me, age 1.....and a book!

I love books. Almost as much as paper and color. Almost as much as canvas and brushes. Bookstores are a close second to art stores in terms of loveliness and goodies to be had. I’m looking for secrets, truths and insights, and direction when I need it. I walk into Barnes & Noble with the focus of the desperately hungry and I’ve no idea what it is I want to eat. Often I’m not entirely sure what it is I’m searching for. But inevitably it will find me if I stay long enough. The call to read is strong at all times. It is within a good book that I feed my soul, and very often, my art.

First choice is always a biography. I’m reading James Rosenquist’s “Notes on A Life in Art” at this moment. It’s delicious. For me, there’s nothing, more kick-ass and affirming than disappearing into another artist’s journey. Regardless of where they made their mark in history, I believe all artists have something to teach me. Their experiences fill me with hope: it’s okay to be conflicted, scared, ambitious, angry, impatient, resolute, excited and, sometimes, unable to make anything at all. It’s okay to fail. If they’ve been there, I can be there. Each biography cements my decision to be on this wild, circuitous path I’m meant to be on. If I can, I follow up a good read with a trip to the museum. The images and the words sustain me. It’s to this well I go for nourishment.

Other times I am looking for a cosmic hug or inspiration…a nod from the art market that I should be in this game. Next on my list is “The Affluent Artist” by Rick DiBiasio. (Don’t you just love that title?!! Keeping THAT image in my head…oh yeah!) The resources for creative encouragement are plentiful: artist quotes, art business guides, how-to books on techniques or materials, essays on the arts market, non-fiction on art scandals or arts institutions, big coffee table books, show catalogs. To name a few. I keep a small library here at home and return to these books over and over again. I think it’s important for creative people in particular to keep both sides of their minds working. It’s way too easy to become isolated or even worse, afraid, simply because we might not understand what’s going on in the world. We don’t want to poke our heads out of the studio. But, like it or not, information is vital. We need to learn from the past and to be up-to-date. We all should think “current” in our approach to our careers.

I encourage all creative people to use these resources, to go to these “places” when the well is dry and when the soul is, perhaps, a little parched. Below are my top 20! Soak it up and enjoy.

TOP TWENTY PAINTBOX ART BOOKS

Affirmations for Artists by Eric Maisel
Art & Fear by David Bayles & Ted Orland
Art As Experience by John Dewey
Art Without Compromise by Wendy Richmond
Artist to Artist by Clint Brown
But is it Art by Cynthia Freeland
Concerning the Spiritual in Art by Wassily Kandinsky
My Love Affair with Modern Art by Katharine Kuh
Nothing if Not Critical by Robert Hughes
Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton
The $12 Million Stuffed Shark by Don Thompson
The Accidental Masterpiece by Michael Kimmelman
The Art of the Steal by Christopher Mason
The Art Spirit by Robert Henri
The Artist’s Mentor by Ian Jackman
The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp
The View From the Studio Door by Ted Orland
The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
The Zen of Creativity by John Daido Loori
Visual Shock by Michael Kammen

©Ann Haaland, 2010