Dear community of colour lovers, makers, worshipers, whisperers and other multi-hued wizards… I have decided to put online my whole book about Paint (eight years of research and ninety thousand words!)
I feel Hues in Tubes is done and interesting (Pigments! Binders! Paint making! History! Science! Art!… in short, just about everything of importance) and worthy of sharing (sometimes really hard to find information in there which might help painters and other lovers of colour get an even greater understanding and hence appreciation of their materials.) I also share some genuinely colourful and fun stories along the way… trust me!
There are personal reasons behind my decision to publish this book online. I have felt for some months that it is done and that my appetite for walking the last line was dwindling by the week. For one, curiosity seems to be tugging at my wings, and as much as I have enjoyed learning about art materials and the people behind this niche and much-beloved world, Life seems to be taking me on another path. (The Muse has not (so far) been kind enough to clarify what it will look like nor where it will lead me, but certainly not in spending the following months (years!) of my life rewriting the entire book ten times to please an agent, then a publisher, then… Plus, as that was my profession, I love researching artworks to illustrate my point and, this way, I get to use ALL the images I want!
But there are other reasons, too. When I began my blog/website, it was the sharing of information that excited me and the possibility that you might prove me wrong or could pass on complementary information that would enrich the text. The beauty of this formula is that I can make changes and add info at any stage. After making that decision, I also remembered that I had pinched some of the material from my own website/blogs but that, now, I need not do that. A link would suffice and help you not get bogged down by lengthy explanations or descriptions.
And SO… I shall be uploading a section of the book once a week in a post and, when all is done, the book will be available to download entirely for free (I’m also quite over selling anything.) I’m choosing this format as I’m hoping these will be manageable reading treats and it also gives me the opportunity to review each section as it comes. (I take writing seriously, even if I try to be as fun as possible because I take laughter even more seriously.) Too, I hope your comments will improve the final version by picking up any misunderstandings or mistakes I might have made, as I respect knowledge. You’ll just have to wait more than a year for the complete book-that-is-not-a-book tis all…
Love from the girl who’s in bed with Mona Lisa (well, sort of)
Click on Synopsis to get a little taste of what’s coming
and on Table of Contents to see the whole book.
Happy reading!
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in bed with mona lisa 
What a generous and creative choice for your book – and also I hope a liberating one that will allow you to discover the next window onto the world. I’m looking forward to reading (and learning) about pigments, paint and all that turns one into the other. Wishing you a very happy year of sharing your work. xx
Thank you and more thanks for all your support during this birthing process!!
Thank you for your decision to publish on line.
I enjoyed the reasons you gave for doing so.
Oh Nicholas, how delightful to hear from you… You’ll soon see and read how much it has meant to me to be able to meet you, your staff, your inspiring store (and the maze below it!) while having the privilege of discovering and enjoying the company of these gorgeous (if dusty) pigments in your archive! I hope we meet again one of these days. My very best to you, S.
WONDERFUL! I can’t wait to read your book – thank you for your generosity.
THank you! I really hope you will enjoy it…
Bravissima, I’m so so proud of you and anxious to read it all ! Great idea to offer it by chapter. Big hugs in hues Lesley
Thank you, my friend… BIg colourful hug back to you!!
Sabine – it’s you at last, and your wit, creativity and charm are still exactly the same, however there’s a hyphenated addition to your name [?] and you’ve finally completed your unique and extraordinary book. Of course, being you, you have thought of the most sensible way to send it out on it’s journey into the world, so that you can travel in a new direction. If only that direction was South but Tom says you won’t ever come back here unless [ perhaps ] for a visit if one of your boys were in Australia.
Thank you for continuing to include me in your very special emails, in spite of my being a hopeless correspondent. Tom and I are still where you left us, after lunch, in Pacific Vista Drive. Sophie, who lives here too, is in year 12 at Byron High. [a book in itself!] Soph is unsure of the next step into university, the only definite idea being it must be in a city, preferably New York [she hasn’t been to London yet!] but realistically it might be Sydney. With Maths and English at advanced level, plus Multimedia and Ancient history as her 2 favourite subjects, who knows what lies ahead… News of your boys would be great. Sophie loved the Japanese books you gave her and was VERY disappointed that Byron High did not offer Japanese as a HSC subject.
Looking forward to reading your colourful book in instalments — it will be easy to make time. Cheers from the South, Edith x
p.s. The bed in the spare room is made up [just in case]
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OH Edith… my most faithful supporter! So lovely to hear from you… will you send me a one liner email inbedwithmonalisa@icloud.com so I can answer you properly? Love S
I love the thought of reading some each week.😃 Thank you Sabine so much for your generosity. I am grateful for your curious mind and open-handed heart. xx Zom
Thank you so much Zom… I’m pretty excited to release my baby into the world, and hope you will enjoy it!
A gathering of yr past hey …
What a grand idea… an ideal way to grow into the community around you…
I just printed a small part of the writings of the Sam that have been locked away in hard-drives for the last decades… 500 pages today were printed..,
The pigments of Earth that come to greet us thru the eyes is a delight I have been waiting for (what seems like) forever from you to release upon our planet of Light thru the eyes.
I am absolutely delighted to be here…
✅💕🙏
I am totally delighted to have you here too!! love S