THE IMPORTANCE OF SELF PUBLISHING

The other day a person mentioned to me that, it was good that I was continuing to self publish. My first thought was to come back with the fact that I'd tried years ago to interest a publisher in various book ideas, but had been turned down. I did, however, have one publisher mention that if I was to write something about one of Canada's iconic artists, namely Tom Thompson, then they might be interested. Now, I could have jumped at the chance, but I couldn't see myself working at producing a book of someone else's work when it was my art and thoughts that I wished to write about, so I turned down the offer. An interesting fact, that publisher no longer  exists having been put out of business by ebooks and self publishing. 

With the advancement of technology and the coming of age of ebooks a flood gate was opened, and many would be writers have now been able to publish. At times it seems that everyone is a writer.  Apple, Amazon, Blurb, and others assist thousands of writers, poets, and visual artists to produce, publish, and distribute their books, some very good, and some simply a personal record of an event. Never have there been so many books to tell our history.

I self publish not only because I gave up trying to find a publisher, but because I wish to share, leave a record so to speak, of my art, and my life experiences. Both will survive but a short time following my passing, but it's important to me to tell my story.

I enjoy the work of artists such as Tom Thomson, and the Group Of Seven Painters, and applaud their efforts to record the Canadian wilderness through their paintings, but their efforts left a record of that which existed decades ago, and since then there has been change. The wilderness that they sketched and painted is no longer, the scars left by logging and mining have healed, and a new wilderness exists in its place. I've sketched and  painted in the their haunts, and have created a record of sorts of the changes that have taken place. As the Group and Tom Thompson have become cash cows to those in charge, and they are not at all interested in supporting competition for an established market, I've taken it upon myself to self publish in books, and promote Canada's natural heritage through this blog. Hopefully, my efforts to self publish will encourage others to make a record as well, and self publish so that all can enjoy the changes taking place in the Canadian wilderness.

https://www.blurb.ca/b/8036717-my-painting-places-algonquin-provincial-park-part

The following images are simply memory sketches done on what ever was handy, writing paper and scraps of this and that. Some will become small paintings. Some will simply remain memories of better times spent wandering in Canada's wilderness places.