A book lying idle on a shelf is wasted ammunition. Like money, books must be kept in constant circulation. Lend and borrow to the maximum.
— Henry Miller, novelist (1891-1980)
I recently followed Brother Henry's advice by sending Ms Candide Barry Lopez' River Notes after I had finished it. She has an extensive list of other stuff she's reading right now, but I trust it will give her pleasure once she does read it.
Speaking of Brother Henry, I read a bit of his work this past Saturday. Every now and again, I pick up Big Sur and the Oranges of Hieronymus Bosch. I'm in the large middle section, which he calls "A Potpouri" right now, which is really reprints of articles that had been published by various journals. The article I read Saturday was titled "The Water Color Mania." It reminded me a great deal of a pamplet Henry wrote titled "To Paint is to Love Again."
Like me, Bro Henry did not have much training as a painter. But the work benefits from his wildness. Vibrant colors, naive forms — to see a Henry Miller watercolor is to see pure joy.
You've seen examples of my art on these pages. I've used some early work as the picture side of some of my poetic postcards (e.g., this, this and this). It's something I play with, or dabble in, as the spirit moves.
Perhaps it's time to whet the brush again.
No comments:
Post a Comment