by gift books
Santa left two fabulous books under the tree for me: Marly Youmans’ Glimmerglass and a Phaidon monograph about artist Anselm Kiefer.
I already own and love some of Marly’s books and admire the illustrations by Clive Hicks-Jenkins, so this was a must on my wish list!
After recently writing about Anselm Kiefer’s huge exhibition in London and feeling sad that I could not go and see it, I desired a monograph or catalogue. The large Royal Academy publication looks stunning but is rather expensive with the shipping on top so after some research I chose this Phaidon edition, though smaller, for Santa to bring me.
Touching and admiring their beautiful covers (Marly’s book especially!) and browsing through to enjoy the images inside give me great pleasure while I wait to start reading each once I’ve finished my current library book.
Did you receive books at Christmas?
December 29, 2014 in Books, Other artists by Marja-Leena
I did, including ‘Glimmerglass’, and have photos to prove it! In fact what we tend to do is to order books in the weeks and months before Christmas then hide them from one another in their envelopes. Sometimes we even forget what we’ve ordered so there’s an element of surprise.
Enjoy your Christmas books.
Lucy, a delightful practise that I might take up! We actually do not buy very many any more as every bookshelf is full. You should see all the art books I have collected for decades! We use the library heavily but you cannot get everything there.
Our likes coincide once again: I also enjoy the work of Clive Hicks-Jenkins, and read his artblog from time to time. I have not however ever read Marly Youmans. I hope that you enjoy both books.
We do not buy each other presents any more but have treats together, and build up a pile of books for reading at Christmas time just as we do when we go on holiday at other times of year.
Olga, Clive’s blog is on my regular reading as is Marly’s. I highly recommend her books!
We too rarely buy each other gifts and they are often little things – like the hand knit thick wool slipper socks for him bought at the Scandinavian Christmas craft fair. We also have treats together – thinking of one for our February birthdays, maybe a few days in Tofino?
I got a very nice “coffee-table”-book, which I will be also read, not only leaf and picture by picture: Sally Mann’s Immediate Family. My husband was in Helsinki and found the book in Akateeminen kirjakauppa (the largest bookstore in North Europe). We have copies of two of her child-photos on our kitchen wall. Those pic’s ended up there so, that my friend has been on her photo exhibition in Retretti (one of the largest summer exhibition place in Finland) maybe ten years ago, and bought two postcard photos from the exhibition of Sally Mann’s photos.
She didn’t quite understand what she got, but found the badly torn photos when she moved to another place and gave me the photos. I exclaimed, did all my best to repair the photos and scanned them and then printed again. The same photos are in the book, and I have already written in the back of the wall-pics that there are mistakes, so that not anybody try to take them as anything “original”.
The book is truly fine. I’m happy to see children who can apparently roam quite free and nude in the warm summer weather. I’ve thought that that kinda attitude of child raising was only common here, because of sauna and swimming and hot summers. Happy to see happy children!
Children definitely love to pose too, which makes some of the pics quite hilarious. As always, children are thinking: I wish I grow up to be adult as fast as possible! And they most likely later on think that they were in paradise as children…
But isn’t it nice to have long holidays, when one can just be inside and read and write and move as slow as ever, or if one wants, run in circles, but read and read and dive into other worlds! We had quite cold Christmas days, but yesterday it started thawing and now it will be raining tomorrow. Finland’s temperature has apparently gone up 2 degrees in about ten years, and seems to continue rising. Fastest in Europe.
Happy Year 2015 to everybody!
Ripsa, “coffee-table” art books were my passion for years, starting after graduation when I became an art teacher and could afford to buy them. Back then there was a ‘book club’ through which I got some great deals and even the odd free book. Now they are very expensive and a rare purchase.
The story of your Sally Mann photos is very interesting. I know her excellent work though only from books and online. Nowadays, here in North America anyway, many photographers of nude chidlren, even their own, have been arrested for alleged child pornography, which is very sad. Innocent fathers are getting swept in amongst the criminals and the innocence of childhood is besmirched.
We enjoyed having the family here over Christmas and now we’re enjoying the quiet days of reading. I even tidied my studio and got ideas for work without any pressure. The sun is back along with overnight frost so we’re loving the light!
Hauskaa Uutta Vuotta!
Oh, I forgot to comment on your mention of Retretti, the art centre near Punkaharju! I’ve been there and absolutely loved it. I wrote about it a little in my first year of blogging here. I was very sad to learn that it was closed in 2012!
Oh, Marja-Leena and Lucy both found Glimmerglass under trees–so glad! I hope you like it. All the books mentioned sound interesting, and I have a link to one of them–was long ago in a writing workshop with Sally Munger Mann. She was a bit older than me, already married, and had interesting things to say.
Marly, I know I shall enjoy Glimmerglass. So you’ve met Sally Mann! You know a lot of artists and you are very supportive of them.
It was in college. Think I must have been 18/19. I thought her a somewhat romantic, mysterious figure.
Hmm, maybe I should do a Marja-Leena post in 2015! I do try to help local friends especially, as we’re so remote from things that help… And even when, say, a painter decides to go to New York to a certain show and meet people who are sympathetic, the snows may come and crash all the plans (as just happened with a friend this month.)
I do know a lot of painters as well as writers. I’ve always had painter friends, it seems. Maybe that’s something about me or my work, I guess, as a lot of writers I know don’t seem to have those linkages. But I enjoy them and often find that I learn something interesting about writing from translating ideas about painting into my own realm.
And p.s. I pilfered your picture for my blog…
You are very welcome, Marly!
Marja-Leena, the Phaidon book on Kiefer is the one I opted for too and it’s excellent. I wish you and your family a very happy New Year and lots more marvellous creative inspiration.
Natalie, I’m glad you like the Phaidon edition! It was hard to know just looking at it online but now in my hands it looks very good. It even has a strong ink scent… must be fresh off the press!
Thanks for the good wishes, and a very Happy, Healthy and Creative New Year to you too!
The Water Rat presented me with a copy of “The Genius of Language” edited by Wendy Lesser. It’s a volume in which 15 writers reflect on their mother tongues … extremely interesting so far!
I’ll be sliding into the new year a bit before you do … Have a very Happy Silvester!
That sounds like a fascinating book – will check it out. Happy Silvester to you!
Marja-Leena, Marly!
I’m now very envious that Marly has met Sally Mann! Sounds like it was at the right age too, and being a student and all.
So: I would somehow like to read/see how was the meeting and what kinda ideas you, Marly, got from her! Well, probably we all have fine memories, from meeting of good teachers. Luckily there are those too.
One of my drama-teacher (in writing and translating) was a poet and translator Kirsi Kunnas, who taught us in Draamastudio at Tampere University. I heard her performing her poetry in Helsinki book fair in Fall, and now she’s turned 90 yrs old. She was definitely an autority figure for all of us in the 60’s, let alone now!
But maybe I get to see something, if the theme gets on forth. It’s something: how did teachers effect our practice in “adult” life – that in quotation mark, because it’s hard for me to imagine myself as all grown up person…
Ripsa, the theme of teachers who had a great influence on us is a great one! I’ll pass this on to Marly in case she does not see this. Maybe I’ll do a post on it. I think I may have mentioned somewhere here that artist Ivan Eyre was my drawing instructor for three years, laying a great foundation for all art practice. Also Arnold Saper who inspired in me the love of printmaking, both at the School of Art, University of Manitoba in Winnipeg.There are so many others….
Ripsa,
She was once a fellow member of a writing workshop with poet and novelist and inspired teacher R. H. W. Dillard (we all adored him), but I have a dreadful memory for such things and only recall that she was lovely and interesting and so grown-up (married and living an hour away.) She didn’t have much hanging-around time, as I recall, and was probably in the darkroom a lot! Interesting that she was involved with writing, as so many of her photographs had a narrative feel.
Probably my most crucial teacher was a high school teacher, Nancy Potts Coward, to whom my second book is dedicated. She’s living in Asheville, NC, and just read my 12th, so that’s a happy thing. She believed so very strongly that I was a writer, and always said she would some day get to say “she knew me when.” That sort of thing is worth so much when you’re a teen.
Good cheer,
Marly
Marly, thanks for coming back and telling us more! It seems that an encouraging teacher in high school is where we often get our start! My high school art teacher was that for me, and a math teacher, both women. Of course I chose art, not math. Since I moved away from Winnipeg upon marriage, I did not see them again, though the art teacher did keep in touch now and then, even doing an exhibition of new work by her former students for one of the school’s anniversaries (which I missed–another story!). And there was a wonderful special ed teacher right from primary school onwards who became a good friend for years, visiting each other in our homes, until she passed on.
Oh, that’s lovely–a sympathetic teacher means so much.