By Erin Wood
This Easter, if you’re looking to fill baskets with local creations, two books by Arkansas writers may be just what you’re searching for.
Kids and adults alike will marvel at The Exquisite Egg: One Artist’s Embellished Creations, featuring images of over 100 blown hen, goose, duck, turkey, emu, and ostrich eggs, transformed by maker Isabel Anthony into striking works of art through embellishment with decoupage, paint, Austrian sequins, and beads, German miniature cotton flowers, English netting, French silk velvet ribbons, vintage jewels, chains, miniature birds, and whimsical found objects.
No two are alike, each beckoning the observer with its unique narrative and personality. The eggs were styled and photographed by Little Rock-based food and portrait photographer Arshia Khan, co-author of the book The Modern Arkansas Table.
My Easter Story is a children’s picture book written by Maria Hoskins and illustrated by Rex DeLoney (both Arkansans). Based on Hoskins’ memories of her grandmother’s farm in Mayflower, where Hoskins still lives today, it is set to the backdrop of Hoskins’ background as the child of a preacher. Hoskins is a former congressional aide and has released six children’s books to date.
The Exquisite Egg is available in hardback and paperback at etaliapress.com (take 10% off any order with $1 shipping with code SPRINGMAG10) as well as at local and national retailers. My Easter Story can be found in Little Rock at Pyramid Books or via national retailers.
Hot Springs native, Erin Wood is a writer, editor, and publisher in Little Rock. She owns and runs (www.etaliapress.com). Wood is author of “Women Make Arkansas: Conversations With 50 Creatives” (April 2019) and editor of and a contributor to “Scars: An Anthology” (2015).
