Report from Art to Art Palette

Pat Rayman and a friend drove more than 100 miles to attend the book-signing at Books & Co. last Thursday evening. She wrote a lovely commentary on the event for Art to Art Palette online magazine. The photo of the Books & Co. staircase gives a much better impression of this fantastic bookstore than the small image on my photo pages of the signing. Erika, the woman she describes, is seated in the front row in a print dress. She's a very interesting person, whom I've met before and enjoyed discussing color with.

Books & Co. signing last night

This was a very special occasion. Twenty of the 21 artists from Ohio who have work in Confident Color showed up for the Books & Co signing. We had a good crowd and a fine time, with artists signing each others' books, as well as those of store customers who came for the talk and signing. I so enjoy watching artists interact this way. Some hadn't seen each other for a long time and others only knew each other by reputation. Here's a photo layout of the event. A big thanks to Books & Co., who always make book signings a pleasure. Our hostess, Julie, was very helpful.

Color Talk

I gathered some charts and fabric samples this morning to use in my brief talk at the Confident Color book signing tomorrow evening. Bookstores sometimes call these events "readings," but I can't imagine reading an art instruction book aloud to a group, can you? The "program" part lasts about 15 minutes, so it isn't a formal talk, just a short show-and-tell with a few questions. Then I'll sign books along with some of the 20 area artists whose works appear in it.

The site is Books & Co. at The Greene, which is a huge, elegant two-story building in an upscale towne center that is fairly new here. Books & Co. started out as a tiny Little Professor bookstore in Town and Country Shopping Center about two miles from my house. A special corner in the back had a lovely sitting area, where an amazing selection of art books were shelved.

Eventually, Joe and Anna, the owners, dropped the franchise and operated independently as Books & Co. From that small space, they expanded continuously, until they became the crown jewel of the center. People drove for many miles to shop at Books & Co., and still do.

This is one of the few local bookstores where national figures and bestselling authors come for book signings. (The store is now owned by Books-a-Million but continues to operate as Books & Co.) Sharon Roth has managed these events for many years, including five previous signings of my books. This is my first at The Greene, where we'll be on the upper level, so it will be a new experience for me. I can hardly wait.

Confident Color coming to the real world

The books are shipping at last. Amazon.com has them, too. Yay! I've shipped and distributed pre-publication orders and signed contributors' copies the past two days. I've been sashaying into the post office with a luggage cart piled with boxes of books to ship. I can feel the glaring eyes of other postal patrons drilling holes in my back. I think I shipped 25 yesterday and 45 today. Another dozen signed, sealed and delivered to the post office tomorrow ought to finish the job.

Today the Artists' Showplace in Dallas is hanging the show of work by artists in the book. I can't wait to see it a week from Friday at their reception.

Then, less than a week later on Thursday, October 16, is my book signing at Books & Co. at The Green in Dayton. This will be my sixth signing hosted by Sharon Roth at Books & Co. She manages the events and they're always a delight. Stop by if you're in the Beavercreek neighborhood at the store at the Green Town Center.