“No matter what you create, someone is going to love it and someone is going to hate it. Focus on those who love it.” Drew Brophy, Artist
Have you ever dreamed of having your art featured in a full color book? Like many artists, for years my husband Drew and I dreamed of creating a book of Drew’s art.
But, what held us back was the logistics of it and the cost and, well, the immense amount of time that you have to put into creating the book. Nearly a year for the two of us plus a highly skilled book designer.
Well, I’m happy to announce that just this week we are releasing Drew’s 30 Year Art Retrospective in a book titled:
PAINTING SURFBOARDS AND CHASING WAVES
The book is a 30 year “scrapbook” style showing Drew’s work, going back to the 1980’s when he was a teenager, just trying to find his way in the world, to the present, where he’s a successful and well known artist in his field.
Drew went through an emotional time while creating this book, because while it’s a book of his artwork, it’s also his life story. To write it, he had to go back into some painful memories and recall a lot of the things he went through. Rejections, starving on the North Shore of Hawaii as a surfer, and some really tough times. Telling the story brought all of those feelings back for him to relive.
At times, he considered writing about only the positive stuff. But, I encouraged him to tell the REAL story, not the story he wanted to remember. And the real story was this: in the beginning it was hard. He was rejected by many. The world didn’t come around to Drew’s art or ideas for a long time. And that was painful.
Drew eventually came to realize this:
No matter what you create, someone is going to love it, and someone is going to hate it. He decided to focus on the people who loved it, and let go of the others.
As most of you know, the story has a happy ending, and if you read the book, you’ll see that it ends with a new beginning.
We created a book with the intention of inspiring artists to keep going even if they feel no one gets what they’re doing. The world always comes around, eventually, if you stay true to your inspired ideas.
The writing of this book was hard for both of us. But it was worth it. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it! In my next blog post, I’ll share how you can create your own book.
If you know an artist or creative person that could use some extra inspiration, or if you want it for yourself, please order a copy of the book off of Amazon, here. They are taking pre-orders and are offering $11 off right now. It’s a great deal!
DO YOU PLAN TO CREATE YOUR OWN BOOK OF ART OR STORIES? Please, leave me a comment and share. And ask any question about creating an art book – I feel like I’m a pro now!
Maria xxoo
PS: THIS WEEKEND Oct 27th and 28th at our San Clemente, California gallery, we are having an art exhibit and book release event. You can read details HERE.
If you won’t be in California for the book release, you can pre-order a copy of the book on Amazon .
Congratulations to you and Drew! Such an accomplishment, taking his life’s journey and putting it to paper. Here’e to big sales and big waves!
Thanks Daniel. We appreciate the comment and you reading my blog still after all these years! 🙂
Well done to both of you, and here’s hoping this work of love, and life, is a terrific success!
Thanks Lance!
What a boost this must be for you both. Congratulations! And Maria,…you don’t have to have done something a thousand times to be expert. You just have to have done it more than the people you’re teaching. Sometimes your ‘once’ is exactly what we need.
Jan, you are so right! Thanks for the comment and for always being supportive. I truly appreciate it! xxoo