Modern Motherhood Book Publishing Day
It is so crazy to me to be typing this out- my book, Modern Motherhood: Celebrating Quiet Moments of Love and Care (Abrams, 2025) is here! Almost two years ago, inspired by life as a (fairly!) new mom and antique Delft pottery, I began capturing moments of everyday life with my toddler in little watercolor illustrations. With some good luck, what started as a personal project gained traction on social media, and I was overjoyed to receive messages from people who saw themselves and their children (and/or caretakers) in my paintings.
After the success of the collection of original paintings and an initial print run, I reached out to my agent, Leigh, who helped me put together a book proposal. The book was picked up by my editor, Soyolmaa, at Abrams, and the rest is, as they say, history!
In the spirit of pausing to recognize the “quiet” moments, I wanted to take a minute today to highlight some “behind the scenes” photos from the making of this book. As always, I am beyond grateful for your support of this project, and my artwork in general- especially if you’ve been here since the beginning!
The first copy of the book I received from my editor, Soyolmaa Lkhagvadorj at Abrams
Sketches from July 2022- as a (fairly?) new mom, I’d made these almost a year before I came up with the idea for the initial “Modern Motherhood” collection.
April 2022- Two of my first “Modern Motherhood” paintings- while working on my “Tapestry” artwork collection, I’d come across an article about 400-year-old Delft story tiles, I was inspired to try and create something similar with little scenes of motherhood
November 9, 2023- A screenshot of a text from my mom the day we signed the book deal- she is the first person I called/texted after I spoke with my agent, Leigh Eisenman (Wolf Literary Services), and has been my biggest supporter since day one.
November 9, 2023- later that day, I ran out and got a mini bottle of champagne, and celebrated that night with takeout pizza on the floor of my studio with my husband and daughter
January 2024- a few of the first paintings I made specifically for my book. Between January and May of last year, I painted 75+ of these little square scenes
February 2, 2024- the official deal announcement in Publisher’s Marketplace- it was so cool to see this in print and somehow made the whole thing seem so much more “real”!
August 2024- first printing proofs from my publisher
August 2024- first printing proofs from my publisher (continued!)
September 2024- cover proofs!
January 2025- flipping through the first copy of my book with my daughter, Bryn, who inspired it all
The dedication page was the easiest part of this whole project- says it all.