A Special Interview & A Giveaway!

I've known her all my life - and she's one very talented lady. Over the years she's painted beautiful pictures, sketched detailed pen and ink drawings, and designed gorgeous jewelry. And now she's published a book to highlight some of these accomplishments!

How do I know her so well? She just happens to be my Mom - Norma Boeckler. Her book - The Art of Norma Boeckler. So grab a cup of your favorite hot beverage, and join me for an interview with this amazing woman!

Maria: Welcome, Mom! Thanks for joining me today! Your background as an artist is fascinating. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Norma: I am a native of Midland, Michigan, and since the late 1980's, I've been a mixed media artist specializing in watercolor. My work has received national and international attention. I have had extensive training for the past ten years and have taken courses with Famous Artists School and am one of their alumni, and have my own webpage with them. They feature my art on their Facebook page too. I have taken computer courses in Dreamweaver MX and Photoshop. I also was privileged to take a jewelry workshop at Shikoku University, in Tokushima, Japan. While in Japan my artwork was displayed in two galleries where I sold nine paintings.

My book covers and illustrations have been published in eight religious books and I have had articles in religious newspapers, and my hometown newspaper as well. I also designed a website for the book, "Jesus Lord of Creation."  

I have won many awards, “Best of Show” in the Midland Artists Guild, the National Arts Program in Detroit, Heritage Days in West Branch, Michigan, and  many more. I hold memberships in the Midland Artists Guild, National Watercolor Society, Michigan Watercolor Society, and Detroit Society of Women Painters and Sculptures. To date, I have sold over 400 paintings. 

Maria: Wow! I'm not sure how you found the time to do it all! Where do you find inspiration for your artwork?

Norma: I get my inspiration for the religious art illustrations from old religious books, and artists such as, Albrecht Durer and Gustave Dore. I also read scripture passages to go with each drawing.

For my secular art, I take photos of flowers in my gardens, birds, scenes where I have traveled, and photos taken of my family. Sometimes I just experiment with different media and the result might turn out to be an interesting abstract. I have also taken art seminars to learn new techniques.

Maria: How has your relationship with Jesus Christ impacted your art work?

Norma: My religious art has had a huge affect on all of my artwork. It inspires me to read the scriptures more often, and reminds me with every landscape and bird painting, and many other subjects I do, that the Lord has created everything in this world and He preserves everything. I think of the very first verse in the Bible. “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:1 KJV

Maria: That's a powerful verse. How did you decide to put together a book featuring your paintings, illustrations, and jewelry?

Norma: After illustrating eight books, I was thinking…what can I do next, and out of the blue, I received an email from author, Ellen C. Maze. She saw my symbol of “Wheat and Tares”(a symbol I did in pen and ink for a religious book) on line and asked to use it in one of her client’s books. After she saw my website, she said, "You should write a book about your art.” I set to work and did my own PDF with help from Ellen, who also mentors writers, and everything worked out just fine. I wanted to do this especially for my children, their spouses and my grandchildren as a memento.

Maria: Share some lessons you learned on your journey to publication with CreateSpace.

Norma: Some lessons I learned while constructing my book were: you have to first set up a main folder with the title of the book, and then categorize separate folders within that folder for each chapter with pictures. This makes it easy to insert pictures into each book page. I did a PDF sample of a few pages and sent it to my book mentor, Ellen. She gave me a few instructions and everything fell into place.

You helped me with the editing. Then I sent it to Ellen, who recommended I publish my book through Amazon's self-publishing company, CreateSpace. She then put it through a process of perfecting the cover, headings, text, and resizing some of the pictures. Ellen took care of the ISBN number for my book, and even helped me set up my CreateSpace account! My book is now available on Amazon as a paperback book, Kindle download, and ebook. You can also purchase it through distributors such as Barnes & Noble. I found the self-publishing process to be fairly easy.

Maria: Sounds like you learned a lot! Do you have plans for another book?

Norma: I am contemplating the idea of doing a book using photography, and adding scripture verses with each pictures, or maybe a children’s book.

Maria: I know you enjoy staying busy! What goals do you have for the future?

Norma: I plan to continue doing pen and ink drawings with watercolor for my church website, where I am Artist-in-Residence, and I will continue to paint more flowers and landscapes. 

Maria: What words of wisdom would you like to leave with our readers?

Norma: The main thing to keep in mind is - the Lord has given each and every one of us a talent and we show our appreciation to Him, by using that talent to His glory. The Lord has been my guide throughout my life.


Maria: Thank you so much for joining us, Mom! Good news! If you're interested in winning a signed copy of my Mom's book, The Art of Norma Boeckler:

• Leave a comment to this post, include your email address in the following format: morgan(dot) maria(dot)i(at)gmail(dot)com. Entries without an email address are not eligible.

• Receive an extra entry by becoming a follower, or by reminding me that you're already a follower.

• Receive a bonus entry by posting about this giveaway on your blog, Facebook and/or Twitter. Please be sure and let me know you did so in your comment.

• This is open to US residents only. My sincere apology to those followers outside the US.

• Deadline to enter is midnight Eastern Standard Time, Tuesday, May 29, 2012. Winner to be announced in Thursday's post. The winner will be notified via email.

Purchase a copy of her book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1475154488/ref=cm_cr_mts_prod_img 

Visit Norma's website: http://normaboecklerart.com/

Connect with her on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/norma.boeckler