One of the best things about being a full time freelance artist is creating work for some talented clients from across the globe! Some of my favorite clients to work with are authors as it’s very cool to bring someone’s story to life with artwork! I recently designed a book cover for author “Just Judy” and when we started chatting about what we do, I found her own story so interesting, I invited her to be a guest blogger here….aside from her novels she also compiles stories based on people’s actual family histories and creates unique books just for them! Below she shares her inspiration with us about this fascinating project and included is her contact info. if you’d like to have this done for yourself and your own family…..
JUST JUDY; author, personal historian
Personal History and the Circle of Life
Imagine a special shelf on your bookcase, displaying a few old, faded cloth covers with frayed corners, the packages of words written by your grandmother, or grandfather, or better yet, both. There would be pages filled with their stories of life’s pivotal moments and challenges, their anecdotes of parenthood, a short section for favorite family recipes, and maybe a remembrance of the day you were born: “We became grandparents today,” one would joyously announce. And, there would be pictures, just a few, of times long gone, before the days of images in color. The infant, you, may be sitting in a bassinet in front of your parents. Behind would be two stolid, stone-faced seniors, unfamiliar with this newfangled device called a camera, hiding the wide grin they wear within.
For me, words are music to my soul and art makes my spirit soar. A day spent reading such old cloth covered books would bring a warmth of emotion and a strong sense of what it means to be me and from whence I come. The record of one’s life is a gift that lasts and in the writing of it we gain perspective and strengthen our feeling of self within the larger picture of life.
It’s not all about us. It never was. Every writer of a personal history starts out with information of others, their parents and grandparents, aunts and uncles. We come from a fountain and from us flows new beings. There seems to be no end to this circle of life?
JUST JUDY; Holy Joe
I am a personal historian. This is a new gig for me. I’ve always been a reader and writer, but now I am hooked on life story. I help people mine their memories and record and arrange these images in a logical order. When the writing is complete, we are left with a unique package, so I help coordinate the cover art and short-run printer. Mostly, I keep the project on track and see it through to completion. I know that every life has a story to tell, and the world needs such stories.
If you leave this reading with a mental image of your own special bookshelf and awareness that there is such a thing as a personal historian, then I will be satisfied. There aren’t many of us; six-hundred-fifty members worldwide. But, we are growing. Not everyone is a writer, but everyone has a story to tell. I’m truly excited about this new career. It’s another expression of art and a mode for celebrating and preserving life.
Just Judy, novel, cover design by Lauren Curtis
Just Judy, Personal Historian (justjudy4@gmail.com)
Just Judy, Keepers of History (keepersofhistory.com)
Nationwide: The Association of Personal Historians (personalhistorians.org)
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