The Artist's Library

Books I love and something new too!

I am a reader. It’s always been a part of my life. When my children were little and I was working half time, I would stay up late and read on a couch in the living room while the rest of the house slept.

Reading is for me inspiration, escape, education, and selfcare.

During the course of my life I have acquired and donated piles of books. Some of these donated books I end up purchasing again at used book stores. The “collection” is my artists’ library. The library includes textbooks purchased when I studied for my BFA, BA in Art Education, and my Masters degree. I have books that I used in my classrooms with students of all ages. I have books that I acquired on artists that I love and a few books on technique.

A book that I have carted around through various moves is “Kentucky Crafts” published in 1989. It is a coffee table book whose author was the First Lady of Kentucky Phyllis George. That year I was getting a second degree in Art Education and was home with a baby. It was the era of craft and country decor. I was hand painting junk furniture, decorating with purchases found in second hand stores, and stenciling the walls of the nursery.

I probably bought the book as inspiration for my home. When I looked through the index the chapter on textiles and quilts caught my eye. After reading about the individuals featured in this section I wrote several sample lesson plans incorporating weaving and quilting for elementary students. These lessons became apart of my curriculum.

Included in this section was a contemporary artist named Arturao Alonzo Sandoval. He was a professor of art and described as a visionary artist creating high tech textiles. In 2022 Mr Sandoval had a major exhibition at the National Quilt Museum. This random inspiration might have been the seed planted which finally bloomed when I discovered the art quilt movement.

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Since retiring I have collected books that give me a deeper understanding of my own work. I have books on the history of quilting, craft, and the art quilt movement. One of these is a book which arrived in a holiday package from a friend of my husbands who found it in a thrift shop and thought I might like it.

The book was titled “The Mountain Artisans Quilting Book” which documented a co-operative of women in West Virginia funded by a Rockefeller Grant to address poverty in Appalachia. It was written by Alfred Allan Lewis in 1973. In his introduction the author speaks about a revival of populism in politics and a renewed interest in craft. He mentions the major exhibition of quilts at the Whitney Museum and how quilts were a trend in the fashion industry.

The book is filled with wonderful hand drawn patterns. The design sketches read like abstract paintings. The downside of the book is that the author, although he admires the design sense of the makers, clearly puts quilting in its place as a domestic art that can be elevated by those with formal training.

Another book made its way into my library after seeing a post on social media. “A Communion of the Spirits: African American Quilters, Preservers, and Their Stories” by Roland L. Freeman. It’s out of print, but available online. The author begins with his own experience with the craft.

“Quilts were special, even magical to me. They could heal and they could curse, they could capture history and affect the future; they could transform pain into celebration.”

Freeman began collecting the stories of quilters in the mid seventies when he was the director of the Mississippi Folklife Project. Over the next two decades he continued his academic work of documenting makers in African American communities. The result of his work is contained in this large volume. Through social history and personal stories quilting is elevated beyond craft.

In one story I particularly the author recounts a stay with a Mrs. Tolbert. On his return visit he marveled at a newly completed horseshoe quilt in the guest room where Mr. Freeman had stayed on his previous visit.

Mrs Tolbert recounted how it was created after a dream about her husband who had died some years before. Waking from the dream she sat on her porch looking at the horseshoe nailed above the door by her husband to ensure good luck for the family. Her design took form resulting in a dramatic composition in cloth with a large red horseshoe shaped medallion in the center. It’s stunning.

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I seem to be in a bit of a slump (or maybe I’ll call it in a period of reflection). I have been crocheting, making a baby quilt, and doing embroidery on the cuffs of my jeans. Larger pieces have been cut down and wrapped on canvas for exhibition in a local co-op. As I have in the past I turned to books to lift my creative spirit. I picked up a book by a musician that is changing my approach to creativity..

I listened, read through, and am now taking notes on a book by Rick Ruben called “The Creative Act: A Way of Being”. Rubin was a founder of Def Jam Records. He is a major record producer with a studio in Malibu. The book is not about music. It isn’t written for musicians. I would put it somewhere between the philosophy of making and a metaphysical text for creatives. Whatever the label, the book is going to be in my library for a long time.

Here are a few quotes that might inspire you:

“All that matters is that you are making something you love, to the best of your ability, here and now.”

“We tend to think of the artist’s work as the output. The real work of the artist is a way of being in the world.”

“In terms of priority, inspiration comes first. You come next. The audience comes last.”

“The imagination has no limits.The physical world does. The work exists in both.”

Until Next Time…..

Margaret