Feb 22, 2018 by Author Tracy Causley , in In the Shadow of Light , Book Cover

Since publishing In the Shadow of Light, I have received countless compliments on the book’s cover art. I’d like to introduce you to Catrin Welz-Stein, the extremely talented graphic artist who created it. 
Back in 2014, I was wandering the aisles of a local bookshop and The Miniaturist by Jesse Burton grabbed my attention. The cover was a surrealist digital collage of a seventeenth-century Amsterdam cityscape embedded in the heavy dark skirt of a primly dressed Dutch woman. From only the image, I sensed the book was going to transport me to old Amsterdam to uncover and solve an eerie mystery.
      
The artwork alone excited me so much that without even looking at the book description or price, I marched up to the cashier and purchased it. I had never done that before or since. Luckily, The Miniaturist turned out to be a good read—very close to what I sensed it would be—and I discovered Catrin Welz-Stein’s wonderful work.

Anyone who knows me will tell you that I'm a big believer in serendipity and using visualization, especially vision boards, to manifest my desired outcomes for creative projects. One of the main outcome components of my In the Shadow of Light vision board was to have Catrin Welz-Stein design the original cover art, so I cut out a picture of The Miniaturist and pasted it on my board. Underneath it I wrote, "Catrin Welz-Stein brings my book to life with her amazing cover design."

Fast-forward a couple of years and I’m ready to work on the book cover. Admittedly, there was a part of me that doubted Catrin would be able or even want to work with me, so I contacted five other artists about creating the cover. But, lo in behold, she was the very first artist to respond back to me. Talk about the universe conspiring on my behalf!
 
Catrin took my general cover design idea and quickly whipped it into something beyond what I ever envisioned it could be. I loved it at first sight and experienced exhilaration such as I felt when I first saw The Miniaturist on the bookstore shelf. I just knew there was something very special about the artwork, and clearly many of you feel the same.

I’m so grateful to have Catrin’s work featured on the cover of In the Shadow of Light—as I believe the imagery evokes the essence of secrets, discovery, and power which are major themes within the book—and it is my hope to have her work grace all the covers in the Shadow of Light Trilogy.

If you're as wowed by Catrin Welz-Stein’s work as I am, I encourage you to visit her website, follow her on Facebook and  Instagram,  and stop by her shop to view her beautiful art prints.

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