Valerie Patterson
Newest author, Valerie Patterson Is an award winning artist whose paintings engage themes such as childhood vs. old age, past and present, neurosis, hypocrisy, apathy, and a lack of honesty in society. It is “art to start the conversation.” Her work reflects her belief that “it is only when we face the unvarnished truth, no matter how disturbing or uncomfortable, that we are capable of deep understanding and can make real, positive, change. Art can, and does, change the world.”
Born in 1963, Patterson grew up in Ogdensburg, NY, the daughter of a Presbyterian minister and public school teacher whom she credits for her humanitarianism. An excruciatingly shy child, Patterson spent much of her time alone…thinking, feeling, dreaming and watching… Her interest in art began in earnest in Junior High School. when, she quickly learned that she could communicate more easily visually. Patterson earned degrees in both art and education followed by careers spanning over 30 years (to date) creating and teaching art.
Patterson’s award-winning watercolor paintings have been exhibited extensively throughout the United States in both group and solo exhibitions including at The Bond St. Gallery in Brooklyn, NY, The Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, VA and The Arts & Literature Laboratory in New Haven CT. Her many awards include 1st Prize in The Dayton Ohio International Museum Of Peace International Juried Art Encouraging Peace Exhibition.
Ellen Louise Patten Mainville
Ellen was a New York native, teacher, writer, poet, and artist. Ellen previously published poetry and prose in various newspapers and magazines, winning recognition in select competitions. She was a member of two prominent art guilds in the Adirondack region for many years, winning numerous awards for her art.
She is author of All My Days, a book of devotions [July 2017, ISBN: 978-0-9962883-1-6]. Her second book, A Garden for Grace [Nov 2021, ISBN 978-0-9962883-2-3 ) is a children’s book of poetry, inspired by her grandmother’s love of gardens, and illustrated with Ellen’s own charming designs. Other Ellen Mainvillel products are detailed on her dedicated web page. Unfortunately, Ellen passed away in September 2021 of vaccine-breakthrough Covid-19, leaving her second book nearly complete. It was completed posthumously through the combined efforts of her husband, son, her art guilds, and her publisher. Her death surely complicates our company’s plans to publish her many additional writings, although we may still work with her family to put together posthumous volumes. Her talents will be sorely missed.
Jan-Reneé Carlson
Jan is an aerospace engineer (rocket scientist) by day, and an aspiring author in her spare time. An avid railroad enthusiast for many years, Jan devoted many, many weekends in the 1980s driving around all of rural Virginia, photographing all the old railroad stations still in existence.
At the time, the idea was to publish a definitive pictorial guide to Virginia’s railroad stations. But shortly before completing their joint project, someone else published just such a guide. After their photos, logs and records sat in archives for 30 years, Jan discovered that she was sitting on a gold mine of stories and photos from a time that is now lost. She is writing a travel log and photo collection of her pilgrimage to discover the railroad stations of Virginia, before they disappeared forever.
Ann Carlson
Ann is currently working on a book about the history of the more than 400 piece needlepoint collection of St. James Episcopal Church in Keene, NH. Previously in 2017, Ann co-wrote and published Roberta’s Boys: Four Pitts Brothers of Macon, GA. This book is the legacy of a dear friend’s father, compiled from his lifetime of biographical research into his socially and politically influential Black family in the first half of the Twentieth Century.
Ann is a former government scientist and administrator who worked at NASA for 25 years and finished her career at the National Science Foundation. Having worked extensively with government documents, program descriptions, Congressional testimony, speech-writing, and opinion pieces, she decided to branch out into writing and publishing as a retirement hobby. She is married to Jan and is owned by their two cats, Amí and Sophia.