She uses her flatbed scanner and computer exclusively for generating her imagery. She has done so for almost fifteen years and is still captivated by the fluidity with which this technique allows her to render and design with three-dimensional objects. Each book is built with-in the computer, in essence as a piece of sculpture. As a writer and designer as well as photographer, Josie can be considered the ultimate craftperson in her task as book-maker.

Her first book, Loving Blind/SeeingRed: A Mother’s Decade, was produced as an artist’s book by Trillium Press, Brisbane, CA in 2004. It is available on Blurb.com. Her second and third books, Beach Stones and Leaves & Pods, were both released in 2006 by Abrams, an imprint of Harry N. Abrams, Inc, New York, NY. Her third book in the series on forms in nature, Seashells, came out in June 2007 and the fourth book, Heart Stones, launched in time for Valentines Day, 2008. A fifth book exploring the interconnection of art and science is titled Beach: A Book of Treasure. Released for summer 2010 by Chronicle Books, Beach is a celebration of what we find at the beach. As the writer, Josie emphasizes ways to think about our ocean environment so that we might be a better steward of it, infusing personal, aesthetic and historical anecdote into the science. Josie enjoys giving talks and workshops and is busy learning more about seaweed. She is also working on a new little book of sea glass hearts.

Josie Iselin lives with her husband and three children on a steep hill in San Francisco.