Its no accident that the two newest books from PolyMarket Press feature artistry from  Austin; a veritable hotbed of creative cool in the wild and woolly state of Texas. Maybe it’s the heat down there that grow’s em that way, but I have the pleasure of knowing some incredibly talented people that reside in the Lone Star State. That includes the authors of our latest print offerings, Polymer Clay Gemstones-The Art of Deception by Kim Schlinke and Randee M. Ketzel, and Night: A Photo-Novella by Ricardo Acevedo.

Ricardo is the creative conduit that ties our stories together here to connect back to PolyMarket Press. His first book interloper: fine art nudes and photopaintings was published just two years ago this month, and since then he’s been busy as a freelance photographer and graphic designer, as well as keeping up his chops as a musician on the Austin scene and getting his new book Night ready for release. Beautiful and haunting, with equal measures of crystal clear vision and surreal explorations of color and movement, this is a deeply personal vision of a turbulent time that always finds the beauty in the moment, even when it isn’t pretty.

Ricardo met polymer clay and wearable artist Kim Schlinke at a book signing, and introduced her and co-conspirator Randee M. Ketzel to us at PolyMarket Press, as well as providing them with some gorgeous photographs, as seen on here on the covers and throughout.

Ricardo’s photos of the modern versions of ancient treasures that readers can discover in this new polymer clay how-to and story showcase them with a museum quality air of mysterious antiquity. Meanwhile, the authors weave a delightful mystery set in the west along with the steps to create 20 masterpieces of wearable art that mimic materials that are much more costly, such as metal, gemstones, animal-based treasures such as coral, fossils, claws, and ivory. It is wonderful to have a non-lethal alternative to the harvest of sea coral beds and magnificent animals like lions, tigers, bears, elephants and others.

Randee and Kim do a fantastic job of interspersing humor, history, and a heck of a lot of creative fun in this jam-packed 204 page book. Both new books are in the final edit stages, and will be available online at Amazon by October 1, 2013.