little me take on this big project, really? So you pray, consult your loved ones and think, Ok. Then you bundle up your courage, take a deep breath, and walk on with faith. 
So the *BIG NEWS* that I mentioned and have wanted to share with you for some time is I AM WRITING A BOOK!  Yes!  A book!  Aaack!  (squealing in the background) 
It's so exciting! While I have to wait to share details about the content and so on, I will be sharing more bits soon. For now, I'm just so excited to be able to tell you that it is happening!   I cannot wait to share more! 

Thanks for stopping by today and reading my news, it really means a lot to me.
H