Bookmaking with Blurb - Unveiling!

**Thanks to Blurb for sponsoring this post. It has been a wonderfully transformative project from start to finish**

When I began this project, my goal was to create an art piece; another avenue and medium to show my paintings, another way to look at my work, something to bring along to shows. I had no idea it would turn into such a personal and sentimental adventure.

When I returned home from our travels to Ireland and Belgium, my first thought was the book that I knew had arrived at my parent’s home while we were away. All the nights I spent planning the pages, picking the words to go with the paintings, delving into consciousness and recollection were there, just waiting to be opened.

I was immediately floored by the cover. The depth of the printing shows the true texture of the work, all the delicious nooks and crannies in the fibers of the raw canvas are nearly tactile. It accomplishes what I set out to create, an art piece in itself. Flipping through the pages brought nothing but unbridled delight. The paper is gorgeous (ProLine Pearl), the printing is flawless and brings these detail shots to life with an amazing range of tone. The pages are truthful to the original pieces - which is a major concern for me when printing images of work.

The project morphed as I worked on it, (you can read about the process here!) but the end goal; to have a functional art piece to compliment my body of work was met and then some. The book transitioned from a relatively cut and dry gallery book to a snapshot of my motivation, inspiration, memories and inner-monologue. It is something I’m immensely proud of, but also something that is a little bit scary to share with the world.

I decided to make the book available in the Blurb store for now. I may consider Amazon, Ingram or an iBook release in the future, but it’s super easy to sell your book through the Blurb store - and it is the most cost-effective way to get this out to you all for the time being. Plus I really like their marketplace, it’s been a fun community to poke around in - lots of interesting people making some very interesting books.

The creation of this book has been a wonderful process, a chance to engage on a much more personal level with my viewers and a chance to have a different type of discussion with myself about my work, presented via a totally different medium. The design, digital creation, uploading and ordering process were a breeze and I am just so thrilled with the overall experience. I’m looking forward to bringing a few copies to my next show!

(( If you can’t make it one of the shows in Michigan or Florida and want to order a copy for yourself, head over to the link and purchase from the Blurb store. Send me your order confirmation and I’ll send over a little thank you present. <3 ))

Connecting with my work through a different medium has been such a transformative experience. Removing the context of ‘a painting’ has led to some really great conversations with myself about motivations and growth. What about you? Have you showcased your work via another medium? Video, book, performance? What have you learned in the process?