"As exciting and fulfilling as it is to be an artist and a writer, other things rank higher on our list when it comes to who we are. We also feel extremely humbled and grateful to be Christians, best friends, parents of twelve, and grandparents of eight." ~ Gary & Jan Bower
About the Illustrator Jan began doing portraiture in high school, using oil pastels at first until she sold enough portraits to purchase her first set of oil paints. Her first commissioned oil portrait was of a professor at the college Gary attended. Self-taught and passionate about her art, she developed her skills and techniques through years of personal study, trial-and-error, and practice. Over the last 30+ years, Jan has painted hundreds of commissioned portraits...and all along the way, Gary never relented in trying to coax her to illustrate books for him. She finally gave it a whirl ten years ago. Now illustrating consumes much of her time and artistic focus, and she has created many hundreds of adorable book illustrations, both for her husband's books and for others. Jan buys her paints, brushes, and canvases from: (Clicking the link on the right will direct you to another website.)
Jan Bower, Artist
Gary Bower, Author
About the Author Gary fell in love with picture books at an early age, sitting in the lap of a mother who understood the wisdom of investing reading time in her child's life. As a youngster he entertained himself for hours by writing his own comic strips, comic books, jokes, poems, and skits. As an adult, his years of professional and volunteer experience ministering to small children and teens, combined with thousands of story nights with his own children, have helped him develop his skills with the written word and polish his storytelling craft. While he has been published with several conventional publishers, self-publishing is something he loves. It allows him not only the opportunity to develop a story, but also the joy of designing the entire book and working very closely with every aspect of the publishing process. He has been tinkering with several adult story ideas for years; but for the time being, he has found his voice in the melodic and tender lines of picture books. Gary recommends the helpful tools below for writers. (Clicking on them will direct you to another website.)
Are you serious about getting PUBLISHED? Check out the books below.
About the Rest of the Family Our children all happen to be artistic in various ways. One is a master clockmaker, another an amazing cakemaker. Most of the girls knit or crochet frequently. Several of them love to paint & draw. Our home is filled with live music. Some play piano, others play guitar. Jan and all nine of our daughters have violins (one has a cello), and there's lots of laughter every week as they learn to play together. The girls love to sing in tight harmonies and are working on a CD. We homeschool those who are of school age. Five of our children are married, and so far, six have graduated from high school. We watch almost no TV, but some of our favorite DVDs are listed below. We love to read together in the evenings.
We live in a rural part of Long Lake Township in Grand Traverse County, Michigan. For you vacationers who know the Traverse City region, we're about a mile from Moomers Ice Cream (the best ice cream in America, according to ABC News), across the lake from Boone's Long Lake Inn, and just a short drive to downtown Traverse City, Interlochen, and the Sleeping Bear Dunes. We live in a perfect area for painting and writing. We absolutely love all four seasons of Michigan's northern lower peninsula.
Our Lord Jesus Christ means everything to us. We are far-from-perfect people with a more-than-sufficient God. We recognize that our talents are on loan from Him, so we try to use our time, abilities, and resources sharing with all who are interested what we're learning of God's incredible love, His wonderful ways, and His amazing grace.
The Bower Family uses "Switched-On-Schoolhouse." We highly recommend it!
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All artwork and text on this website are protected by copyright laws. All rights reserved. Copyright 2010 by Gary & Jan Bower 7700 Timbers Trail, Traverse City, Michigan 49684 * 231-941-0899
