Today, Norm Goldman, Editor and Publisher of  Bookpleasures.com and Sketchandtravel.com is honored to have as our guest, Jane McIntosh, author of  Jane’s Smart Art Guides™.

Good day Jane and thanks for participating in our interview.

Jane:

It’s my pleasure, Norm.

Norm:

Jane, please tell our readers something about yourself.  How did you get started in travel and how did you become interested in authoring Jane’s Smart Art Guides?

Jane:

I started traveling at a young age, and I came to love Europe in  my teens when my family lived to Paris and London, and I went to school in Switzerland. I grew up thinking that travel was just something normal that everyone does. My interest in art started as a teenager, too, and I studied art history in university.

During and right after college I worked as a tour guide and coordinator of art exhibits at Boston City Hall. But my career jumped onto a different track when I got an MBA at Columbia University and went into consumer marketing. I didn’t travel much for the first 15 years of my married life. Eventually, though, I began to feel that there was something missing. I started to read and travel again, and my love of art was rekindled. It was a fateful anniversary trip to Italy in the early 90s that made me realize how much I missed it, and fortunately my husband was bitten by the travel bug then, too. Ever since, we’ve tried to get back to Europe at least once a year. When we travel we visit museums and actively seek out opportunities to see art. We spend a lot of time in historic churches.

The idea of creating Jane’s Smart Art Guides™ came to me because I like to know what I’m looking at. Being able to appreciate the art I’m seeing in the context of history makes it so much more meaningful. Art embodies social history, economics, politics, philosophy and religion – it’s the visual expression of the history of human experience. I’m fascinated by the way it all links together. Unfortunately, more often than not (outside of museums) there is very little information available: limited signage, superficial guidebook coverage, unsatisfying “official” audio guides, and tour guides who can’t answer anything beyond basic questions.

Creating guides to the architecture and art of a site started as a lark. I had the opportunity to accompany my husband on business to Antwerp a few times over the course of a couple of years, and I undertook an in-depth study of Our Lady Cathedral for my own entertainment. I even went so far as to write a script and record it and to burn a cd on my home computer, because I’ve never liked trying to read and look at the art at the same time! 

It was but a short jump from there to the thought that other people might also be interested in an in-depth look at remarkable art sites like Our Lady Cathedral in Antwerp. So what began as a personal hobby assumed a larger purpose. 

Norm:

What exactly are these art guides and what do they contain?

Jane:

My objective with Jane’s Smart Art Guides is to illuminate the unique character of each site -- by creating an experience for the visitor that is much like being guided by an engaging private docent who seems to knows everything about the art, architecture and history of the site. My audio guides are intended for curious, motivated people who enjoy learning about art and history when they travel.

As I escort the listener through a particular site, I discuss artists, their subjects, and their patrons. I tell anecdotes about their lives, exposing contemporary values and customs in episodes of history. And I discuss aesthetic and technological developments, stylistic variations and influences, artistic composition, materials and technique.

Each audio narration includes a pre-visit context segment and, of course, an on-site guide to the exterior and interior of the location.  A companion booklet provides track lists, floor plans and glossary, plus tips about ways to tailor the tour to individual interests and schedule.

Audio guides offer some real advantages over guide books, which is why I call them “Smart”! If you’re reading a book, you aren’t looking. You can see a lot more in less time if you don’t have to keep stopping to read. Plus, while guidebooks tend to be quite superficial, considering only the highlights, my audio guides provide an in-depth experience.

I’ve created product specifications to ensure a consistent quality across titles. I use professional equipment for recording and I outsource editing and production. Since my name is on the brand, it’s important to me that every aspect of the product I produce be of high quality.

Norm:

Can you explain some of your research techniques, and how you found sources for your books audio guides?

Jane:

As I said, the idea for these guides started as a hobby. I was driven primarily by what interested me. I enjoy learning when I travel but, at the same time, when I’m on vacation I don’t want to have to work too hard! The process has to be compelling. When I decided to produce Jane’s Smart Art Guides for sale, I simply formalized what’s important to me:  a tour must provide a discerning, insightful, engaging mix of learning and enjoyment; the material must be well organized, accurate, thoroughly researched and fact-checked; and facts should be distinguished from opinion and conjecture. I also believe that a guide’s voice must be pleasant to listen to, easy to understand, expressive, and well-paced.

Because I work on the principle that if it’s interesting to me it’ll be interesting to others, I largely follow my instincts as I research a new title. Having chosen a site that I’m familiar with and that I think is particularly remarkable in terms of its art and history, I start by reviewing what the tourist guidebooks have to say about it. Then, I start “googling” things (people, places, ideas, events, etc) – paying special attention to the identity of the sponsor of any website I might use as a source of information. I do love the internet, but one has to be cautious. As you know, there's a huge amount of misinformation out there. But used with care, the web is a tremendous tool, which allows me to quickly investigate even rather obscure details.

I also use the web to create a list of books I’ll want to look for that deal with specific related topics. I use library resources, plus my own shelves hold an ever-growing collection of art, architecture, history, and general reference books. I love browsing in second-hand and out-of-print bookstores.

I am not a scholar: I’m a synthesizer. I gather and synthesize other people’s research and writings in a variety of fields. Then I focus on selecting, organizing and scripting the material to make it interesting and compelling for an art-loving lay person --- that is, people like me. The hardest part for me is deciding what not to include … there’s always another fascinating, tantalizing tidbit of information beckoning me … often the side-tracks turn up really fun material. But I recognize that there’s a limit to people’s stamina, so self-editing is important! 

There’s been a nice surprise for me in all this. While following my curiosity about the role of Christianity and the Church in the history of architecture and art, I've encountered spiritual rewards from my studies. Perhaps it's this conjunction of the intellectual and the spiritual that feeds my passion for exploring the history of churches and their art treasures.

Norm:

Can you tell us how you found representation for your books?  Did you pitch it to an agent, or query publishers who would most likely publish this type of book? Any rejections? Did you self-publish?

Jane:

Because I have a business and entrepreneurial background, it never occurred to me to do anything other than to just start a company! In retrospect, I think I should have considered alternatives. There’s a lot more to it than just putting up a website (www.JanesSmartArt.com)! I have to spend a lot of time doing administrative and promotional work, which leaves less time to do what I really love … which is to research, write, and record new guides. I am most content when I’m working on a new title.

Norm:

As you seemed to have traveled a great deal and as our readers are always interested in romantic destinations, perhaps you can tell us which romantic destinations are your favorites and why?

Jane:

Rome is my favorite place in the world. I feel fully alive when I'm there. The layers and veins of history in Rome are endless … for good reason is it known as the Eternal City! It’s is a “world class” city with something for every taste, every budget, every interest. One’s experience there can be slow-paced or high energy. You can wile away an afternoon people-watching at a sidewalk café in the shadow of the Pantheon or you can span a millennium in a day of sight-seeing. Besides offering charming hotels, romantic restaurants with wonderful food, great walks, fabulous Renaissance and Baroque architecture, warm colors and panoramic views, Rome has the advantage of being populated by Romans! It’s in their Italian blood: they love life, they love love … and they respond to anyone who feels the same!   

Norm:

Which travel authors or books have influenced you?

Jane:

I get really jazzed by well-written, insightful personal travel journal. While they don’t generally work well as carry-with-you guidebooks, I enjoy reading them when I’m on a trip. They’re terrific for opening up new ways of seeing things. One of my favorites is H.V. Morton’s A Traveller In Rome, published in 1957. Along the same lines is Georgina Masson’s The Companion Guide to Rome (revised by John Fort in 2003), although it can be a bit of a slog at times. When last I was in Rome I enjoyed Judith Testa’s 1998  Roma Amor: Rome is Love Spelled Backward. As a result, I made a point of going to one crowded tourist site that I usually try to avoid -- the Trevi Fountain -- to appreciate it through fresh eyes.  

Norm:

If you were stranded on an island, which five travel books would you like to have with you and why?

Jane: 

I think I’d soon be at my wits’ end if it were a desert island with no local history or culture to learn about! And I’m quite sure if I were marooned that I wouldn’t want to read about places where I’d rather be.

But, since for this exercise I can choose the island where I’ll be stranded, I’ll choose Sicily!  I’d start with a general tourist guide … I might choose the Michelin Green Guide to carry for every-day touring because I like their star rating system and the practical information. But for pure density of cultural information, I’d want the newly-revised Blue Guide Sicily … Blue Guides treat art and history in much greater depth than others do. And between these two guides, I think I’d have all the information I’d need about food and wine specialties and where to eat.

I’d want a good, complete history of Sicily, but lacking that, at least The Norman Kingdom of Sicily by D. Matthew, or J.J. Norwich’s The Normans in Sicily. For a current perspective on Sicily's blend of civilizations, the character of its people and the mythological underpinnings of the island’s social customs and festivals, I’d want Mary Taylor Simeti’s On Persephone's Island: A Sicilian Journal. Then there’s Giuseppe Lampedusa’s classic, The Leopard. For fun, I’d have one or more of Andrea Camilleri’s Inspector Montalbano mysteries … in English if I were going to be stranded only a short time, in the original Italian (with a good dictionary) if I were going to be there a while. Might as well work on my Italian while I’m “stuck” on this island!

Norm:

Besides your art guides, what other writing gigs have you found profitable or rewarding? 

Jane:

Through an unexpected series of events in the early 90s I found myself writing a childcare newsletter. I didn’t have a particular interest in the subject, but it was that project that got me thinking of myself as a writer and editor. It opened me to the possibility of doing what I’m doing now, writing about art and history -- things that I truly am interested in.

Norm:

What is next for Jane McIntosh?

Jane:

More of the same! 

In 2006 I acquired the audio rights to a series of books published in the 1990s, The Great Fresco Cycles of the Renaissance, so the next four Jane's Smart Art Guides titles will be drawn from that series. First will be a guide to Fra Angelico's frescoes at San Marco in Florence, which is now available in MP3 format, and is due out on CD in March. Right now I’m working on one of the Raphael rooms in the Vatican, the Stanza della Segnatura. I hope to have the remaining two -- Signorelli's San Brizio Chapel in the Duomo di Orvieto and Lorenzetti's Allegories of Good and Bad Government in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena -- completed in 2007.

I'm hoping that the next guide I’ll develop for a church in Rome will be for San Clemente: a church with two millennia of history in its foundations. My original idea was to produce guides to "the remarkable art sites of Europe", but I'm personally such an Italo-phile that my title development plans are heavily weighted to Italy.

Norm:

Is there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered?

Jane:

Thanks to you, Norm, I think I’m going to start planning a trip to Sicily!

Norm:

Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors.