henry, etc

muslin, plaster cloth, pieces of paper, acrylic paint, oil pastels, pencil, colored pencil, matte gel medium


for the last couple of weeks i've been savoring the books below, each about henry miller and his paintings. they're out of print now, but you can still find them online in the $20 - $25 range. i don't think that any art books have ever given me more smiles; more nods of agreement...


in "henry miller - the paintings: a centennial retrospective" every page has one of henry's watercolor paintings, as well as a brief passage by either the person the painting belongs to, or henry himself. although the images are fairly small (a third to half the page) they're still an utter delight, and the words are priceless. people remembering when henry gave them their painting, or what they bartered for it, etc.; henry's words are from his essays, which are printed in full in the book below.


"paint as you like and die happy" alternates between sections of henry's paintings and his essays. there are duplicates of some paintings in each book, but also many different ones. in this book, though, it's the essays that thrill me most. his thoughts on painting and all things related to painting are fresh and insightful. just a pure joy to read... everything from his young life in paris to his later years in big sur.

if you appreciate great writing and art, as well as a free spirited and generous approach to life, i think you'll love these books...


so the weather's been nice! and i've been out wandering as much as i can... wet weather streams are flowing like crazy and flowers are beginning to come up. i found a new area of springs and was mesmerized by waterfalls like this one.


i've never seen this before - the top of a tree that broke off and stabbed itself upright into the ground. how strange it was to walk up on a 'tree' that was narrower at the bottom than the top!


this tree was so tall and seemed to be held up by the ones beside it. i thought it was the tallest dead tree i'd ever seen, but today i saw one even more decayed and just as tall. the strength of trees, even when they're practically hollowed out by insects having a good meal, just blows my mind.


i took this last night of 'cyrus' (the contemplative being at the top of the post). this is what it looked like before i put paint (or oil pastels) over the parts i'd etched/dug out with the awl (that's my trusty awl there - if i can't find it i go on a major hunt until it's found!). at this stage i always think that it doesn't look like much. but a few minutes later i'm amazed... the face seems to just magically pop to life.

oil pastels, colored pencils, watercolors, matte gel medium

in my muslin journal...

colored pencils, pencil, moleskine pocket sketchbook

and the Pale sisters, juanita and geraldine, at the beach...


i found this rusty spam lid last week, just like this - i haven't done a thing to it besides add kwan yin and the crystal. the thing that really sends me is the way the key and twirled metal are poised there so artistically...


tree love... there's no such thing as too much...

* * *

"Discontented with our slow progress towards the proficiency of a Leonardo, Henry and I quite shamelessly tried to fudge masterpieces by holding our water-colours under a running tap - searching for chance effects; or taking a bath with them; or even putting them down in the street to let taxis run over them and print their tyre marks on them. No effort was too great to reach perfection..."

Lawrence Durrell in the forward to 'Paint as You Like and Die Happy'


XO