My third muse for the challenge is very near and dear to me: Books!
Books have nearly always been a part of my life and by extension, libraries. I was a library helper in 6th grade and again in junior high. Then in high school, before I even hit 16, I started my first job, working as a page shelving books at my local public library. After 4 years of that I went off to college and two years later got another job at a library while finishing off college... this changed from shelving books to being a student artist assistant. After graduation I was able to get on full time and was there for 25 years! A recent job change took me from one library to another and into the world of academia at Ohio State University Libraries... still doing art and design and still in the library and book world! I'm just happy as can be to combine two of my favorite passions, art and books.
I've snapped a short sampling of just a few of my favorite books or types of books to show how the book muse works for me.
Included here: Stamper's Sampler magazine, Celtic Art by George Bain, Medieval Calligraaphy by Marc Drogin, Polymer The Chameleon Clay by Victoria Hughes.
These show my interest in art and calligraphy and books are a great source of inspiration for ideas or techniques, it's a great place to go when I want to work on something but am not sure what direction I want to go.
Somerset Gallery (I have some artwork published in it!), The Joy of Peanuts Christmas (a gift from a friend), Timeless Places: Provence by Alexandra Bonfante-Warren (great example of a coffee table book with great images to inspire, this was also a gift), True Balance by Sonia Choquette (an example of a spiritual self-help type book... I love these, they help sometimes with journaling or just to help my frame of mind or to understand myself better)
Exploring Scotland - Fodors (I love travel books, especially England and Scotland), Edgar Cayce on the Millenium by Jess Stearn (I love Edgar Cayce and other paranormal, psychic type books - very interesting), The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster (LOVE this book from my childhood... kind of nonsensical and Alice in Wonderland like... very fun read even for an adult... I re-read it from time to time still), If You Want to Write by Brenda Euland (absolutely fabulous book on being creative, not just writing... I highly recommend it, it's awesome)
The Tarot: Art, Mysticsm, Divination, Dictionary of Symbols by Carl G. Liungman (I was obsessed by pictoral symbols a few years back and they still fascinate me...this is an awesome book), The Hero With a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell (his work is so inspiring and wonderful...it's great to watch him in interviews on tv and video), Quotable Quotes (great inspiration and good to use in artworks), Elf Quest by Richard and Wendy Pini (a lovely graphic novel with awesome art and an amazing story as well), Creating With Paint by Sherrill Kahn (her work is lovely and quite inspiring - I love her use of color).
Ornament Magazine, Morning Star by Nick Bantock (any book you can find by him is wonderful.... he is a great muse), The Write Brain Workbook (a gift from another art friend... great excercises in the book, loads of fun and very inspiring), The Te of Piglet by Benjamin Hoff (a fun little book that is spiritual and serious without seeming to be)
More later...
If you want to participate in the GPP Street Team Challenge #14, Who's Your Muse or Imaginary Friends.... go to:
http://michelleward.typepad.com/how_cool_is_that/
and play along with the rest of us!
5 comments:
Pam, I love all three of your muse posts; the banner format is inspired and as always, I'm blown away at how artistically prolific you are.
I'll have to look up your other "Who's My Muse" posts, because I enjoyed this one so very much.
All of your muse posts have been wonderful but I have an affinity for this one. I too love and am inspired by books as well as Joseph Campbell's work. Carl Jung inspires me greatly with regard to universal symbolism and Thomas Merton is wonderful regarding quite a few of the things you referanced. Thank you for sharing your muse and your world...maybe there is even more to come?!?! jodi barone
Hi Pam! What a great blog! Just chock full of fun stuff - I'm Cookie Monster, too - I had a great time perusing it. This muse is close to my heart, too. I worked in the library in elementary and junior high school and considered being a librarian for a while. My elementary school librarian was one of the biggest influences in my life. Have you seen the Shelfari widget? Go to the bottom of the page on my blog. It was fun to set up!
Thanks for stopping by,
Laurie
Fantastic muse...books! You are right, I love your post! I shall have to photograph some of my fave's as well! Seriously, your banners are the absolute coolest! I love libraries as well, my boss is the library director at the college I work at, and I am always bugging him for library supplies, which he never gives me. Keep on blogging, you rock!
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