New Book from Nancy Spaulding

Fox Sparrow Press is happy to announce the release of Nancy Spaulding’s eagerly awaited book; Home in an Island Garden – In pursuit of an artful life. This is the story of Spaulding’s life, art, romance and adventures of living in the Pacific Northwest.

“I was in my early 30’s. It was my birthday, and what a gift! We were here at last on the island, and I was beginning to recover from moving day,” Spaulding writes of arriving on San Juan Island.

Her tale begins in 1978, when Spaulding moved to an island off the coast of Washington state with her young family. She and her husband Lewis naively planned to support themselves as artists. This is the story of their adventures together striving for an unlikely success.

The couple worked hard for years to reclaim an old pea farm overrun with rabbits. Between hammering nails, weeding gardens, perfecting their art, and feeding their family they watched their land transform, and their creativity flourish.

Their wild land became a splendid garden habitat; a refuge for themselves and for native wildlife ever flowing through.

“Our refuge is not always well tended, but it is always a place where we feel happy while creating a haven for birds creatures and people,” Spaulding writes.

The 158-page Home in an Island Garden is peppered with some of her well-known pastels and serigraphs like “Bicycle Picnic” and “Moonlight Lilies.” It contains newer work as well, including “A Quail with His Chicks.” Spaulding also shares previously unseen images from her private sketchbooks.

“I hope readers take away the sense of inspiration that has moved me throughout my life,” Spaulding said. “No matter where you are in your life, I think the greatest happiness comes from striving to pursue the work of your choice and that every day along the way offers something worthy of your wonderment.”

Home in an Island Garden – In pursuit of an artful life can be found at Griffin Bay Books and Island Studios, both in Friday Harbor, and local bookstores regionally.

REVIEWS:

• “… Nancy Spaulding’s wonderful artwork brings this book to life, somehow working with the prose to create a very distinctive voice.”
  Thor Hanson
  —Award-winning author of Feathers and Buzz
• “A beautiful testimony to a wonderful and fulfilling life.”
  —Susan Vernon – author of Rainshadow World
• “A unique and unforgettable love story of art, nature, family. Uplifting, awe-inspiring, personally touching. Gorgeous imagery grace these pages with both words and Nancy Spaulding’s original serigraphs, watercolors and pastels.* A book for now and forever, not to be missed.”
  — Tara Mesalik MacMahon, Author of Barefoot Up the Mountain
   
• “What an extraordinary book!  Fantastic imagery married to heart-warming stories of the artist’s way … island style.”
  — Northwest Literary Review

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