Book Launch preparing for takeoff! 🚀
Special edition of Art Blotter Plus
This is an in-between issue of Art Blotter Plus - the regular format featuring an under-recognized artist will return soon. I've already picked out the next artist!
Hardcover coffee table edition arrived!
The book looks fabulous thanks to my superlative designer, Domini Dragoone, and the incredible production standards at Edition One Press.
The books arrived in a huge FedEx truck, partially blocking the street. The driver said he usually makes deliveries to commercial loading docks, not apartments. BF and a neighbor managed to wrestle the 800 pounds of books into our house. We then staged an unboxing video, which is de rigueur in the indy publishing world.
Full disclosure: I had to re-tape the box 3 times because we messed up the video!
Party planning…
Less than one week away! The in-person party is Saturday, October 11, at 5:30 in San Francisco. There are still a few spaces if you’d like to come. Of course, there’s no limit at the world-wide Zoom party on Sunday, October 19th - local times are in the invitation:
Street parking can be challenging, but there’s a parking lot nearby at the CPMC garage, located at the corner of Duncan Street and San Jose Avenue.
Remember to pick up codes for your free ebook and/or audiobook. Paperbacks and deluxe coffee table editions will be for sale, or you can pre-order here:
Along with the excitement, there have been tears…
I'm getting many glowing reviews, but this feedback from a judge in the Nonfiction Authors Association awards competition had me in tears:
Photos of famous art in tempera are included. Unfortunately, these serve to highlight the relative lack of skill of the author. She has difficulty obtaining the glow that these other artists create with the medium, and I found (as someone who wrestles with drawing myself) her skills in portraying faces and bodies lacking.
OUCH!!
The book did win a silver medal, and the other judges were complimentary, but their words struck a chord because deep down I still believe my skills are weak.
The entire premise of Art & Love is that I was born without talent, and I had to work hard to achieve the limited mastery that I developed. The comment reopened a wound that I thought I had mostly evolved out of.
The late art critic and writer Robert Hughes wrote:
The greater the artist, the greater the doubt; perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize.1
So, according to Hughes, maybe it’s a good sign that I still have little confidence. And my passion is as strong as ever. I long to get back to painting after the book is launched.
Many authors tell me, “Your book is not for everyone,” and “you need to develop a thick skin.” BF sent me a video featuring one-star reviews of books by famous authors, such as The Great Gatsby, Walden, and Charlotte’s Web, among many others.
In contrast, here is a lovely quote about Art & Love from a Kirkus Review:
An enthralling, erotic read that gently pushes readers to encounter uncomfortable topics — and a visual delight.
Nobody else has called Art & Love “an erotic read,” but it does make it sound enticing!
Here’s the complete review:
Hope to see you at one of the parties! Or both!
Carry on bravely in these worsening times,
Lora
Source: Time Magazine (June 10, 1996)
I love the Kirkus Review and agree with it. Well done!
Congratulations Lora! And I can SO relate to that feeling that my art is never quite as good as I'd like it to be!! Perhaps it's because we have a vision in mind when we create and we judge our work on how closely we mirrored our vision? That's often the case for me. I suspect our finished art is exactly as it is meant to be and perfect as it is.