I took some time today to visit Daum Gallery in Dallas. Once there, I was finally able to see the painting “Persistence” by Jess Tedder in person. I had previously only seen photographs of it on Instagram, but that had still been enough to prompt me to inquire about licensing an image of it for the cover of my latest novel The Girl Who Stopped Wearing Clothes. Seeing the real thing up close, the scale of it, the brush strokes, and the level of detail was definitely worth the trip.

I met Jess when she was an undergraduate art student at the University of Texas at Arlington a few years ago. I was the model for several meetings of her life drawing class over the course of two semesters, and her drawings of me always stood out. I wound up following her on Instagram, and when I saw this painting there in 2022, I immediately thought it would make for a great cover of my current novel. Thankfully, she was more than agreeable to the terms I offered, and I couldn’t be happier with how that front cover looks. Check out Jess’s amazing artwork at her Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/thejesstedder/.