Since 1961 James Reeve has been exhibiting and selling his paintings, first in Florence, then in Madrid. From 1974 onwards he has traveled widely, often with subsequent London gallery exhibitions. Here he vividly describes and illustrates the characters he meets, and the adventures unfold along the way--in Haiti, Madagascar, India, Australia, Jordan, the Republic of Yemen, and Mexico. ​His cousin, the historian Antonia Fraser, once remarked in a letter to him: "Dearest James, When God gave you your great artistic talent She made a big mistake, contrary to what is generally thought. This is because you are really meant to be a brilliant writer." And so now, badgered by Fraser and other writer friends, Reeve has at last put his talents together in a series of self-contained short stories recalling travels, anecdotes, and encounters, vividly illustrated through his colorful vignettes. Always travelling with the purpose of work, in Italy James meets Mrs. Acton, the mother of Harold Acton. He meets Princess Elizabeth of Toro in Uganda and is captured by pygmies in the Congo forest. He paints the fearsome Mrs. Gilbert Miller's portrait in Palm Beach and travels in Rajas­than with Diana Wordsworth, a last relic of the Raj. At last, weary of wan­dering, he discovers a distant cloud-forest village in Mexico. There he built a house and stayed for the next thirty-five years. Accompanied by beautiful original illustrations, Travels of a Painter is a colorful collection of short travel stories by a master of description.

A finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, this memoir of one woman's later in life career change is “a smart, funny and compelling case for going after your heart's desires, no matter your age” (Essence). Following her retirement from Princeton University, celebrated historian Dr. Nell Irvin Painter surprised everyone in her life by returning to school––in her sixties––to earn a BFA and MFA in painting. In Old in Art School, she travels from her beloved Newark to the prestigious Rhode Island School of Design; finds meaning in the artists she loves, even as she comes to understand how they may be undervalued; and struggles with the unstable balance between the pursuit of art and the inevitable, sometimes painful demands of a life fully lived. How are women and artists seen and judged by their age, looks, and race? What does it mean when someone says, “You will never be an artist”? Who defines what an artist is and all that goes with such an identity, and how are these ideas tied to our shared conceptions of beauty, value, and difference? Bringing to bear incisive insights from two careers, Painter weaves a frank, funny, and often surprising tale of her move from academia to art in this "glorious achievement––bighearted and critical, insightful and entertaining. This book is a cup of courage for everyone who wants to change their lives" (Tayari Jones, author of An American Marriage).

It's been nearly a century since Marcel Duchamp exhibited a urinal and called it art. Since then, painting has been declared dead several times over, and contemporary art has now expanded to include just about any object, action, or event: dance routines, slideshows, functional hair salons, seemingly random accretions of waste. In the meantime, being an artist has gone from a join-the-circus fantasy to a plausible vocation for scores of young people in America. But why--and how and by whom--does all this art get made? How is it evaluated? And for what, if anything, will today's artists be remembered? In The Contemporaries, Roger White, himself a young painter, serves as our spirited, skeptical guide through this diffuse creative world.From young artists trying to elbow their way in to those working hard at dropping out, White's essential book offers a once-in-a-generation glimpse of the inner workings of the American art world at a moment of unparalleled ambition, uncertainty, and creative exuberance.

“This book is a treasure and a guide. It is a type of healing for the intellect and the heart.” - (Rebecca Lee) A lyrical and intimate account of how a poet, in the midst of a bad divorce, finds consolation and grace through viewing the paintings of Vermeer, in six world cities. In the midst of a divorce (in which the custody of his young daughter is at stake) and over the course of a year, the poet Michael White, travels to Amsterdam, The Hague, Delft, London, Washington, and New York to view the paintings of Johannes Vermeer, an artist obsessed with romance and the inner life. He is astounded by how consoling it is to look closely at Vermeer’s women, at the artist’s relationship to his subjects, and at how composition reflects back to the viewer such deep feeling. Includes the author’s very personal study of Vermeer. Through these travels and his encounters with Vermeer’s radiant vision, White finds grace and personal transformation. "White brings [sensitivity] to his luminous readings of the paintings. An enchanting book about the transformative power of art." - (Kirkus Reviews) "… Figures it took a poet to get it this beautifully, thrillingly right.” - (Peter Trachtenberg) "A unique dance among genres...clear and powerful descriptions touch on the mysteries of seduction, loss, and the artistic impulse." - (Clyde Edgerton)

An astounding novel from Argentina that is a meditation on the beautiful and the grotesque in nature, the art of landscape painting, and one experience in a man's life that became a lightning rod for inspiration. An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter is the story of a moment in the life of the German artist Johan Moritz Rugendas (1802-1858). Greatly admired as a master landscape painter, he was advised by Alexander von Humboldt to travel West from Europe to record the spectacular landscapes of Chile, Argentina, and Mexico. Rugendas did in fact become one of the best of the nineteenth-century European painters to venture into Latin America. However this is not a biography of Rugendas. This work of fiction weaves an almost surreal history around the secret objective behind Rugendas' trips to America: to visit Argentina in order to achieve in art the "physiognomic totality" of von Humboldt's scientific vision of the whole. Rugendas is convinced that only in the mysterious vastness of the immense plains will he find true inspiration. A brief and dramatic visit to Mendosa gives him the chance to fulfill his dream. From there he travels straight out onto the pampas, praying for that impossible moment, which would come only at an immense pricean almost monstrously exorbitant price that would ultimately challenge his drawing and force him to create a new way of making art. A strange episode that he could not avoid absorbing savagely into his own body interrupts the trip and irreversibly and explosively marks him for life.

A Passion for Painting aptly describes Roger Dale Brown and his life-long fervor for artistic excellence. Evan a casual visit to his studio will unveil his dedication and commitment for painting. Eye-opening massive landscapes stand on his easel and adorn the walls, waiting for transit to eager gallery owners and collectors from Maine to Montana. Looking around, the viewer is drawn not so much by the detail as by the subtleness of design and colors on canvas.These pages are embellished with over 200 images from the brush of one of America's premier landscape artist - Roger Dale Brown. Although his Southern heritage emerges throughout this book, he equally embraces the culture and ambience from other places, then interprets the scene with his signature mixture of oil paint. No matter where the book is opened, the journey through script and illustration are alluring. "The artist's ultimate aim should be to evoke the mood of a strand of time" Roger reflects. "I use the scene as a platform to create from, instead of being literal to it. God mad us creative. If we are being literal to a scene and do not interpret with our own voice, we are depriving ourselves of using the talent given to us to its greatest capability."Follow Roger as he travels through like, exploring regions of this country and abroad. The paintings he renders are tributes to his craftsmanship, an artistic voice that is clearly A Passion For Painting.

Inspired by the vivid colors of impressionist art and infused with an extraordinary love of life, The Traveling Artist follows painter and writer Missy Dunaway's voyages over five years, spanning four continents, intimately rendered by hand into the pages of her journals. As a Fulbright Fellow, solo-traveler, and artist-in-residence, Missy traverses a variety of terrain, from urban Istanbul to Morocco's Sahara Desert to bucolic Iceland. Gorgeous paintings instantly transport readers through the hand and eye of an artist with the spirit of a poet. Complementing her artwork is a special introduction that reflects on the development of her process as a traveling artist, along with explanations of her artistic techniques, including how to best capture fleeting moments while on the move. Every reader-- whether armchair or voyager--will journey with Missy and witness as her sketchbook becomes a beloved travel companion. Readers just might be inspired to take the same road, paintbrush in hand.

Painting isn't just for artists anymore.Photographers nowadays are interested in turning their digital photosinto paintings in Corel Painter and Adobe Photoshop.And now Painting for Photographers, published by Artistry Books, shows both the art lessons and software steps for transforming photos into works of art.Written and illustrated by Karen Sperling, one of the world's foremost Painter authorities, having penned the first several Painter manuals and three previous Painter books, Painting for Photographers is the first art book for photographers.It starts with a look at the art concepts that photographers need to know to paint their photos and describes the materials needed to create art, in this case, the software program tools and features.Next, Painting for Photographers provides step-by-step instructions and four-color illustrations for creating paintings in Corel Painter and Adobe Photoshop from popular photo subjects, including portraits, landscapes, pets and wildlife, covering various styles of art, including oils, watercolors and pastels. There's also a chapter on creating abstract art, Karen Sperling's specialty, having exhibited abstracts in New York art galleries.Additionally, Painting for Photographers shows how to paint with traditional acrylics and oils on top of the digital artwork after it's printed to canvas and includes a chapter by world-renowned artist and photographer Laurence Gartel about how to market the results.Painting for Photographers appeals to both professional photographers who would like to sell paintings to their clients and to hobbyists who are interested in painting photos of their kids and grandkids.