HOBE SOUND, Fla., Oct. 16, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Have you ever wondered how a modern artist deals with life, love and his art? The Letters: Portrait of an Artist, Jim Houser by Connie Houser, portrays the creative lives of two modern artists and the successes they've accomplished during their hectic lives. How Jim Houser works within the framework of everyday life while producing his personal realities on canvas is revealed in this book.
The Letters: Portrait of an Artist, Jim Houser is not your usual "run of the mill" coffee table book but a charming and accurate account of modern day artist Jim Houser's life as he creates his paintings and brings them to the public's attention. This fascinating story encompasses the tragedies as well as the successes in the lives of the two people most involved and their interaction with those around them. Written by the artist's wife, Connie Houser, herself an awarded artist and writer, it spans the time period of their relationship thus far and offers insights into not only the creative work but the techniques that allow a fine artist in today's society to achieve goals. Although the letters included are an artistic device to enliven the book, the events are part and parcel of Jim and Connie's lives together.
The almost forty photographs of Jim Houser's paintings included in The Letters: Portrait of an Artist, Jim Houser cover a span of years that indicate not only a consistency of expression but a style of work that is extremely sophisticated for his early years. His paintings portray a simple, seemingly straight-forward world with a universal quality found in ordinary objects familiar to many people but which remain unnoticed. Though man is never present in his works, his presence is deeply felt through the images that evoke aloneness without dipping toward loneliness. His restraint allows the viewer's imagination to complete the work, an outstanding painting feat. The New York Times' early review of his work said in part, "Whatever he paints, he reduces to the simplest geometric equivalent lined up on an axis and painted in flat bright colors." Houser is listed in "Who's Who in America", "Who's Who in Art", "Who's Who in the Southeast" and "Who's Who in the World" and has had the listings for over fifteen years. Photographs of his paintings will be included in "Who's Who in American Art" 2008-2009.
The Letters: Portrait of an Artist, Jim Houser explains that a fine work of art is very different from the remainder of artistic endeavor. Fine art engages the viewer in visual dialogue that distinguishes it and bonds the viewer in love or hate but never mediocrity. It will open a window to a world you only thought you knew and art history courses did not prepare you to understand. Buy a copy of this fantastic book and perhaps you will fall in love with fine art, too.
About the Author
Connie Houser was one of three women hired by a large, twice-daily newspaper prior to the start of the Feminist Movement. Houser recalls being sent on assignment to the scene of a watery military plane crash at Lake Worth in the late fifties or early sixties. Upon her arrival, she was redirected by the military to the U.S. Information Agency. However, Houser was determined to complete her assignment to speak to the pilot of the crashed plane. Kicking off her shoes, she waded out neck-deep into the water where the pilot was frantically paddling a lifeboat. Thus, Houser got her first by-lined story. The newspaper's first edition headline read 'Pilot Crash Lands On Water' but in the later edition, it became (courtesy of USIA) 'Pilot Makes Routine Emergency Landing.'
Houser's artistic endeavors ultimately secured literary and art listings in "Who's Who in America," "Who's Who in the World," and "Who's Who in American Women."
The Letters: Portrait of an Artist, Jim Houser by Connie Houser
Picture Book; $41.99; 132 pages; 978-1-4257-5527-0
Picture Book Hardcover; $51.99; 132 pages; 978-1-4257-5561-4
To request a complimentary paperback review copy, contact the publisher at (888) 795-4274 x. 7836. Tearsheets may be sent by regular or electronic mail to Marketing Services. To purchase copies of the book for resale, please fax Xlibris at (610) 915-0294 or call (888) 795-4274 x. 7876.