Ink and Tome Art.

  So very excited to partner once again with The Little Hill Shop in charming Leslie, AR. to celebrate the release of Hannah Lee and the Week of Dreams! Please come join us for tasty themed treats and a fun read aloud for the kids! I'm planning and bringing some fun little surprises to give away as well! See you there!

 I've been realizing that I need to do an update here on the blog really badly and I think the best way to get on with it would be to make a list of everything I've gotten done in the art and writing world in the past year since I've posted! I never meant to abandon this blog, but I see that I never even updated my links when my most recent book came out! Shameful!  I finished the art for " The Gardeners Plant a Seed" near the beginning of the year and it was published by author R.S. Johnson later on in the fall. There were a total of 23 watercolor paintings plus a handful of black and white pencil sketches for this project so it was definitely one of the biggest projects I did in 2025! In March, I got to be at the Author fest in Conway, AR. hosted by Beans Books, and I had such a great time meeting readers and authors alike! I'd love to get back to the event with my books or even just to walk around!  I did the act dividers for Cassius God of the seas. I did ...

 Hello friends! It's been about a year since I've updated the blog but I haven't slowed down on my art related projects a bit! I did take a big step back from social media last year in order to focus on the art for a book that will be coming out in the near future and to welcome our 8th child, born in January! A recent goal of mine has been to work on reviving my old @ink_and_tome IG account into something that is more up-to-date and reflecting my current work. It's kind of a challenge trying to resurrect a long dormant page over there, and the algorithms don't give you much help, but it has been fun slowly reconnecting with other authors and artists and building a nice portfolio of work back up.  One way that my newly active Instagram was helpful recently, was in spreading the word about a local event! I was able to participate in my first ever author fest and wow, what a time! A whirlwind of over 40 local authors, coffee, music, good eats and bookish merch, I only...

 I can hardly believe it, but it's true! My new book, my first ever Author/illustrator work is formatted, downloaded to kpd, and I've held the proof in my hands and poured over the finished pages! Now I finally get to reveal the cover! Publication day is June 10th,  2024! Pre-orders for the paperback was not an option I was given, unfortunately,  but I am releasing the kindle version for pre-order now.  I'm told if the ebook gets enough attention it will help Amazon's algorithm "see" my book and push the physical version out for more people to see. I've actually priced the ebook version as low as it would let me as a "thank you" to those who order before release day! I'm linking that HERE .

My current main project is a children's picture book that is set in the fall, and, while I plan on the release date being next year, I am relishing the chance to lean into creating the illustrations during these glorious October days. Of course,  being a mom, most of my painting is actually done at night, but the daily inspiration isn't nothing! 🍁😍🍁 My goal with this book is to self publish through print on demand, but I am going to try to hold myself to industry standards (such as page count) as much as possible.  I really want to be able to offer a beautiful, professional end product when I'm all done. Something that people would be proud to offer in a book store, or excited to share with their family.    I'm really motivated, but also a little overwhelmed by all the technical stuff. I don't really like computers,  gosh darn it! Sometimes I worry that in an age when so many artists work digitally that I'll be considered a dinosaur before I've even reall...

Sometimes you just need to pick up your pencil or your brush with no agenda and relax.  You never know what you'll end up with.                                      Cheers!