Wordly Ways Publishing
I've painted a couple of pottery pieces at birthday parties and tried to copy a small canvas tutorial (using 5 acrylic colors) on YouTube about 5 years ago. This project required me to step out of my skill level and buy paints I'd never used and brushes to make it look easy. While I fondly remember drawing pictures of birds, trees, and fences throughout my childhood, painting a book was never a thought. The idea of exploring which birds were mentioned in the Bible came about naturally from my daily walks at our local nature trail. Herons, egrets, owls, even bald eagles are some of the frequent feathered friends I see against a backdrop of bald cypress trees along Lake Houston.
I began to wonder if herons were found in the Bible. In my search, I was quite surprised by how many different birds were mentioned in the Bible. I've read the story of Noah often, but never realized he sent the raven first- the dove always was the bird that came to mind. These new discoveries inspired me to create a book that would introduce these beautiful birds to our new granddaughter. That week, the Audubon society here in Houston sent me an invitation to practice watercolor with a bird artist. God inspires us and, oh boy! does he light a path for us! My daughter and I signed up for the session. I was amazed at how the artist captured these birds and after trying to use watercolors (first time outside of coloring books as a child) I had managed to create an image- I was a little shocked the small painting actually favored a bird! That vulture sits pinned to my inspiration board in my bedroom as a reminder of how God encourages us to follow through where He leads us even if we don't feel capable.
I spent 4 months painting the birds, 3 days working through how to get a proper scan of them (using our iPhones, home printer and the high scanner at Office Depot), 5 days working feverishly on my 7 day trial of Photoshop and finally figuring out how to use layers/masking/CMYK v. RGB to name a few. I was highly encouraged by amazing photographs that captured such natural moments in the lives of these birds. What I couldn't find on creativecommons.org to inspire me, I relied on professional photographs from general photographers across the globe. Each one I contacted was very generous to let me reference their photos for my illustrations. Please check out their amazing work with birds and more:
www.robinchittenden.co.uk
www.birdsofsaudiarabia.com
www.clemensvanderwerf.com
www.marksmithgallery.com
www.agricaguide.com
www.mikeatkinson.net
When you look at the images they have managed to capture in the wild- your awe of God's creation takes flight!
So far, the ebook has been created using Kindle Direct Publishing through Amazon- but I've hit a snag creating the paperback and hardback. Not understanding the book industry vernacular- I took 6x9 to mean landscape- not portrait. So, trim sizes available for print on demand (POD) don't quite match up with the size of my paintings. I'm letting God lead me on how to make those available as soon as I can. It's always a joy to praise Him before a need has been met- because in His time- it comes to pass!
This labor of love has spurred even more! I now want to make a book of the trees in the Bible! "Treely Ways," "Arborly Ways,"
my daughter declares I can't use Arborly Ways- as my editor- she jokingly says she won't allow it. I think that word held more attachment to trees in my youth than in the youth today. Now that we see how it's done - the ideas keep flowing! She has been working on several historical fiction novels over the past 10 years- we hope to get her books published soon. Even in the times we live in, you can create something with a little inspiration and a lot of God's lighting the paths- be encouraged to make the world better for the next generation!
I began to wonder if herons were found in the Bible. In my search, I was quite surprised by how many different birds were mentioned in the Bible. I've read the story of Noah often, but never realized he sent the raven first- the dove always was the bird that came to mind. These new discoveries inspired me to create a book that would introduce these beautiful birds to our new granddaughter. That week, the Audubon society here in Houston sent me an invitation to practice watercolor with a bird artist. God inspires us and, oh boy! does he light a path for us! My daughter and I signed up for the session. I was amazed at how the artist captured these birds and after trying to use watercolors (first time outside of coloring books as a child) I had managed to create an image- I was a little shocked the small painting actually favored a bird! That vulture sits pinned to my inspiration board in my bedroom as a reminder of how God encourages us to follow through where He leads us even if we don't feel capable.
I spent 4 months painting the birds, 3 days working through how to get a proper scan of them (using our iPhones, home printer and the high scanner at Office Depot), 5 days working feverishly on my 7 day trial of Photoshop and finally figuring out how to use layers/masking/CMYK v. RGB to name a few. I was highly encouraged by amazing photographs that captured such natural moments in the lives of these birds. What I couldn't find on creativecommons.org to inspire me, I relied on professional photographs from general photographers across the globe. Each one I contacted was very generous to let me reference their photos for my illustrations. Please check out their amazing work with birds and more:
www.robinchittenden.co.uk
www.birdsofsaudiarabia.com
www.clemensvanderwerf.com
www.marksmithgallery.com
www.agricaguide.com
www.mikeatkinson.net
When you look at the images they have managed to capture in the wild- your awe of God's creation takes flight!
So far, the ebook has been created using Kindle Direct Publishing through Amazon- but I've hit a snag creating the paperback and hardback. Not understanding the book industry vernacular- I took 6x9 to mean landscape- not portrait. So, trim sizes available for print on demand (POD) don't quite match up with the size of my paintings. I'm letting God lead me on how to make those available as soon as I can. It's always a joy to praise Him before a need has been met- because in His time- it comes to pass!
This labor of love has spurred even more! I now want to make a book of the trees in the Bible! "Treely Ways," "Arborly Ways,"
my daughter declares I can't use Arborly Ways- as my editor- she jokingly says she won't allow it. I think that word held more attachment to trees in my youth than in the youth today. Now that we see how it's done - the ideas keep flowing! She has been working on several historical fiction novels over the past 10 years- we hope to get her books published soon. Even in the times we live in, you can create something with a little inspiration and a lot of God's lighting the paths- be encouraged to make the world better for the next generation!
