Novels Inspired by Works of Art & Artists

Well, I'm trying to take a different approach. And there's two things I do: When I go into a gallery, first of all, I go quite fast, and I look at everything, and I pinpoint the ones that make me slow down for some reason or other. I don't even know why they make me slow down, but something pulls me like a magnet and then I ignore all the others, and I just go to that painting. So it's the first thing I do is, I do my own curation. I choose a painting. It might just be one painting in 50. And then the second thing I do is I stand in front of that painting, and I tell myself a story about it.  Why a story? Well, I think that we are wired, our DNA tells us to tell stories. We tell stories all the time about everything, and I think we do it because the world is kind of a crazy, chaotic place, and sometimes stories, we're trying to make sense of the world a little bit, trying to bring some order to it. Why not apply that to our looking at paintings?
~Tracy Chevalier, "Finding the story inside the painting"

We're not fiction writers, but seems like sometimes a writer might need a prompt to get a story started in their head, and why shouldn't that be art? Author Sophia Tobin says they are "natural kindling for each other," and we can only concur. Sometimes it's a specific painting, sometimes a specific artist. Tracy Chevalier used works of art as a prompt for her early novels (most notably Vermeer, but also medieval tapestry); Sarah Dunant, Alexandra Lapierre, and Susan Vreeland also caused a stir with their art-inspired fiction, ranging from Louis Tiffany to Renoir to Artemisia Gentileschi. Sometimes it's not just a fictionalized account of art history, but the art or artist is completely fictional, but the creative sensibility of the writing can be no less inspired or impassioned than the real deal. If you are an art lover - even if you just know what you like - why not pick up some novels inspired by art? Maybe you'll even start looking at what's hanging on your own walls differently.

In Sunlight or In Shadow: Stories Inspired By the Paintings of Edward Hopper edited by Lawrence Block

Inspiration: Edward Hopper

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Inspiration: "a small, mysteriously captivating painting that ultimately draws Theo into the art underworld." [library catalog]

Artful by Ali Smith

Inspiration: "Artful began with a series of lectures that Smith gave during her time as a visiting writer at St. Anne’s College. They concern big topics like art, literature, and time, and reference a host of real works, writers, and artists. But these lectures are also embedded within a larger context that gives them a fictional backdrop: the narrator finds herself being visited by the ghost of a lost love. It’s a beautifully jarring touch, bringing together aesthetic discussions with more metaphysical realms, and leaving things in a deeply unpredictable state throughout." [Signature]

I, Mona Lisa by Jeanne Kalogridis

Inspiration: La Gioconda by Leonardo da Vinci 

Dancing for Degas by Kathryn Wagner

Inspiration: Edgar Degas 

Sunflowers by Sheramy Bundrick

Inspiration: Vincent Van Gogh 

Rodin's Lover by Heather Webb
Inspiration: Camille Claudel

My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk

Inspiration: "A vivid, multi-voiced story of 16th-century Istanbul centring around the murder of a miniaturist who is working on a secret book for the sultan. But this is no straightforward murder mystery; Pamuk explores death, love and the nature of Islamic art with immediacy and an awareness of its cultural resonance." [Guardian] 

The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset Maugham

Inspiration: Paul Gauguin 

Headlong by Michael Frayn

Inspiration: Bruegel the Elder  

Girl Reading by Katie Ward 

Inspiration: "This debut novel is comprised of seven sections, each based on a separate woman and her portrait." [Guardian]  

Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey 

Inspiration: A portrait of Richard III inspires a hospitalized police detective to investigate the mystery of the princes in the Tower.

The Last Nude by Ellis Avery
Inspiration: Art Deco painter Tamara de Lempicka

Madame Picasso by Anne Girard
Inspiration: Pablo Picasso's early relationship with Eva Gouel

FSA Photography, The Works Progress Administration, and the New Deal

Contrary to popular association, photography was not the primary work of the Farm Security Administration. The FSA was a New Deal agency designed to combat rural poverty during a period when the agricultural climate and national economy were causing great dislocations in rural life. The photographers who worked under the name of the FSA were hired on for public relations; they were supposed to provide visual evidence that there was need, and that the FSA programs were meeting that need. Beyond serving this institutional image, the photographers were to document aspects of "the American way of life" that caught their eye. This looser and farther-reaching mission ultimately accounted for the vast file of photographs (over 80,000 black and white images) that is now considered one of the most famous documentary photography projects ever.
~Juliet Gorman 

We have long had an interest in the Great Depression and the New Deal - perhaps early exposure to the musical Annie is to blame, or we got too caught up in the drama of 1999's Cradle Will Rock, or we saw Dorothea Lange's "Migrant Mother" photograph at an impressionable age. But when New Deal Photography: USA 1935-1943  rolled across our desk one day, we thought now might be a good time to delve deeper into this topic!

Recently we were at Roosevelt Park in southeast Albuquerque and noted its sign:

We had never before considered how the New Deal had touched New Mexico - in fact, had touched all the states, if the amount of  WPA state guides in the library catalog are anything to go on. But what was it, exactly? We had always thought of the Works Progress Administration (sometimes called the Works Project Administration) in terms of the murals, posters, and the photography. But  that was just the tip of the iceberg, we discovered.

The WPA was created in 1935 as a work project for the unemployed. There were 11 million unemployed in 1934 and the WPA put 8 million of them to work, constructing roads, creating parks, building public buildings, bridges, and airports, and, as the Federal Arts Project, Federal Writers' Project, and Federal Theater Project, entertaining. There was even an arm of the WPA responsible for finding part-time jobs for youth. Critics of the program called it " a device for creating a huge patronage army loyal to the Democratic Party," and that the work it created was unnecessary; Harry Hopkins, one of FDR's advisers, believed  “giv[ing] a man a [handout]… you save his body and destroy his spirit. [But by giving] him a job… you save both body and spirit.” The WPA only endured 8 years, ending in 1943 with some charges of mismanagement and with the employment boom of the wartime years.

For more about the WPA, the Farm Security Administration (also created in 1935, to fight rural poverty - many famous Depression-era photographers got their start in this branch of the New Deal), and how they affected New Mexico, consider checking out one of the items from the library catalog listed below.

Russell Lee's FSA Photographs of Chamisal and Peñasco, New Mexico  edited by William Wroth 

Pie Town Revisited by Arthur Drooker 

Gordon Parks  introduction by Paul Roth 

Bound For Glory: America in Color, 1939-43  introduction by Paul Hendrickson 

Official Images: New Deal Photography by Pete Daniel ... [et al.]  

Dorothea Lange: A Life Beyond Limits by Linda Gordon 

Dorothea Lange: Grab a Hunk of Lightning [DVD]

The Food of a Younger Land: A Portrait of American Food - Before the National Highway System, Before Chain Restaurants, and Before Frozen Food, When the Nation's Food Was Seasonal, Regional, and Traditional - From the Lost WPA Files edited and illustrated by Mark Kurlansky 

America Eats!: On the Road With the WPA - The Fish Fries, Box Supper Socials, and Chitlin Feasts That Define Real American Food by Pat Willard 

Public Art and Architecture in New Mexico 1933-1943: A Guide to the New Deal Legacy compiled by Kathryn A. Flynn 

Believing Is Seeing: Observations on the Mysteries of Photography by Errol Morris 

On the Ropes by James Vance and Dan E. Burr 

The Muralist: A Novel by B. A. Shapiro 

The New Deal: A Modern History by Michael Hiltzik  

A More Abundant Life: New Deal Artists and Public Art in New Mexico by Jacqueline Hoefer  

America 1933: The Great Depression, Lorena Hickok, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Shaping of the New Deal by Michael Golay  

Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time by Ira Katznelson 

A Square Meal: A Culinary History of the Great Depression by Jane Ziegelman and Andrew Coe

  

 

Links

Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information Black-and-White Negatives [Library of Congress]

The Dust Bowl by Ken Burns: Photo Gallery [PBS]

America's Great Depression and Roosevelt's New Deal [Digital Public Library of America]

The Louvre Collection: Setting Comics Creators Loose in the Louvre

Setting comics creators loose in the Louvre, and then letting a story come to them that is inspired by the works they come across. One of the premiere cultural institutions in the WORLD decided that it would be a great idea to create a "lasting bridge" between their artworks and the world of comics-and their readers. That's just huge. 
~Comixology

The Louvre Collection (or Louvre Éditions) is a series of graphic novels that have been published as a collaboration with the museum and some renowned  artists via the NBM ComicsLit imprint. The Seattle Post calls the series "an art and comics lover's treat". Each author has been given free rein to create their own story set amongst the museum's collections, and the results have been, in the words of the San Francisco Book Review, "curious and unexpected". If you are unfamiliar with the artists, check out their work online: Nicolas De Crécy studied Comic Art and the Angoulême School of Fine Arts, and later worked for Disney in France; Enki Bilal is not only a comic creator but also a film director; Christian Durieux does not appear to have standalone website, but he was born in "the European capital of comics, Brussels" and has been widely published in Spirou, a weekly comics magazine; and examples of  David Prudhomme's work can be found in a feature about the New York Comics & Picture-Story Symposium done by The Rumpus. 

The library system has several of these graphic novels available in the catalog! Why not give one of them a try? Some give an interesting take into the exhibits and will surely fascinate those who have been to the Louvre as well as those who have not, but want to; others are more abstract, and will entertain readers with their flights of fancy.

An Enchantment: The Louvre Collection by Christian Durieux
"Beautifully constructed in a semi-classical style, this graphic novel features a light-spirited romantic story. This latest installment in the Louvre collection tells the tale of a museum director in a waking dream after his retirement dinner where he wanders the vast halls of the museum before eloping with a muse. The magic of the vast museum melds with the ethereal storytelling to create a unique graphic novel that stands as an unforgettable experience." ~Amazon.com

Glacial Period by Nicolas De Crecy
"In this fanciful and richly imaginative story, one of the most original and important young European comic artists imagines a frozen world thousands of years hence in which all human history has been forgotten. A small group of archaeologists come upon the Louvre, buried in age-old snow, and cannot begin to explain all of the artifacts they see. Their interpretations of the wonders before them strike a humorous, absurd, and farcical tone. One of the few books coedited by the Louvre, this graphic novel features stunning illustrations as it presents a unique vision of the great museum." 

Phantoms of the Louvre by Enki Bilal
"Superstar comic artist Enki Bilal reimagines the Louvre as a ghostly place in this series of 22 portraits. The Mona Lisa , the Winged Victory of Samothrace , a reclining Christ, an Egyptian bust--these and other works of art are seen through the eyes of their own particular phantom. The motley collection of men, women, and children presented in these vignettes-- a Roman legionary, a muse, a painter, and a German officer, among others--have little in common other than their often violent demises and an eternity spent haunting the iconic Parisian museum. Bilal recounts the life stories of these lost souls in dramatic biographies that combine fiction and historical reality, often evoking the creation of the works in question. The paintings that compose this graphic novel were presented in a special exhibition at the Louvre in early 2013."

Cruising Through the Louvre by David Prudhomme 
"Author David Prudhomme meanders through the Louvre, feeling as if in the panels of a giant comic while he himself is creating his own. In this institution, all manner of people from all over the world rub elbows quietly. So he decides to cruise through the Louvre at a quick pace, not to look at the art but to observe the people and their interaction with it. He discovers: a group of students somehow stuck together just as in the shipwrecked on the Raft of the Medusa; a man behind the Seated Scribe, as if attempting to read over his shoulder; in the hall of antiquities, a woman placing her head in a lions mouth... For two hours, Prudhomme is witness to a strange silent and casual choreography, danced in the midst of one of the most prestigious museums in the world..."

*All descriptions are taken from the catalog unless otherwise noted. 

Art of New Mexico

There's a thriving art scene here in New Mexico. Just here in Albuquerque, you could use a museum discovery pass to to to the Albuquerque Museum (until March 15 - we highly recommend the New Territories exhibit) or the Indian Pueblo Cultural Center; there's the Albuquerque ARTScrawl on the First Friday of the month; you can visit creative centers like the Harwood Art Center, 516 Arts, and OFFCenter Community Arts Project for exhibits, workshops, and more. As the weather warms up, there will be more opportunities to visit open-air markets and art and craft shows, here in Albuquerque and also in Santa Fe, Taos, and beyond. But all that is the tip of the iceberg!

We'd like to brag a little bit about art from New Mexico using books from the library catalog. Here's a list of some of our latest acquisitions.

A Strange Mixture: The Art and Politics of Painting Pueblo Indians by Sascha T. Scott

A Contested Art: Modernism and Mestizaje in New Mexico by Stephanie Lewthwaite

Visualizing Albuquerque: Art of Central New Mexico by Joseph Traugott ; edited by Dawn Hall 

A Place in the Sun: The Southwest Paintings of Walter Ufer and E. Martin Hennings edited by Thomas Brent Smith 

Expressing New Mexico: Nuevomexicano Creativity, Ritual, and Memory edited by Phillip B. Gonzales 

Artists of New Mexico Traditions: The National Heritage Fellows by Michael Pettit 

Detonography: The Explosive Art of Evelyn Rosenberg by Evelyn Rosenberg  

New Mexico Art Through Time: Prehistory to the Present  by Joseph Traugott 

The Life and Art of Tony Da by Charles S. King and Richard L. Spivey

Coloring for Grownups

Coloring not only evokes happy memories of childhood; the act can also foster a sense of well-being and offer a relaxing respite from our digital world. Crafters have known this intuitively for years... Coloring is a great way to explore your creativity — it’s easy, inexpensive and you don’t have to know how to draw. The 10 to 20 minutes you spend coloring  an image that gives you a sense of satisfaction can have a positive ripple effect throughout your day.
~Nancy Monson, "Why the latest coloring-book craze can be good for you"

Adults have taken up coloring, as a form of meditation, relaxation, or therapy, and it has caught on like wildfire this year - perhaps because this activity, traditionally the province of children, reminds adults of a more carefree time in their lives. Psychologists say "The relaxation that it provides lowers the activity of the amygdala, a basic part of our brain involved in controlling emotion that is affected by stress" and "The repetition and predictable outcome — much like when a person knits or embroiders — is soothing, almost like meditation." It's a recommended activity for "...adults [who] have given up on creating art as a means of expression by early adolescence. There is a great deal of fear involved, with people thinking they are 'not good enough' at creating art... It's a great starting point...starting with these coloring pages can build self-esteem and confidence with art materials, and then people can be guided to use more sophisticated art materials and create their own artistic expressions that extend far beyond coloring book pages." It's also great for retirees: "...researchers found that adults 65 or older who engaged in creative activities such as making jewelry, painting or writing had better overall health, made fewer visits to the doctor, used less medication and had fewer health problems than non-crafters."

Some people are getting together to color the way they might for a book club and others are sharing their work on social media. Even Crayola has gotten into the act, selling "adult coloring kits" - they include colored pencils and markers, so you don't have to share your kid's (helpful, too, if you don't have any children).

There are more adult coloring books than you can shake a stick at - mehndi designs, mandalas, mindfulness, Outlander, Game of Thrones, paisley, ocean designs, flowers, birds, stained glass, kaleidoscope - so whatever your pleasure, you can probably find something to color.

We can't stock coloring books in the library catalog, but we do feature several books on Zentangle. The Zentangle Method is "an easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. Creating Zentangle art provides a fun and lighthearted way to relax and intentionally facilitate a shift in focus and perspective."

Zentangle: The Inspiring and Mindful Drawing Method by Jane Marbaix CZT

Zentangle Basics 1 by Suzanne McNeill 

One Zentangle a Day: A 6-Week Course in Creative Drawing for Relaxation, Inspiration, and Fun by Beckah Krahula, CZT 

The Art of Zentangle: 50 Inspiring Drawings, Designs & Ideas For the Meditative Artist by 

Totally Tangled: Zentangle and Beyond by Sandy Steen Bartholomew 

Creative Tangle: Creating Your Own Patterns For Zen-Inspired Art by Trish Reinhart 


Check out some upcoming library events featuring coloring for grownups, and don't forget National Coloring Book Day is August 2nd!


Family Coloring Club @ Alamosa Library
Calling all coloring book fans, young and not so young! Join us every first Tuesday of the month for some stress-relieving coloring. We'll provide coloring tools and coloring pages appropriate for all age groups.

Adult Coloring@ Cherry Hills Library
Join us the First Saturday at 1 p.m. and Third Tuesday at 6 p.m. for our new adult coloring group. Drop in and express your creativity in a relaxed environment.We provide the materials, you bring the fun. Meets in the Squaretunda.

Coloring for Grown-Ups @ Erna Fergusson Library
A exciting new program  reoccurring on the first Sunday of every month.  Bring your friends, de-stress and relax while coloring beautiful designs and patterns.  All material will be provided.  Adults only.  Take some time for yourself-leave the kids at home.

Zentangle for Adults @ Lomas Tramway Library
Do you Zentangle?  Come and enjoy this relaxing art and practice with other folks who would love to share their projects with you.  If you are new to this art, we will go over the basics and practice a couple of new tangles each month. For adults.  No registration required.

San Pedro Colors! @ San Pedro Library
Come color with us! Relieve stress and make friends. All materials provided and all ages welcome. 

Links

Free Adult Coloring Pages [Art Is Fun]

Coloring Pages for Adults: Free to Download & Print! [Coloring Pages for Adults]

Free Coloring Pages for Adults [Easy Peasy and Fun]

Free Adult Coloring Pages [Crayola]

Paisley, Hearts & Flowers, Anti-Stress Design Coloring Page [Hello Kids]

Adult Coloring on Pinterest

The Sketchbook Project

My fascination with community art projects has found a new object!  It is called the Sketchbook Project.  The book that introduced me, The Sketchbook Project World Tour, was recommended to me by a customer who loved it.  I always love hearing what my customers have enjoyed reading, and even better when I have the chance to look into their favorites, as I did with this one.  

The project this book is based on is a really neat thing.  I don't know how to not understate it.  And although it reminds me of other community cultivating projects I've posted about, such as Storycorps, Humans of New York, and PostSecret (links are to my posts), I'll try not to do it disservice by just repeating the super cool similarities. The book is a sampling of sketches from the crowd-sourced Brooklyn Art Library, which houses 33,868 sketchbooks by people from 135 countries who paid an entry fee to participate in the project and received blank Sketchbook Project notebooks (currently priced at $28 for non-digitized or $63 for digitized) to fill with their art and send back to become permanent pieces in the library.  Each piece of art featured in the book is only one spread from the sketchbook that it came from, but if you visit the library in Brooklyn, you can browse all of the sketchbooks!  You can also search for and check out sketchbooks online, and when you do, the artist whose work you are viewing is notified.

In reading about the Sketchbook Project, I discovered that the founders started it because they did not like the way that normal art places were so exclusive.  Therefore, anybody of any age or experience can join in on the project - it is not just for professional artists.  That being said, most of the art in The Sketchbook Project World Tour could've fooled me.  The creative capacity that we've been endowed with and how much breadth and depth there is in the variety of art that we can create, even as novices, takes my breath away. 

Just in case anybody decides they are going to enter the Sketchbook Project and needs some inspiration or instruction, I'm tacking on to this post another fascinating book that I found - Zendoodle: Oodles of Doodles.  (By the way, please let me know if you do enter, I would be so excited to hear about it!)  This book offers unique approaches to Zentangle® and it, too, includes examples of artwork in many types of media and with lots of unique approaches.  Even if you don't pick up pen (colored pencil, paint, or chalk) and paper to try it out, this book is beautiful and great fun to browse through. 


Links

10 Incredible Journals From the Brooklyn Art Library

A Home for Sketchbooks of the World

Inside the Brooklyn Art Library and the Sketchbook Project 2012

Inside a Stranger's Sketchbook

The Darker Side of Art History

Sometimes you just need a little scandal to give your day that frisson of excitement. The art world is no stranger to scandal - art history is full of it! The art world has often been rocked by radical ideas (for instance, the 1913 Armory Show), forgery, theft, censorship, and the like. In early August, we were reading about scientists re-testing the authenticity of Belgium's iconic bronze statue, the Manneken Pis - a centuries-old statue that has "been pinched, rediscovered and replicated so many times that historians say they have lost track of the original." Also this year, the film Woman in Gold was released - the compelling story of an elderly Jewish woman's battle to retrieve family possessions seized by the Nazis. 

We are fascinated by the twists and turns of art history's litany of forgeries, heists, mysteries, looting, and scandal. We've compiled a list of some materials from the library catalog that we hope will help explain our fascination, and perhaps even pique your own interest.

Books 

The Art of the Con: The Most Notorious Fakes, Frauds, and Forgeries in the Art World by Anthony M. Amore

Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo 

Master Thieves: The Boston Gangsters Who Pulled Off the World's Greatest Art Heist by Stephen Kurkjian

The Rescue Artist: A True Story of Art, Thieves, and the Hunt for a Missing Masterpiece by Edward Dolnick

The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax of the Twentieth Century by Edward Dolnick

Museum of the Missing: A History of Art Theft by Simon Houpt

Loot: The Battle Over the Stolen Treasures of the Ancient World by Sharon Waxman

The Lost Painting by Jonathan Harr

Strapless: John Singer Sargent and the Fall of Madame X by Deborah Davis [eBook]

Stealing the Mystic Lamb: The True Story of the World's Most Coveted Masterpiece by Noah Charney 

Stolen, Smuggled, Sold: On the Hunt for Cultural Treasures by Nancy Moses

The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History by Robert M. Edsel with Bret Witter 


DVDs 

The Rape of Europa

Mona Lisa Is Missing: The True Story of the Man Who Stole the Masterpiece

The Art of the Steal 

Art and Craft
 

Links

5 Scandals that Rocked Art [Neatorama]

10 Scandalous Artists from History [HuffPost]

Are Art Forgers Scoundrels, or Merely Deluded Enthusiasts? [Vulture]

The 5 Best Museum Heists in History [Time]

Who Was Maria Altmann? The Real Story Behind 'Woman in Gold' [Biography] 
 

New and Novel: Art History and Appreciation

I have met a few people in my life who have said something very much like “I don’t know much about art, but I know what I like..." It was always said with humility, and with a sense of admiration for people who do know much about art. Arts administrators: are these not the very people you would like to meet? They like something, have had a response to something, although they know little of the context. Show interesting art, and those who know much about art will come to you. Those who don’t like anything, you will never reach. But those finding their way – and in many genres, I could count myself among them – in music, theatre, dance, visual art, film, poetry and prose? Talk to them.
~Michael Rushton, "But I know what I like," from For What It's Worth: An ArtsJournal Blog

Still almost any reaction in front of a picture is better than none... You've got to start somewhere and anything that hooks you on to a picture and makes you look again at it is better than nothing. And certainly more helpful than being told, "You should look at this. It's a masterpiece".
~Alan Bennett, "I know what I like, but I'm not sure about art"

We were at a poetry reading this weekend, and some of us were discussing "getting" poetry - similar to that old saw about art appreciation, "I don't know much about art, but know what I like," which is traditionally greeted with scorn. There's a lot to be said for a deep, academic understanding of poetry and art - the forms, the history, the techniques. We might miss out on some of the richness of the artist's craft for not knowing more background about the artist's work.  But you have to start somewhere, and isn't it important to leave yourself open to the experience? We love a good art museum, gallery, show, happening; it's amazing to be moved by a piece of artwork, to stand before it and take it all in. With that in mind, we've compiled a list of  books about art history and appreciation from the library catalog.  There's a lot out there - you can learn about art, you can look at catalogs of exhibitions, you can go behind the scenes at museums and the art market. We hope you'll find a piece of the art world that moves you to "almost any reaction"!

How to Read Islamic Carpets by Walter B. Denny

How to Read Impressionism: Ways of Looking by James Rubin

Eye of the Beholder: Johannes Vermeer, Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, and the Reinvention of Seeing by Laura J. Snyder

In Search of Civilization: Remaking a Tarnished Idea by John Armstrong

The Notebooks by Jean-Michel Basquiat; edited by Larry Warsh

Artful Dodgers: Fraud and Foolishness in the Art Market by Bernard Ewell

Museum: Behind the Scenes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Danny Danziger

The Supermodel and the Brillo Box: Back Stories and Peculiar Economics From the World of Contemporary Art by Don Thompson 

Leo and His Circle: The Life of Leo Castelli by Annie Cohen-Solal

33 Artists in 3 Acts by Sarah Thornton

The Girl With the Gallery: Edith Gregor Halpert and the Making of the Modern Art Market by Lindsay Pollock

The Private Lives of the Impressionists by Sue Roe 

What Are You Looking At?: The Surprising, Shocking, and Sometimes Strange Story of 150 Years of Modern Art by Will Gompertz

A People's Art History of the United States: 250 years of Activist Art and Artists Working in Social Justice Movements by Nicolas Lampert

The Guerrilla Girls' Bedside Companion to the History of Western art by the Guerrilla Girls 

Keeping An Eye Open: Essays on Art by Julian Barnes

Indian Country: The Art of David Bradley by Valerie K. Verzuh

Grayson Perry by Jacky Klein

Colliding Worlds: How Cutting-Edge Science Is Redefining Contemporary Art by Arthur I. Miller

Traces: Ana Mendieta  edited by Stephanie Rosenthal

  

 

Summer Project: Tripping the Art Fantastic

The library's Summer Reading Program is happening right now, with the theme "Every Hero Has a Story". Fantasy fiction is a great place to find heroes - Frodo in The Lord of the Rings, Kvothe in The Kingkiller Chronicles, Fitz from The Farseer Trilogy, Ged from Earthsea, Harry Potter. Some of the art associated with fantasy worlds is, well, fantastic - just take a look at drawings by Tolkien. If you are artistically inclined, perhaps you'd like to use some time this summer learning more about fantasy art and how to make it?  The library catalog has some suggestions:

Create

How to Draw and Paint Fantasy Combat by Matt Stawicki

How to Draw and Paint Fantasy Architecture by Rob Alexander

Carving Fantasy & Legend Figures in Wood by Shawn Cipa

Dreamscapes: Creating Magical Angel, Faery & Mermaid Worlds with Watercolor by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law [eBook]

The Explorer's Guide to Drawing Fantasy Creatures by Emily Fiegenschuh [eBook]

Discover

Fantasy Worlds by John Maizels

Spectrum 18: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art edited by Cathy Fenner and Arnie Fenner

Drawing Down the Moon: The Art of Charles Vess with a foreword by Susanna Clarke

Extra Credit

Fantastic Flesh: The Art of Make-Up EFX
The magic of special effects makeup makes us believe in aliens, monsters, and the possessed. Takes an inside look at the creation and execution of some of Hollywood's most unique special effects.

Knits for Nerds: 30 Projects - Science Fiction, Comic Books, Fantasy by Joan of Dark, a.k.a. Toni Carr
A collection of 30 knitting patterns inspired by popular science fiction and fantasy culture includes designs in the style of such iconic articles as Lieutenant Uhura's minidress, Hobbit slippers, and Hermione Granger's secret beaded bag.

Summer Project: Drawing, Painting, and More!

Summertime...and the living is easy.
~George Gershwin

The seeds of creativity live in everyone. Some individuals are fortunate that their sprouting imagination was nurtured and grown into strong creative thinking abilities...Creative people invent, imagine, problem-solve, create, and communicate in fresh, new ways... Those with the ability to "think outside of the box" will lead the future and make special things happen.
~"Importance of Creativity" from Crayola.com

What are you doing to unwind this summer? Well, you might be doing extra reading to take part in our Summer Reading Program, or taking a trip somewhere, or taking part in outdoor activities (Zoo Music?  Farmers' Market? Summerfest? Isotopes? Check out the City of Albuquerque's Summer page for more).  But if you are at a loose end, and looking for something a little different, why not try taking up art?  Whether you are a newbie or someone looking to hone your drawing or painting skills, the library catalog is chock-full of suggestions of how to get more creative!

Drawing and Painting Beautiful Faces: A Mixed-Media Portrait Workshop by Jane Davenport 

Advanced Airbrush Art: How To Secrets From the Masters by Timothy Remus

Mixed Media Portraits: Techniques for Drawing and Painting Faces by Pam Carriker

Daily Painting: Paint Small and Often to Become a More Creative, Productive, and Successful Artist by Carol Marine

Painting Brilliant Skies and Water in Pastel by Liz Haywood-Sullivan

Joy of Zentangle: Drawing Your Way to Increased Creativity, Focus, and Well-Being by Suzanne McNeill et al.

20 Ways to Draw a Tree: And 44 Other Nifty Things From Nature - A Sketchbook for Artists, Designers, and Doodlers by Eloise Renouf

The Art of Urban Sketching: Drawing On Location Aroundthe World by Gabriel Campanario

The Wrinklies' Guide to Drawing: New Pursuits For Old Hands by Richard Pomfret

Fast Sketching Techniques: Capture theFundamental Essence of Elusive Subjects by David Rankin [eBook]

One Drawing a Day: A 6-Week Course Exploring Creativity with Illustration and Mixed Media by Veronica Lawlor [eBook]

Painting Your Way Out of a Corner: The Art of Getting Unstuck by Barbara Diane Barr

The Art of Mistakes: Unexpected Painting Techniques & the Practice of Creative Thinking by Melanie Rothschild 

A-Z of Painting Bird Portraits: An Illustrated Guide to Painting Beautiful Birds in Acrylics by Andrew Forkner 

IPad for Artists by Dani Jones 

Electronics for Artists: Adding Light, Motion, and Sound to Your Artwork by Simon Quellen Field
 
Street Scene: How to Draw Graffiti-Style by John Le [eBook]


Amp up your creative game with these exercises!

Craft-a-Doodle: 75 Creative Exercises From 18 Artists by Jenny Doh  

Art Before Breakfast: A Zillion Ways to Be More Creative No Matter How Busy You Are by Danny Gregory

 Know a kid who likes to draw...sports?  Try the Drawing with Sports Illustrated Kids series!