“I have deep faith and a deep and abiding confidence in myself and those around me that we will continue to create good works and share them with others. Our riches are the rewards of joy inherent in that philosophy.”
Connie Houser is no stranger to creativity. As a professional writer, an award-winning artist and an acclaimed author, she has been well acquainted with varied forms of creative expression that has not only enriched her life, but has also enhanced her experience of it.
Through her resourcefulness, she has exhibited the possibility of pursuing different artistic endeavors passionately and bringing them together successfully. It was this character of creativity that prompted her to produce ‘The Letters: Portrait of an Artist, Jim Houser’.
“I thought it was time to chronicle the events in our creative lives for others to share since we have achieved a degree of success,” Connie says of her inspiration behind her self-published book.
The creative life she is talking about is the one she shares with her husband, renown painter Jim Houser.
The Letters is a testament to the lifestyle of creativity espoused by the Housers – a lifestyle that is captured beautifully through photographs of Jim’s paintings and the words of Connie’s imagined letters. The paintings included in the book are some of Jim’s best work, which have been displayed in the artist’s gallery of Who’s Who in American Art.
Connie compiled photos of Jim’s paintings to visually represent the couple’s artistic life, while her words imaginatively expresses the passion she shares with her husband for life, love, art and each other. “I decided to present our creative journey succinctly in imagined letters to each other rather than the usual dissertation on the art”.
The innovative presentation of the Housers’ creative journey in words and images is matched by the author’s idea for the design of her book. “I wanted to present a new concept in art books with the reproductions at each chapter and the size – 8 1/2 square – smaller than the usual huge coffee table book so that it can be easily read as well as displayed.”
For the publication of The Letters, Connie researched on various print-on-demand publishers and decided that POD publishing was the only avenue where she could exercise the creative freedom to finish her book the way she wanted. After ascertaining that Xlibris would provide her with what she needed for the production of her book, Connie went ahead with the publication process.
Of her experience with the Xlibris creative team, Connie says she was “lucky enough to encounter several young employees whose knowledge, help and enthusiasm got me through the early days of signing on and into production. I also wanted quality reproductions [of Jim’s paintings] and although that was harder to achieve from a distance, the company’s CEO, John Feldcamp, made it happen as well as he could. Over all, it was a very pleasant experience with several outstanding employees helping along the way.”
Connie’s pleasant publishing experience complemented her passion in marrying the art of painting with the art of writing. The result is a sumptuous concoction of creativity that represents Connie’s achievements as an acclaimed writer and her husband’s accomplishments as a renown painter. The Housers’ passion for life and the arts was translated well into the pages of a book that shares their spirit and talent to enable others to experience their resultant creative work. This has made The Letters into a work of art that the reading public and lovers of art have enthusiastically received and valued.
The Letters also garnered acclaim and honorable mentions in book festivals in California and New England in the US, and in London in the UK, which has certified the quality of the book and the creativity of its author.
Aside from enjoying these recent successes, Connie keeps up with the promotion of The Letters through local sources, newspapers and contests. She still pursues her passion for writing by working on another book and she continues to paint. She continues to enrich her life and enhance her life experiences by keeping herself acquainted with creativity.
The Letters: Portrait of an Artist, Jim Houser is for sale at Amazon, Xlibris, Barnes & Noble and Borders.
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