I found this book while looking for other books from Richard Shilling. I had reviewed his earlier watercolour instructional art book Watercolor Journeys which I like.

In Portraits of the Prairie, he goes to Webster County, Nebraska, where American novelist Willa Cather spent her childhood and found inspiration for her stories. Cather's elegant prose provides the starting point for Schilling to recreate what the writer might have seen. Schilling also provides short commentary on the places he visited, and sometimes on his watercolour paintings.

The art is gorgeous. The essence of the American prairie is wonderfully captured, together with the creeks, dusty roads, houses and buildings, the clouds and sky.

This is a beautiful book. The text and art work well together. Those familiar with Carther's stories will probably get more insight and appreciation.

Portraits of the Prairie: The Land that Inspired Willa Cather is available at Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES | JP | CN)

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews.

If you buy from the links, I get a little commission that helps me get more books to feature.

Here are direct links to the book:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp | Amazon.cn