I’ve been writing Artnotes for 10 years this year.
They haven’t always looked the way they look now, of course.
I tried a few different approaches before I started honing them into the hilarious, wise, erudite missives they are today.
{If you’re new here, I do very occasionally exaggerate. Also, welcome! 🙋🏼♀️ Also, I like emojis.👍 This is good to know if you plan to read any future Artnotes or indeed my new book.}
I could not have anticipated, when I first started sharing my art online, that within five years I’d have started writing emails to strangers on a regular basis, and that a decade after that I’d have created around 20 courses, a membership, and a community of lovely, dedicated artists.
And a large part of how that happened was Artnotes.
If you’ve never received an Artnote, it’s basically an email in which I share stories, insights, what I’ve learned, thoughts about what it’s like to be an artist, and anything that has helped me that I think could help you too.
I love writing them. As a kid I was more a writer than a painter, and to get to do both as part of my work is a real joy.
And what’s been amazing is how much readers love reading them! {Quite handy really. 😉}
“Just read your Artnotes [book] and WOW 👏👏🔥🔥❤️❤️. It was a great read: interesting, inspiring, compelling. And permission to ponder 🤔. So valuable. Thanks 🙏.”
Pamela Jones
I originally put The Artnotes Collection together as an extra gift for new members of the Happy Artist Studio.
Then Deni, who is the design genius behind the book’s gorgeous layout, said ‘You should really be selling this.’
And I thought, why not?
{Experiment is my middle name, as you’ll soon discover if you hang out here for any length of time.}
I forgot what a complete pain it is editing a book so it reads well and looks just right, but I have to say I am so glad I listened to Deni.
First, we put out The Artnotes Collection on Kindle, which was pretty awesome. Quite a few people bought it and loved it. {Thank you so much!}
Then the requests to have a paperback option started rolling in, so I thought, sure, why not? I prefer a good tree book myself.
{Somehow had already forgotten about the editing pain thing, and then had to redo the images because they weren’t all high res enough and I kept finding new typos. 🤦♀️ You just have no idea what goes into these things till you’re all the way in.}
And lo, Deni worked her magic once again, and I am thrilled that The Artnotes Collection is now available on both Kindle and in paperback!
When the proof copy arrived my heart honestly started racing and I felt like a kid at Christmas. It’s such a beautiful book, nice and chunky, easy to dip in and out of, and has been a true collaboration.
The cover photo is by local photographer Ian Kingsnorth, the design is all by Deni {Denise} James, and every word in there {apart from the testimonials and quotes}, and most of the photos, are by me.
Plus, I wouldn’t have actually been able to create this book if there weren’t artists all over the world reading the Artnotes!
That’s why I dedicated it to the readers, because without them this would not be a book.
If you’d like to get a copy of The Artnotes Collection, you can find it on Amazon.
“It’s beautifully written and will be a great book to refer back to when I’m having a bad art day (lots of highlights are being made)!”
Andrea England
