Books by Nancy Hopkins Reily

Nancy Hopkins Reily writes of viewing a painting at Georgia O'Keeffe's Abiquiu, New Mexico home on Christmas Eve, 1953. As a nineteen year old woman, Reily wondered what the painting was-an unfinished painting or a blue egg. But she realized that something important was going on in the house.One viewing of anything can spark steps for a journey lasting a day, weeks or years. Reily takes you on her long, long journey of discovery of the painting she called "The Blue Egg." The journey took her to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum where she met a landowner where Georgia had walked its awe inspiring landscape in Canyon, Texas; the Yale University Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library in New Haven, Connecticut; an interview with Georgia's retired cook, Jerrie Newsom, in Jerrie's mobile home; a visit to the Monastery of Christ in the Desert; introducing her two children to search at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston; research that ended in the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum gift shop with on the shelves her two books on Georgia; being asked to donate her research to the New Mexico Museum of Art, Fray Angélico Chávez History Library; and the final steps of packing sixteen boxes of research to be shipped to the Fray Angélico Chávez History Library.Through the years, Nancy's interest in words has led to researching sixty-four lines of family genealogy before Ancentry.com, keeping a daily journal since 1976, and simply organizing research into books on many subjects. If asked, "How long did it take to write The Blue Egg," she replies, "My age at the time."

Nancy Hopkins Reily thought she knew everything she needed to know when she published I Am At An Age in 1990 at age fifty. She says, "e;I had compiled my life's experiences with metaphors using the mountains as background. I approached my experiences as universal experiences that everyone recognized as their life. Six months after the book was published I realized I had more to learn: in-laws, sandwich generation, writing, over thirty-four years of journaling with selective excerpts, sixty-four lines of genealogy, laurels, my aging, and grandchildren. I knew I would have to write a sequel."e; And here it is, twenty-two years later. She has eliminated most of the metaphors. Some themes continue although homes, clothes and make-up have changed. But her persona has remained the same. Nancy says, "e;My ancestors gave me gifts. I read that my great-great grandmother (born 1812 in South Carolina) rode to Texas in a carriage with silver trimmings after her husband had died on their Jackson, Mississippi plantation. And I also found out, after reading my mother's journals that she was voted unanimously the Queen of the May Pageant at Texas Christian University in 1928. Her journals of her European trip also provided insight into her relationship with my father. These readings took on a life of their own as I used my years of notes, teenage diaries, and journals to form this gift to my descendants in this book. I hope you enjoy it."e;

On any given day, "e;Wisdom Collectors,"e; which can include scholars, poets and general enthusiasts, are lined up awaiting the next nuggets of wisdom. Each word of wisdom builds on previous words of wisdom whether spoken or written by such individuals as Abigail Adams, Abraham Lincoln, Andy Rooney, Angela Lansbury, Ann Richards, Aristotle or Audrey Hepburn. These are just a few of the A's. The B's through Z's are just as impressive. Nancy Hopkins Reily has now dealt with these words of wisdom, sometimes in rhyme, metered, and narrative verse, and presented them in a musical beat that not everyone will recognize-all done with an uncanny imagination that cuts through to the core of every issue and includes the youth and adults. Wisdom Collectors also delve into the living of life such as traveling, cooking, photographing, retiring and preparing for emergencies. "e;These selective nuggets,"e; Nancy says, "e;are welcome to all members and non-members of the Wisdom Collectors whose current membership, by the way, is one person-me."e; Nancy's wisdom began when she was a young native Dallas, Texan and learned that it was okay to say, "e;I don't know."e; Graduated from Southern Methodist University, she claimed that she wasn't very sexy if her high heel shoes hurt her feet. As a beginning homemaker, there was nothing like the sound of scraping burnt toast. In raising two children, Nancy realized that each age came in the right sequence. And just as she finished her work as a mother, she became a grandmother. One grandson taught her that Louisiana doesn't drain very well. When she began her writing career, she declared that fifty percent of writing is just showing up to write and to surround yourself with talented people. Nancy says that the best advice she has been given is, "e;Drink very little liquid, if any, after six pm."e; And, upon reflection she wonders, "e;Do I want to be a pioneer woman and be among the first women to stop cooking?"e; NANCY HOPKINS REILY is also the author of "e;Classic Outdoor Color Portraits, A Guide for Photographers;"e; "e;Georgia O'Keeffe, A Private Friendship, Part I, Walking the Sun Prairie Land;"e; "e;Georgia O'Keeffe, A Private Friendship, Part II, Walking the Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch Land;"e; and "e;Joseph Imhof, Artist of the Pueblos"e; with Lucille Enix, all from Sunstone Press.

The time is 1946. From Georgia O'Keeffe's old hacienda sitting on a bluff in Abiquiu, New Mexico, she could see my aunt and uncle, Helen and Winfield Morten's property across the Chama River. Georgia had begun the restoration of her property. The Mortens, in the final stages of purchasing land along the Chama River, had recently completed their restoration of another old hacienda they called Rancho de Abiquiu. As one of few Anglos in the Chama River valley, Georgia ventured over to Rancho de Abiquiu to introduce herself and a private friendship resulted with the Mortens and their family. In this close family circle, Georgia revealed herself and proved that beneath her bare face there was more to her than just an artist of legendary proportions. Nancy Hopkins Reily spent many of her childhood days walking the Abiquiu and Ghost Ranch land. She explored the canyons, the White Place, Echo Amphitheater, the mountains, and the Chama River by walking the trails worn by earlier moccasined feet. In a seamless, clear, and straightforward narrative of excerpts from their lives, Reily presents Georgia in a time-window of her age. The book features Reily's youthful experiences, letters from Georgia, glimpses of the family's memorabilia and photographic snapshots-all gracefully woven into the forces of the contemporaneous scene that shaped their friendship. In addition, there are insights into the land's beauty, times, culture, history and the people who surrounded Georgia, as well as many minute details that should be remembered and which are often overlooked by others when they speak of Georgia O'Keeffe. NANCY HOPKINS REILY was born in Dallas, Texas, and attended Gulf Park College in Gulfport, Mississippi, for one year. She graduated from Southern Methodist University with a B.B.A. in Retail Merchandising. Since childhood she has divided her time between Texas, Colorado and New Mexico. At a young age, the colorful New Mexico landscape captured her heart and gave her a sense of place. She continues to enjoy its beauty. Reily makes her home in Lufkin, Texas.

"It''s your turn to make a photograph", states the author on the cover of this detailed handbook destined to become a classic instruction manual on portrait photography. And she shows the reader how by going through the basics of this photographic artform step by step in easy-to-follow instructions that will appeal to all levels of experience.For beginners, a working knowledge of the camera is not even necessary; and for professionals there is more than enough to challenge them to exceed their own present excellence. It has taken the author years of working in the portrait profession to focus and collect her approach to color portraiture and she presents her ideas in a way that will inspire even those who are not photographers. The book is designed far any artist working in any medium. All they have to have is an interest in the human subject.The book covers such wide-ranging subjects as a perspective on the history of the medium, composition, lighting, posing techniques, the portraitist''s "eye", hints at how to enrich one''s self as a result of exploring the art of portraiture, and much more. "Classic Outdoor Color Portraits" is a vital text for photography schools and workshops, continuing education classes, artist schools and workshops, colleges, amateurs, and professionals in all regions and settings.