the new studio!

Presenting the official new headquarters for Kris Waldherr Art and Words. (Which is, as you can tell, still very much a work in progress).
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View of the entrance. Nice big storefront window! Note half pint assistant on chair awaiting instructions (or inspiration).
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View of my work area — drawing board and tables. Still need to bring my desktop computer set up and file cabinets over.
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What will be the gallery area. Already I’m planning three exhibitions for the year, the first of which will probably go up this spring. (The recycling is not an art installation.)
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Another view.
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To get to this stage of semi-completion took a lot of work — all done while finishing up the queens book and working on a new oracle project. (No wonder I’m so tired these days!) But there’s much more to be done, stuff to be moved and so on. But all of this will be done over the next few weeks. The important thing is that I can now paint and work in the space without tripping over boxes and cans of paint.

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finished! (for now)

As you may have guessed from my silence, I’ve been engrossed in writing the last pages of my tragic queens book. And, as you may have guessed from the title of this post, I’ve finished — at least until I get edits back from my publisher.
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The manuscript went off to Doubleday last week. No word from my editor yet save a “we received it and how many bound galleys would you like” e-mail. So I assume all is well! I sent the manuscript as a design dummy — have about twenty pieces of black and white art to do, but that’s not due until July. For now, the heavy lifting is over (knock wood!).
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Predictably, I woke up the morning after sending the final book off with a sore throat which rapidly ripened into a nasty cold. Within twenty-four hours, I was coughing up a storm worthy of Violetta in the last act of La Traviata. As of today, I’m still under the weather, but am functional.
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Though I’ve met my book deadline, there’s lots of other projects on the horizon. Work on my storefront-studio-gallery is moving forward. Wood flooring has been installed and the space is currently being painted. Shelving will be delivered Friday. After that, I plan to start moving in and setting everything up this weekend!
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On the work front, I’m illustrating (actually adapting existing illustrations for) a new oracle deck with Nicki Skully and Linda Starwolf, authors of Shamanic Mysteries of Egypt. Some have you may have noticed that some areas of this site aren’t functioning as they should, primarily the newsletter sign up and e-cards. That’s because my website got hacked into over the holidays by a spammer; I’m currently looking for a new mailing list host, so if anyone has any recommendations, send ‘em my way. I’ll be fixing up the nasty mess the spammer left over time, since I plan to relaunch Art and Words in a month or so. In the meantime, things are what they are.
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Even with all of this, after the intensely focused labor of writing Doomed Queens, I feel like I have breathing room again — even with the croup. \

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In my next post, I’ll bring you up to date on what’s going on with my storefront, complete with photos! I hope everyone’s new year is off to great start.

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big news (to me, anyway)

Well, here’s my news — this will probably seem anticlimactic after the build up in my last post . . .

I’ve rented a commercial space for Kris Waldherr Art and Words. It’s a large, light-filled storefront located here in beautiful Brooklyn, NY. The space will double as my studio as well as a gallery to eventually display my art, books and products. My intention (besides having more space to paint and write) is to create a sort of updated Kelmscott Press-inspired atalier, where artists and writers will find inspiration and beauty.

I just signed the lease today. I’ll be having it painted and spruced up over the next month, while I finish up my manuscript here. The space should be ready for me to move in just after the new year — just in time for me to start working on the art for the queens.

That’s the news! I’m excited but nervous. But after working in an 6 x 8 foot hallway since Thea’s birth, I’m more than ready to expand my workspace.

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still still here . . .

I’ve just finished the fifty queen bios that make up the bulk of my book. Yup, there’s some editing that remains, but most of them (I think) are in pretty good editorial shape.
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Next on the horizon: chapter intros, book intro and a few other associated pieces of the puzzle. But otherwise, I’m pretty much there. I can’t quite believe it, especially when I think back over all the research and writing of the past six months!
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I’ve also had other book-related stuff to distract me. Last week, I had a telephone cover conference with the cover designer, who has a wonderful, witty idea that I think will work very well. It involves my adapting a portrait of Marie Antoinette to allow the type to be placed just so. (Though I’m designing the book interior, I decided that I wanted to work with a cover designer this time around. After so much work, I was afraid that I’d be too close to the book to know what’s best for the cover.) There was also comments and edits for the catalog copy, all relatively minor but taking time nonetheless. Also had an author photo shoot yesterday, which is one of my less favorite things to do. Nonetheless, I think the photographer did a good job despite my being a less-than-extroverted model!
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There’s also news here that it’s a little premature to announce. But trust me, it’s big. If all goes as I hope, I’ll be making an announcement maybe later today.

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a brief history of children’s books

Slate has posted a slideshow about the origins of children’s books entitled “How Children’s Books Became Wild.” It is inspired by Timothy Young’s new book Drawn to Enchant, which looks fascinating. It includes children’s book illustrations from the Betsy Beinecke Shirley Collection.
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Enjoy!
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Technorati Tags: children’s books, children’s book illustrations, history of children’s books, Timothy Young, Betsy Beinecke Shirley Collection

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