Art books on my shelves

hold whispers of my father's presence

As far as cohesive pages go, this isn’t. It’s a dog’s breakfast, but there are bits and pieces here that are worth revisiting, reconsidering, and then fleshing out.

Dad had a fabulous collection of art books - and he often remarked that he figured I would wind up with many/all of them (no secret that I have a bit of a thing for books). So, when I was last on the coast and in his studio, I selected a few to bring home with me. They are now on my newly-tidied shelves and this evening I took a few minutes to flip through some of them.

Dad left page markers behind - dancers (Degas), landscapes (Van Gogh), self-portraits (various artists) - and I found myself following along behind, nibbling at the trail of thought-bread-crumbs he left behind. Why those pages and not others? Many of the books are well-read, the pages soft from decades of his leafing through them. I imagine him in his studio (cup of instant coffee, bar of Cadbury’s Dairymilk close by) reading, observing, considering his move, perhaps finding inspiration. (I realize I have a ‘typo’ in my sketchbook page… I wrote ‘considering his next mood’ - I’ll take that one to my analyst). Then, picking up a paintbrush and getting back to work.

And there I was, doing the same thing! Flipping through the books, pausing when an image caught my attention, thinking, considering my next move… Picked up a pencil to do some quick sketches of the book covers (I’ll go back at some point and re-do those with more detail/some colour) and then taking up the yellow LAMY fountain pen (his) so I could add words (which is my default way of sorting out my next moods/moves).

In case you are wondering, the gold shiny border was salvaged from today’s box of Valentine’s Day Ferrero Rocher chocolates. It reminded me of gold painting frames and seemd somehow appropriate. For those curious about process, that was the first thing I added to the blank page. It’s helpful to break up that white expanse of nothing with… something. Anything.

So… not really sure where to go with this. But, it’s a starting point. I could probably write a whole book using his books to explore different aspects of his art and life. Instead, I might flesh some of these ideas/thoughts/observations/moods into a few pages that explore some of the specific pages he felt moved to mark. What would you be most curious to know?