Two sisters bringing it ‘Home’ with new book
Two Texarkana natives and a colleague will honor fall and winter’s beauty at a book signing Thursday at J. Brown for the Home.
Two sisters and Texarkana natives, Kathy Stewart and
Jill Helmer, joined their collaborator John Grady
Burns in writing “Home— Celebrating Autumn & Winter,” a 216-page coffee table book with hundreds of color photos that depict fall and winter decorations.
The three authors will sign and sell books and discuss decorations from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. that day, which is the first stop on a book tour they’re undertaking.
Stewart has been the stylist for the three books they’ve written together, which include another design book called “Evergreen: Decorating with Colours of the Season.” Helmer works as a floral designer in Atlanta, Ga., and started her career in the 1980s with special events and weddings, while Burns has built an award-winning career doing floral arrangements for the White House and embassies, among others.
Stewart said that first book is still selling, the trio having had it reprinted. Their second book was a departure, dealing with collections, but this third gets back to decorations for the fall and winter, complete with pumpkins and other markers of the season.
She said people kept asking them if they’d write another book, and it seemed they wanted a book similar to “Evergreen.”
Although it was a challenge finding actual fall foliage when they snapped photos for the new book, the process has been a fun one, Stewart says. And the book signing here in Texarkana offers them a rare chance to get together.
“It’s pretty pictures using fall foliage and pumpkins and pine cones,” Stewart said of the book’s theme. They found great success finding natural decorations in people’s yards and taking them inside for arrangements. Bare branches, apples, gourds—they’re among the decorative touches used in these gorgeous arrangements.
“We just have a blast. We love each other. We have such fun together,” Stewart said. But it’s actually a lot of hard work, hauling things here and there, and not easy to do. They found people were gracious enough to let them photograph in their homes, too.
Some things they were able to purchase, but others they found going out into nature. “The homes are all lovely to start with,” Stewart added.
Photographs were captured in two North Carolina mountain towns and in Atlanta and the surrounding area.
As far as the book signing venue goes, J. Brown for the Home has plenty of style as a place where design ideas can flourish.
“Jeff (Brown) always throws a wonderful party,” Stewart said.
(Books are also available at EvergreenDecorators.com. The price is $50 plus shipping. J. Brown for the Home is located at 121 College Drive in Texarkana, Texas.)