Photo Collection Publication

After two years I finally finished the collection of images of the Washington Coast!
It's a humble little publications but 40 pages of black and white photography I took over the past two years.
Now available on MagCloud for only $12.50!

This is rated for all audiences, makes a great gift or coffee table book.  Measure 8x8 inches.

Washington Coast

By Jeni Gray in Photo Gift Books

40 pages, published 10/24/2019

A collection of black and white photography. Featuring the coast along the State of Washington, USA. This is the perfect soft cover coffee table book or gift. Rated for all audiences.

Poetry and Photos Part 2

These two books were created in the same year, 2018.  Gray Photography is a compilation of some of my images up to and including part of 2018, in both color and black and white. 

Raw; Verse and Visuals, was created in 2018, with new images and brand new poetry.  

2018 was a year of inner reflection and stepping out of my comfort zone, way out.  These are the darkest parts, that haunt us all.  Not necessarily depressing, just wide open and, well, raw.

This was incredibly healing for me to get all this out.  Sometimes you have to wait till the offending family members leave this world before you can come out with - everything.

Through this healing journey I was inspired to shoot all new photography, return to my first love, black and white, and created a large new body of work that has yet to be released in book form but many of the images are available on my website.  I am planning to compile the best of those images and get a book out this year (2019).

These two books are also available from right here on the blog, from the publications page. 

If you've had some ideas rolling around in your head for a book but just haven't taken that step yet, I encourage you to self publish.  It's a fast and fun way to get your creations out there - now!

I'm happy to answer any questions you have, just leave them in the comments.

Poetry and Photos Part 1

The first two books I'm going to talk about today were compilations of poetry I'd written over the years, the "best of" my endless ramblings of prose and rhyming works.

The first book I ever put together was Poetic Zen, around about 1998, before I had a computer.  I actually went to a print shop (yes, they had those then too) and had several copies made.  They sold in local bookstores and at book signing events. 

Years went by and new poems had been written.  The digital world was now accessible to me and I proceeded to create my own publications in Office Publisher, converted to PDF and uploaded to a nifty printing site (referred to as POD:  Print On Demand).  With new poems added and a new layout and cover design, I purchased them for local sales and gifts. 

Around 2006 I had this crazy title for a poem rolling around in my head;  Jesus and the Cheesecake Factory.  It never left me.  I wrote the poem but was reluctant to use it for a book title thinking it might put some folks off.  

So the next book was born;  The Afternoon of Life.  It didn't sell well but I think the title was too depressing.  I meant it as something positive, but you would have had to read the poems in it - and I don't think anyone got past the title, lol.

Finally in late 2017 through early 2018 I was on a roll, writing new and bolder poems than I ever had, revealing dark secrets about my past.  I was also shooting new photography.

So I decided to take the plunge - compile the best poems from the Afternoon of Life with the new poems and images - and finally use that title:  Jesus and the Cheesecake Factory.  

Well this bold artistic expression lead to more, and before I knew it I was a writing fiend again, spilling my emotional guts and experimenting with new images.  

That lead to book number 3 which I'll talk about about in the next post.

Poetic Zen (the second edition) and Jesus and the Cheesecake Factory are available from right here on the blog, on the Publications page (link in top bar).  Just click on any book image and it will take you to the MagCloud site for purchasing information.  These two are now available for under $10 each and digital versions are also now available for only $2.99.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the saga.

Fall Projects

Sunset on the Washington coast

 Fall is in the air!  The first couple of rainy, cool days here has me slowing down after a seemingly never ending year.

Spring and summer were full of remodeling projects and work, a nice end to summer with a visit from some of my family and a wrap up to yard work.

I am so grateful to have this life.  Have I thanked you yet?  My readers and followers?  I have met some truly wonderful people through this blog over the years.  I consider you friends and colleagues.

In the Fall as I slow down, I also find a need to simplify.  This is good for the soul.  I often take on too many projects and spread myself too thin, ever do that?  Well this year I have a better plan.

One website, one blog, one Facebook page.  I have one Instagram account and one Pinterest account as well.  

This will make my life so much easier and less stressed as I head into next year.  I already have a business and household to run, but love my side business in the creative arts.  

Although I did close my Etsy shops this year, I am still pursuing online sales for my photography and publications.  The time has come to simplify it all and have it make more sense.

As I catch my breath I am thinking about some fun but low key projects for Fall.  Since self publishing three small books last year, I now need to promote them.  I have posted them on the "Publications" page with links to purchasing, but I haven't actually taken the time to properly promote them here on the blog.  So I'll introduce them each in their own post, this way I can describe them in a little more detail.  

I know it's hard to shop online, you want to be able to pick an item up and look at it and touch it before you buy it, try it on or just see it in real life.  These posts will give you a better idea what my books are all about. And the best news is that all the prices have been lowered!  So they will make great gifts as well. 

I hope this finds you enjoying your life, till next time!

J

2016 - It's A Wrap!

Huckleberry hollow underwent some major improvements this year.
To recap, here's an overview, follow the links to read the full posts.

Back in April of 2016 I decided to redo the bathroom - again - and it really turned out nice.  New paint, trim and floor paint.  You can read the full post here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/04/bathroom-make-over-again.html .

All Spring and Summer a friend helped me install a new 6 foot cedar fence along my property line.  This was labor intensive!  Together we cut the labor costs and although it took us several months of part time work, we were able to finish it in time for some outdoor deck sitting - with privacy.
You can view the complete post here: https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/07/fence-me-in.html .

In the middle of the summer I started working on new ways to skirt the mobile.  I love Pinterest and get a lot of my ideas there.  I found some great ideas on alternative skirting concepts and used two of them for around my place.
One was a row of concrete blocks placed just under my addition, leaving about an inch of air flow space.  Another was to use cedar fence boards like pickets, around other sections of the home.
Two posts covered this subject and they are here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/07/skirting-issue.html .  And here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/07/skirting-issue-part-ii.html .

By the time summer was winding down and had a little more free time from work, I decided it was time to tackle the mud room and front deck issues.  There was dry rot and leveling that needed addressing.  Again my friend helped me with the leveling and I replaced the top deck boards last.
That post is here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/10/restructuring.html .
 You'll notice some additional upgrades to the paint around the place too.

After that we transplanted 2 of my very large bamboo into 4 bigger pots, as well as dividing them.  They are 12 feet tall now and have occupied those pots for about 10 years.
They add the perfect privacy screen above the new fence!
That post is here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/10/bamboo-transplanting.html .

By then the weather was changing and it was time to focus indoors.
I needed to finish working on a back bedroom that needed some odd repairs, not pictured, but not interesting in photos anyway.  The goal here is always about insulation and sealing, while still trying to maintain aesthetics.  It's not a pretty place, but it is very functional.
I also worked on the other two little bedrooms, carrying on the same theme with new paint.

I also revamped my first poetry book, Poetic Zen, with new color photographs.  The post is here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/12/new-book.html , with a link to ordering it.

After the fallout of 11/9 so many of us were devastated by the news of a new leader that when I finally regained some optimism, I decided to pull together some artists and writers and publish a book about hope.  It's called Messages of Hope and the post is here:  https://huckleberry-hollow.blogspot.com/2016/12/messages-of-hope.html .  You can order from the links there.

I wrapped up the year by reopening my Etsy shop and diving back into metalsmithing.  I purchased a new domain name for it as well, you can visit it here: www.jgray-design.com .
My goals this year are to increase my work-from-home income with finished jewelry pieces as well as supplies for other artists in similar mediums which lead to a second shop just for supplies at www.jgdsupplies.com

So the smallest bedroom has been converted into half storage and half art studio.  Upcoming posts on that as I try to squeeze another work space into an already tiny space!

Thank you all for following along with me on my journey to remodel my life.  :)
Farewell 2016, and hello 2017!  May we all prosper and find joy. 

Blog Tune Up

The inspiration continues and the ideas are flowing!
I've been tweaking the blog today to ease navigation, organize and de-clutter!

I've added new pages:  Nature Cards and Books, and renamed others.  What used to be the Mission Statement page is now simply called About New Pioneer, and NP Styles is now About NP Styles.  

This makes it easier for newcomers and general reference.

The Nature Cards page is a big deal!  I first took the best of my recent images and created a new gallery on my artist website at Fine Art America (you can view it here ).  These images are only available as greeting cards at this time.  If you are interested in enlargements please contact me.

Then I created the new Nature Cards page on the blog (view here ) which is the full collection with several links for purchasing.

I have been with Fine Art America for almost three years and they do beautiful printing, timely shipping, and secure purchasing.

The Books page was a terrific way to get them all in one place!  I have several photo collection books available through MagCloud;  great coffee table books or gifts.  I also have my second poetry book and the Backyard Bird Sighting booklet available.  You can view that page here .

I'm gathering recent poems for a third book, coming soon, and I plan to reprint the first book from 2004 in this new format on MagCloud - so stay tuned for that!

Additionally, I have cleaned up the side bars on the blog.  The images to the left under the first house photo are all available as greeting cards and click-able to that page.

On the right side bar under recent posts I have added easy access links to the pages as well.

Other new surprises coming soon will be a Nature Kit, The Shift oracle cards, and several new ideas for quick downloadable guides!!

Whew!  What a great day for cleaning blog house.

Thanks for being here!

Photo Books

(imported from my former photo blog)
For the past couple of weeks I have been working on some publications, my images in a book form.  I found MagCloud to be the best and most affordable for this.  They offer an easy to use platform for uploading and printing publications.

I now have four books that categorize my many years in photography.  They will be available to the public soon!  I ordered a copy of each of them so that I can see the hard copy before I go public.

Their titles are the same as the collections;  2012 Series, The New World, Looking Glass and the collection of black and white images is called Through My Lens.

The first three collections are limited editions as prints, so only available through me, but greeting cards can be purchased at my site on Fine Art America here.

The black and whites are not limited and cards and prints of any size are also available there.

As is usually the way of the artist, I initially intended these "books" just for myself, a way to see my work at a glance.  I can also take them with me to prospective galleries or other outlets as a sort of portfolio.

Of course my relatives now know what they're getting for gifts this year too!

The second publication I did after the Backyard Bird Tracking template, was a collection of poems and images which I wrote about on my other blog.  This gave me a lot of practice at the online process.

I really want to encourage anyone who has thought about putting their art, poetry, essays, or novel to print, to check out MagCloud.   Finally the age has come where we can be a powerful force to not only promote our own work, but to create it without refinancing our homes!

Self Publishing

With the affordable availability to create publications online, I have been inspired to create my second book of poems.  I'm using MagCloud and am amazed at how easy it is to use!

Just like my Backyard Bird Sighting template I created in Publisher, I converted it to a PDF and then uploaded it to their site.  I can review it before saving and ordering.

OK, enough about them.  This second collection of poems were written over the last six years, except two of them are from the first book (Poetic Zen);  Return to the Sea, which I think I wrote over twenty years ago, and Outta This World which I wrote in the early 2000's.  It took best of show in literary works at the local fair.

I have also included some of my favorite photographs.

It's a small book, 8.5 x 5.5, great for the coffee table, perfect bound, with full color images, 28 pages.

I have been wanting to put out a second collection for years, since my first book came out in 2004, but time and events and life seem to get in the way.

Eventually things worked out and I see the perfection in it all.  I needed this time to not only write more, but to find a theme.  Well, middle age has brought some interesting insights, so I thought I would call it The Afternoon of Life, which I actually got from watching Wayne Dyer's movie The Shift.  He talks about some of the spiritual changes we go through at this time.

If you're not a fan of poetry then this might not interest you - but for those of us who often stare at trees, mystified by their beauty and try to put that into words - this is for you.

Very affordable as a hard copy at $9.95 at MagCloud (plus shipping), but also available as a digital download for only $6.

I give you The Afternoon of Life, Verse and Visuals by J Gray.

The Afternoon of Life

The Afternoon of Life is a collection of poems and images by J Gray.

I invite you to comment about poetry and how it has affected your life, or who your favorite authors are.  If you too are a poet, check out MagCloud and get your work out there!