286 Published and Painting

Well, I had a picture published in a book, and Katie was the one that was painting, but that seemed like a really long title.
Okay, so it isn't a book you can run out to the nearest B&N and grab with your latte, but you can head on over to Blurb and order a copy. I am going to copy and paste the description of the book from the Blurb site, it is so much clearer than any of my explanations!

"Picture Hope: An Invitation to the Journey" is a collaboration among Shutter Sisters and celebrates the start of Picture Hope – the grand prize winning photography assignment submitted by Jen Lemen and Stephanie Roberts in the "Name Your Dream Assignment" global photography competition sponsored by Lenovo and Microsoft. The book introduces the Shutter Sisters' vision and approach for "Picture Hope" and features an inspiring collection of visions of hope captured and shared by our extended community of Shutter Sisters.
All proceeds from the sale of this book will be used to compensate the individuals Jen Lemen and Stephanie Roberts feature in photographs, videos, and stories throughout the 12-month Picture Hope assignment. We sincerely thank you for your support and look forward to taking you on this journey with us. To follow the journey visit: http://www.shuttersisters.com/picturehope
Images in this book were graciously provided by the following Shutter Sisters: Tracey Clark, Karen Walrond, Kate Inglis, Sarah-Ji, Maile Wilson, Andrea Scher, Irene Nam, Paige Balcer, Julie Evans, Taheerah Davis-Zabate, Erin Casey Carmack, Liz Farina Markel, Sue Thompson, Rocio Alberich de Castro, Sandra Lundy, Heather W. Turner, Hilde Wegner, Kristin Zecchinelli, Chelsea Fisher, Carrie Jackson, Heather Plett, Daniele Giombi, Jen Farnam, Dawn Angileri, Summer Stetter, Brittany Sivyer, Tonya Doughty, Patience Salgado, Tracy Collins, Meredith Winn, Alison Fechtel, Kimberlee Kenner, Shelli Bond Pabis, Christine Sneddon, Ester Bartolomei, Kelly Sauer, Emma Biskupski, and Kate Albright.


If you love looking at beautiful pictures, most of the photographers listed above have blogs. Or you can check out the Shutter Sister Group on Flickr. I am so honored to have an image in this book!

Speaking of great photographers ... One of my very favorite artist/photographers is Linda Woods (check her blog out). I am lucky enough to also be friends with her, thanks to the power of the internet and Twitter. I could ramble on forever, but the gist of the story is that I sent Linda some thrift store patterns (they were stellar) and she sent me back a sweet Thank You note with one of her gorgeous images. Well, I couldn't just throw it in some plane Jane frame! And of course Katie couldn't allow me to break out the paints without her, so we collaborated on the frame. Katie picked out the colors, with just a little nudge from me. She did try to add in brown, but that just wouldn't do! And then Connor had to get in on the act. He painted a chalkboard with water, but hey! he was happy ... for a few minutes anyway.I did add in the circles, it is kind of a Linda Woods thing. I love how it all turned out!And then Katie had to steal my paints, canvas panels, and my easel. I mean ... she asked if she could paint, and I gave in. The first one she did totally on her own. You can tell by the way the background is bare canvas.The second one, I insisted on giving her a base color (that bare canvas gets me, it is the one thing I can't stand! anything else in art is totally fine, but leaving bare spots *shudder*). So, this is what she started with ... That is not a giant candy corn inthe middle - it is a pyramid. The white blob is a mummy, and the red sky is a sandstorm. Me thinks we watch too much Scooby Doo and the Brendan Frasier Mummy movies.And here is the finished product ... she took care of covering the background this time :)
Now I just need to find some time to escape to my craftroom! And I better hurry before Katie uses up all of my supplies!!