The Magic of Literary Nostalgia
The Young Adult Nostalgia Book Stack Art Print will be available in my shop on Sunday, October 6th, 2019. To celebrate its release, my whole shop will be 10% until midnight on Monday, October 7th, 2019.
Since early childhood, I’ve had a voracious love of reading. I’d dive into anything I could get my tiny hands on with reckless abandon, age level be damned. I’d ricochet between Jane Eyre one day and Goosebumps the next - and hey, some could argue that Eyre is in itself a horror story so maybe there is some consistency. I read The Phantom Tollbooth so many times, I’ve had to glue the cover back on twice. I could replace it with a new copy, but that history is what makes it so special.
In my now-aged state, I can trace a myriad of life lessons that shaped me all the way back to my childhood obsession with books:
Matilda taught me that being a quirky kid with strong interests and limited social interaction didn’t mean I had less of a voice than my peers. This long-time homeschooled kid still owes Roald Dahl a debt of gratitude.
The Baby-Sitter’s Club showed me that you can develop your entrepreneurial spirit at any age, which led me to selling handmade goods in a hobby store by 12 years old. Don’t let your dreams be dreams, kids.
Most influential of all was A Series of Unfortunate Events. Over the course of those thirteen books, I learned to keep moving when things go wrong, to see all the beauty between inevitable hardships, and to never underestimate the power of an extensive vocabulary - all of which has come in handy as I battle complex health problems.
I’m sure each and every one of us can trace back similar pathways. We can attribute persistence to The Hobbit and sacrifice to The Giver. We learned how magical chosen families can be from Harry Potter. Our curiosities were encouraged by Harriet the Spy. We all remember the bonding experience of staying up late with a best friend and traumatizing ourselves with Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
I’ve kept my childhood copies of these books close to my heart, lugging them back and forth with each cross-country move. As adults, our free time is often so limited and it can be difficult to find opportune moments to read. I find myself prioritizing new-to-me novels rather than circling back around to my YA staples. That’s what inspired me to paint this Young Adult Nostalgia Book Stack. Now, every time I walk down my hallway, I am transported back into the feeling of what it was to be young, curious, and craving my next great literary adventure.
The Young Adult Nostalgia Book Stack Art Print will be available in my shop on Sunday, October 6th. To celebrate its release, my whole shop will be 10% until midnight on Monday, October 7th.
Art Gifts For Book Lovers That Won't Miss The Mark
Make your reading room even more cozy with art prints of your favorite books. Click here to shop.
In my experience, an integral part of the holiday season is giving (and receiving) well-meaning-but-not-quite-right presents. I have a really hard time identifying what exactly my family members like and, let’s be real, everyone has that aunt that sees ‘Salem’s Lot on your bookshelf and takes it as their cue to give you Twilight. I love to give people books, but it's so easy to miss the mark. Maybe the perfect gifts for book lovers can be aesthetic. After all, every reader needs a cozy reading room.
This year, I thought I’d try to make things easier for people like me, looking for something to give those literary nerds for whom it is so difficult to buy presents.
Literary gifts that aren’t books
My latest project is a series of digitally painted book stacks, sorted by genre. Each book was lovingly sketched, hand-lettered, and painted with über realistic watercolor brushes. This project was born from a lack of gift ideas but served a dual purpose as a big step in conquering my fear of digital paint.
The first released in the series is a back-breaking stack of classic horror novels. This collection could keep even the most devoted horror fans up at night, reading and listening carefully for a tap-tap-tapping at the bedroom door.
The second is an equally heavy tower of acclaimed sci-fi classics. Before A.I. and robots were a part of our daily lives, the futuristic technology was dreamed up by forward-thinking writers like Octavia E. Butler and Isaac Asimov.
These posters are the perfect gifts for readers, writers, teachers, or anyone who loves a good book. New genres are added regularly, so if you would like updates, sign up for my newsletter.
Unique gifts start with a sketch
High-resolution digital watercolors are perfect for wall prints
To buy a print for the bookworm in your life (or yourself) visit my Etsy shop today.