Month: September 2018

First Reviews: Private Moments Gone Public

| ellenanneeddy
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I just got my first review on One More Once Upon a Time!

one more once upon a time print final8-16_Page_26It’s always a scary moment. I woke up to Don saying, “You’ve got a review today.” And in my head, my mind is going, “Did they like it? Did they? Did they?”
Books have a life of their own. From the moment they’re published they will do things you can’t and go places you can’t. As an author, you just have to get over that.
Books are so private in their making and so public in their lives. You make them mostly in the silence of your study or studio. Then you put them out to do anything they will do in the world. And all of a sudden, people who don’t know you from Adam, know all kinds of things about you. I have, in the past, forgotten what I wrote and been deeply unnerved by what they knew about me.
one more once upon a time print final8-16_Page_34But that’s the wonder of books. We are broader, wider, more public, more real for having written and for reading. Our world is more deeply connected. 
Doing art is similar. You do it because it’s important, vital, to you. The miracle occurs when it matters to someone else as well. Art changes what we think, and how we perceive. It changes what we perceive. What could be more important than that?
But in the end, it was just you fuddling around in the studio. Private becomes public. But maybe, in a small corner, in a small way, we change the world.
So nothing matters quite so much as whether people get it. Did they like it? Did they?
With One more Once Upon a Time, I wanted to showcase the universality of some great older illustrators. And I had a party with the Photoshop toolbox. It’s unabashed eye candy. But who doesn’t have a hungry eye? A huge part of my happiness is when I find something that makes my eyes feel like they’re there for a reason, to see something of delight.
I also had a personal triumph. I figured out how to publish a color book in Kindle. I’m very pleased to be able to share things in another format.
So this is the very nice thing someone called Pedalpoint said about my book.

 

Not your run-of-the-mill picture book, Eddy has used her well-known creative eye and flair for color to create a whole new book experience. This collection of digitally created artwork is based on traditional illustrations used in a very nontraditional way. Be prepared for the unexpected. Some images will bring a smile, others will bring a pause to ponder. Each image is titled, then a short sentence follows to guide your thoughts…or not. And that is precisely what I suspect Eddy is encouraging each of us to do: to think, to visualize, to personalize, and look beyond the obvious. The book has few words, but is large in vision.

Thanks! From my point of view, she got it. Pretty much that’s what I had in mind. That and a party plan with eye candy in a candy bowl.one more once upon a time print final8-16_Page_08

A word about reviews. Even if you don’t like a book, review it. But especially if you do like it. Your word counts! And it helps build interest! As an author I am always grateful for every review.

Check out One More Once Upon a Time. It’s on both Kindle and in print at Amazon.com.

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Mixed Media: Changing Art Forms

| ellenanneeddy

Artists are creatures of habit. We talk about developing a style and a look, but it becomes so much deeper than that. Eventually, we develop a way of thinking artistically that is our own.

So one of the strangest things to do as an artist is to change media. Because it inevitably changes the way we think about how we create.collage

Strangely enough, changing from fiber art to Photoshop was not as bad a stretch as I thought it would be. They’re both done in layers, and what matters is the order of the layers.

Why the change?

I’ve gone through some health passages lately. Last year I spent around 5 months in bed with leg and foot troubles. Wailing around with fabric was hopeless. Getting into the studio was hopeless too. I started working with art that could be in my bed with me.

Matisse paper cut-out

I’m certainly not the first. Matisse was bedridden for a while and did the most amazing art cut-outs of paper painted with gouache. The art doesn’t stop because you’re ill or unable. It’s like water flowing. It finds it’s own way.

 

 

Will I go back to fiber art? I hope so. But the collage has filled a fascinating place for me, and I’m still compelled by it. And dragging large quilts through the machine is physically tough.

one more once upon a time print final8-16_Page_01So in celebration of having made a lot of eye candy, I’ve made a little book of these things. One More Once Upon a Time is a collection of collages made from illustrations of Kay Nielsen, Tenniel, Denslow, Neill, and Grandville. This is a small gallery book of these that I hope you enjoy as much as I do. Available on Amazon and in my Etsy store ( should you want a signed copy.)

You can see more collages on my web page for that.