Our artists have taken their time to hone their skills and become the professionals they are today. While maintaining their studio practice some have also published books. In the gallery, you will find art books ranging from exact replicas of sketchbooks to a deep dive into the inspiration behind an exhibition. It is a great way to give admirers of the artist a solid collection often interspersed with advice, takeaways, and personal stories. Boggess, Lashley, Holtzclaw, Mann, and VanDerHoek with Basham have published books that we sell in the gallery plus a fresh take on contemporary realism by John Seed.
Lynn Boggess‘ “Tactile Realism En Plein Air” is a beautiful collection of his impasto plein air paintings sprinkled with selected quotes, a look at his outdoor setup, and comes with a custom bookmark. Boggess has been perfecting his iconic impasto plein air style for over 20 years. Each work becomes a time capsule allowing a master painter to interpret nature’s beautiful scenes and deliver viewers quite the experience. His works capture the sense of being outdoors, the sounds of nature underfoot, and the feel of light as it drapes the scene.
Christine Lashley published “Finding Beauty in the Modern World” where she writes about why she loves painting en plein air and how it exercises her creativity. Known for her paintings of beautiful scenes around the world, she reveals her inventive approach to dealing with the travel shutdowns of our recent pandemic. Sectioning the book into wilderness, pasture, garden, and urban scenes allows us to glean a deep appreciation of her breadth and adaptive impressionist style.
Paula Holtzclaw’s “Southern Exposure” is a wonderful new addition to our book inventory. We exhibit her luminescent lowcountry paintings but her book explores a collection of her works spanning multiple genres. The four sections of the book present landscapes, lowcountry shrimping scenes, seascapes, and still lives. The book includes explanations of inspiration for select works, behind-the-scenes photos of her teaching and painting en plein air, plus insight into her personal life and travels.
Jeremy Mann has published a total of six books spanning his figures, cityscapes, sketches, and plein air works. In these books, Mann shares tips and tricks of the trade alongside his unique figure, plein air, and cityscape work. He divulges his preferred tools, gives us a look at his personal (handmade) cameras, and plein air setup. His sketchbooks are created using a method that replicates his original book with smudges, transfers, and notes in all their glory, plus they come with a red ribbon bookmark. Plein Air Vol. 2.3 also comes with a wraparound bookmark. Also known as @redrabbit7, Mann has acquired a great following for his artwork on social media. It doesn’t take a long time for fans to want to collect them all!
“From Above” is an interesting dual-artist brainchild produced by a happenstance meeting at our very own Principle Gallery between Jill Basham and Kim VandDerHoek. This chance meeting sparked a joint exhibition highlighting the specialties of both artists which produced a body of landscapes and glittering cityscapes with aerial views. The book also discusses the collaborative painting the artists completed for the exhibit by sending it back and forth across the US during COVID-19. “From Above” catalogs the entire show and gives perspectives, thoughts, and challenges from both artists during the process.
On the other side of artist-published books, there is literature about our artists. The gallery and our artists are consistently featured in well-read art publications such as American Art Collector, Beautiful Bizarre Magazine, Fine Art Connoisseur, and more. Magazines like these keep collectors in the know of upcoming shows, emerging artists, and new work from artists they love. These art magazines highlight galleries for recent sales, upcoming exhibitions, and include various creative articles.
For art lovers who want to explore the more avant guard side of contemporary realism, John Seed brings us “More Disruption”. Published in 2023, the sequel to his book “Disrupted Realism” is 224 pages full of 43 contemporary artists who are transforming what realism means today. Each artist gives us a peek into their creativity through Seed’s four-question interview and a selection of works that embody their style. Emerging through established artists are included in this installment, Seed noticed many are influenced by by artists like Jenny Saville, Gerhard Richter, and Francis Bacon. “Disrupted Realism” also featured Principle artists like Aiden Kringen, J Louis, Valerio D’Ospina, Maya Kulenovic, and Zack Zdrale.
Come into the gallery to flip through any of our books on display. You can also check our Instagram page for videos and our website for more.
Contact us to get yours!
Principle Gallery 