Books du jour

I have been on a bit of a book buying spree lately. I guess I should add the phrase 'as usual' to this sentence because I do really adore books. I use the library for books that I want to read, fiction type stuff, but I really like to own art books. Here are a few that I like:

Carla's book is a must-have for anyone who wants to loosen up and capture the true fun of drawing. Her personality shines through on every page and her drawings are so delightful I find myself smiling as I read. The book is formatted in weekly sections which is genius. It's my intent to work through it with my grandson and I know we will have a blast.

I saw this book at Anthropology last week and I might have accidentally drooled all over it. I did go home and order it off Amazon though simply because it saved a considerable sum. Being a painter, I find myself chuckling at lots of the studio pics in the gorgeous eye candy magazines (you know the ones I am talking about) on the market today. Sure I read them and love them, but my studio doesn't look anything like that. My place is a pig sty. Stains on the floor, paint marks on the walls, dirty coffee cups, petrified paint palettes, all sorts of yuck everywhere. I simply can't help myself, I get pretty passionate and really feel stifled if I try to stay clean. My furniture is all used and was free (picked up on garbage day). I would be nuts to furnish my studio with nice things.

So anyhoo, imagine my thrill when I pick up this book and see a bunch of famous contemporary painters (I am talking about big famous names like Eric Fischl and April Gornik) whose studios are a wreck too - the kind of mess I produce - whew, I thought there might be something wrong with me (ha! that's a topic for another day). In depth and interesting interviews accompany the photos and this is a book I know I will read in its entirety. Simply fascinating to me, a little like crawling into the heads of these artists.  Drool, drool......