Happy New Year!
I've finally managed to get the entire Otherworld series available on amazon.com in paperback.
Also, I'm hard at work on the illustrations for the third and final installation of the Kate and Sam Adventures. Stay tuned!
If you're local, please come to my Open Studio Holiday Show on Dec. 3 - 4! It's my first time ever showing at my house, and I'll have all my block prints and books, plus snacks, and little rubber blocks for kids to carve. Stop by to chat... and to see my studio unnaturally clean!
There are also lots of other Needham artists with holiday sales the same weekend. You can see all the variety - from fresh wreaths to jewelry, paintings to origami boxes - and a list of the loctions here: Needham Holiday Sale. This is a great chance to shop local and get your friends and family unique hand-made gifts they're sure to treasure.
The amazing digital age is here! I can now accept credit cards at my art shows. The system is like something out of some future sci fi world - amazing. It also requires me to be able to use my husband's old iphone, so there's going to be a steep learning curve. First opportunity to try it out: Roslindale Open Studios the first weekend in November. Come by, buy something, and witness the future!
I've just opened an experimental CafePress shop. The idea is that you can order some of my designs on mugs, t-shirts, etc. I've only just started and I hope to add more items in time, but you can check it out so far. If there's ever a particular design you'd like to see available, just let me know and I can get it up!
It's time once again to repeat my ongoing plea: Please remember that we small-time artists rely on our fans to get out the word about our work.
If you've enjoyed my artwork and/or my books, here are some ways you might consider helping me. (Thank you for all your wonderful support!)
* If you have a web site, Facebook page, or Twitter account, link to this website.
* Post a review of a book on amazon.com. (My goal is 20 reviews for each book, and I'm still a long way off!)
* If you have a Goodreads account, post reviews there, too.
* If you use Etsy, mark my Etsy shop (NydamPrints) as a favorite.
* Ask your local library to add my books to their collection.
* Lend my books, check them out from your local library, recommend them to your friends.
* And, of course, if you know anyone who might like my art or books, tell them about me!
Amazing, Beguiling, Curious was featured in a great blog post over at Books of Wonder and Wisdom by Janice Floyd Durante. I'm delighted and honored to have a book mentioned there!
In other news, my two big spring shows are over. I'll now be printing the two new blocks I carved at the shows ("April Showers," and "The Back of the Clock"), working on a logo design commission, doing a couple of author visits, and getting back to work on the current book. So you can see why spring cleaning the house is still so far down on the list of priorities...
The latest (and last?) book of the Otherworld Series is finally published! Ruin of Ancient Powers has Svarnil, Nulif, Jiriya, and Oru all on a quest together to investigate the mysterious curse of the ancient lost civilization of Edah. The nameless gods of Edah seem to be responsible for a magic storm that destroyed a city, but even without magic there are dangers enough in the desert... and some of the dangers are with the group wherever they go, including the hatred of the feuding nomads who are their guides... Yes, I'm pretty excited about it! You can check it out here, and a blog entry about it here.
Speaking of Amazon again, Sleeping Legends Lie has gone on to the second round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards. Wish it luck!
I had a wonderful time showing elementary school students how I do block prints in two programs this month. You can read more about my visit to the first graders in my blog entry, A Sunny Morning in First Grade.
I just read that twenty reviews is the magic number for Amazon.com. When a book has 20 reviews, it starts getting recommended by the search engine ("You may also like...", etc.) So I'm aiming for 20 reviews on as many of my books as possible. If you've read and enjoyed any of my books, please help me reach that magic number! Please post a review on amazon.com. (By the way, if you read a different edition, such as the paperback editions of the Otherworld books, just post the review on whatever edition Amazon carries. Your review will work for all the different formats.) Thank you!
My animal alphabet book Amazing, Beguiling, Curious just came out on Amazon.com. I had to reformat to a rectangular size that's a distribution standard before they would carry it, but you can see it here, now.
More shows, more new blocks, but no new writing except the blog. A piece from my blog was just featured in the Printsy blog of the printmakers of Etsy.
Yeah, it's just struck me that, what with one thing and another, I'm doing five shows and sales of various sorts in the next three months. Yikes! Being this busy was never the plan! Still, I'm excited about it, and three of the five are completely new to me. You can check out my schedule on the Where You Can See My Work page, and then check my blog for a report on things afterwards. If you're in the Greater Boston area, please come see me - after all, you'll have no lack of opportunities!
There hasn't been much news recently, but now the kids are back at school and the art work is gearing up. I've got three pieces in a show with a "Water" theme at the Morse Institute Library now, and three more pieces will go up in a group show at TCAN at the beginning of October. I've been hard at work all week on the largest piece I've ever carved, a "Tree Palace," and reorganizing the web site, and soon I'll be getting down to matting and framing for the upcoming Open Studios shows...
I really appreciated the enthusiasm from everyone who came to my Artist Talk at the Weston Public Library. It was a nice crowd and made it a lot of fun. I've been working on the phoenix block that I started as a demonstration there, and I plan to write up the entire process for my blog when it's finished.
In other news, check out my interview with Printsy, the printmakers group on Etsy.
Comments? Questions? Stories about where my art and books are ending up? Write to me! anne@nydamprints.com
Also, if you want to be on my email list to be notified about my shows and events, please send me your contact information (I won't share it or use it for anything else).