Sometimes life has a sense of irony and I came to that realisation today.  

For two years I immersed myself in the lives of women who helped shape the history of art, artists, muses, collectors, patrons and visionaries whose contributions were often overlooked or forgotten. The result was The HeArt of Paris, a journey through Paris honouring the women who helped make the evolution of art possible.

Researching the book became much more than a writing project. It led me down fascinating paths of discovery and inspired an entire series of portraits celebrating women from the Paris art world between 1840 and 1940. (see under artworks, Women in Paris).

What I did not expect was that a book about overlooked women would, in some ways, experience a similar fate.

Many of the women featured in its pages spent their lives in the shadows. Some only received recognition long after their deaths. Today, I sometimes feel a little sad that so few people have discovered their stories, and the paintings they inspired.

Not because of sales, but because I believe these women deserve to be known.

Most people can name several famous male artists. Far fewer know the women who influenced, inspired and contributed to the artistic movements we admire today.

That is why I wrote The HeArt of Paris. 

The project gave me far more than a finished book. It deepened my understanding of art history, inspired exhibitions, generated conversations, provided endless creative inspiration and connected me with remarkable stories that continue to resonate today.

Would I like more people to read it? Absolutely.

But creative work often follows its own timetable. A painting may wait years before finding the right collector. A book may sit on a shelf before finding the reader who needs it most.

So I continue to paint. I continue to write. And I continue to share the stories of these extraordinary women, because their stories matter.

In a way, perhaps both me and the book have become part of the very stories it tells. A book about overlooked women is itself waiting to be discovered.

But one day, this book will find exactly the audience it was written for. Maybe that's you!

You can find it here