A tough transition by this couple

Subtitled Tales from Behind the Canvas, Side by Side by Kim Yesis is a thoughtful story about how she helped her husband Peter leave his job as an engineer and become an artist.

This was not an easy transition and actually took years to accomplish. While Peter eventually had some success when they lived in the western part of the country, his artistry and career took off when they moved to midcoast Maine.

Kim does not sugarcoat the story, including her own struggles to support them through her work which sometimes was consuming. You will understand the thoughtfulness and insights offered by Kim, when you know that she has a masters degree in counseling and is a student of human nature.

I am afraid many marriages would never have survived this challenge but theirs grew stronger as they continued down that path together. And after Peter became a big success as an artist, Kim finally got to achieve her dream of becoming a writer.

Published by Maine Author’s Publishing, I also enjoyed Peter’s paintings at the start of each chapter, particularly his coastal paintings and the one of Baxter Park.

I can only hope Kim is working on another book because I’m certain she has more to share with us.

 

George Smith

About George Smith

George stepped down at the end of 2010 after 18 years as the executive director of the Sportsman’s Alliance of Maine to write full time. He writes a weekly editorial page column in the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Morning Sentinel, a weekly travel column in those same newspapers (with his wife Linda), monthly columns in The Maine Sportsman magazine, two outdoor news blogs (one on his website, georgesmithmaine.com, and one on the website of the Bangor Daily News), and special columns for many publications and newsletters. Islandport Press published a book of George's favorite columns, "A Life Lived Outdoors" in 2014. In 2014, George also won a Maine Press Association award for writing the state's bet sports blog. In 2016, Down East Books published George's book, Maine Sporting Camps, and Islandport Press published George and his wife Linda's travel book, Take It From ME, about their favorite Maine inns and restaurants.