ITALY REVISITED...THE BOOKS

It has been one year since I returned from my month in Italy and for most of that year my efforts in the studio have been directed to mining the resources from that trip for my art and writing. My first priority was creating the paintings and drawings for last fall’s show…From Italy with Love…as well as fulfilling my commitments to those of you who responded to my offer to buy “art futures”. Using the resources of Apple’s iPhoto I created two books, one depicting all of the artwork in the Gallery 5 exhibit, and the other containing the drawings from my sketchbook.

After that I turned my attention to the task of creating an illustrated journal of my experiences in Italy. It is a day to day accounting of the trip using excerpts from the daily journal I kept and posts from my blog, williamfrenzullimd.blogspot.com, as well as additional narrative. The book is lavishly illustrated with photos and artwork and is now available in hardcover with wrap around dust jacket. It has 96 pages and measures 11x13 inches.



BOLOGNA….price $110.00 incl. S&H



FROM ITALY WITH LOVE…hardcover w jacket…9x11……42 pages….price $80.00 plus $5.00 S&H

FROM ITALY WITH LOVE… spiral bound …6x8…$35.00 plus $5.00 S&H.



SKETCHES FROM ITALY… spiral bound ….9X11…42 pages/61 drawings…$60.00 plus $5.00 S&H

These books may be ordered from my website, from me at Gallery 5, or by emailing me at wfrenzulli@mac.com. Allow 3=4 weeks for delivery.

BOOKS Part 3… The How to books

As my interest in art grew, primarily pencil and pen and ink drawing, and before I considered art as a career option, I began acquiring books of drawing. It was all about the line; color held no interest for me. At every opportunity I looked for books on drawing and gradually accumulated a substantial library that included some of the following;

It wasn’t long before fantasies about an artist’s life began to creep into my soon to become devious mind, and with them came the realization that I needed color. The first thing I turned to were markers…they worked well with pen and ink, but the colors were fugitive so I turned to inks and then watercolor. As a result, my the shelves in my studio and study are sagging with books on color and painting with watercolor. I don’t think I’ve ever done any of the exercises they contain, but did carefully read and re-read the texts and study the paintings. This process has repeated itself every time I moved on to a new medium. At this point I am working in watercolor, pastels, acrylic, and occasionally in oil, and find myself going back to the books for needed refreshing from time to time. Last year, before my trip to Italy, I pulled out all my books on sketching and on the spot drawing and went over each of them from cover to cover.






I have never hesitated purchasing a book that I thought would help me become a better artist…when you are teaching yourself you need all the help you can get.

MY BOOKS…part 2

Further down the wall my eyes encounter several shelves of art books. These fall into four general categories: books devoted to the lives and work of artists, books about art and art history, reference/picture file books, and how-to books. Commanding the most space on one shelf are books by, about, and illustrated by Paul Hogarth, the contemporary British illustrator whose work and approach to art had a most profound effect on me early in my art career. (I will have more to say about him later.)

These are the books I do return to when I feel the need to boost my enthusiasm, search for new ideas, or just want to look at good art. Some of these books have been with me for over 30 years, some I purchased new and a few were “finds” at used bookstores. Among the artists settled on my shelves are: Gustav Klimt, Egon Schiele, Charles Demuth, Maxfield Parrish, N.C.Wyeth,, Edward Hopper, and Norman Rockwell. It has always been much easier for me to identify with realists and illustrators than with the abstract artists.

Also in my study, scattered throughout the house, and in the studio are the reference books, books used for ideas and images for my paintings. They are mostly photographic, depicting one or more places of interest, cities, rural vistas, or wilderness scenes. Because of my interest in architectural art, I have many volumes devoted to architecture and architectural art, which I refer to frequently.
All of the books in this “art library” serve two basic purposes, to nurture the creative spirit and to teach, functions vital to all artists, but especially the self- taught.

Like the practice of medicine…the desire/need to create art is both a state of mind, and an affair of the heart. The books I have acquired over the years serve both.





Just as water seeks its own level...books have a way of finding every available flat surface in the house and studio.

MY BOOKS…part 1

My original title for this post was...Friends between the covers...but the more I thought about it...well...you can understand why I changed it.

I have a morning routine that I’ve maintained for over 30 years…with my first cup of coffee in hand I settle into a chair and spend the next ten to thirty minutes writing in my journal. With few exceptions this takes place in my study, and from where I sit I can look around and see my books, at least the ones that fill the spaces available to them in this room. An almost equal number are scattered throughout the rest of the house and my studio.




I have read about 75% of them from cover to cover, and some of them more than once. Of the remainder…I’ve read about half of them in part, and the rest sit there unread. After repeated admonishments to myself, I have actually started to send some of them to the donations box at the library, typically books that I have not read and see no prospect of ever doing so. Still, the act of removing them from the room was not without some anxiety.

My reading interests mirror my taste in music…very eclectic. On the very top shelves are the books that were so instrumental in enabling the difficult journey from medicine to art, and include poetry, biographies, journals and memoirs, and numerous volumes on psychology, religion, and philosophy. There is almost an entire shelf dedicated to Rilke, Merton, and Jung. Will I ever read them again? Maybe a little bit of some, but it is unlikely to be more than that. Will I give them to the library? Equally unlikely, I simply cannot imagine not having them there. They are important to me as old friends are, a constant reminder of the paths I have traveled. I expect most of them will be tossed, donated, or sold when my journey ends, which if fine with me, but until then they give me comfort and require nothing of me in exchange.

I can list among my friends, Carl Jung, Thomas Merton, Rainer Maria Rilke, Aldous Huxley, Elton Trueblood, John Sanford, Matthew Fox, Alan Watts, Elizabeth O’Connor, and May Sarton, all of whose words spoke to me at a time when I needed them most. Of course there were many others, too numerous to list here. These were books with words that provided comfort, encouragement, and direction, and were powerful enough to enable a life to change. Their physical presence continues to serve me, simply by being there.

Further down the wall my eyes encounter several shelves of art books, but that is fodder for another post.

A PHILADELPHIA BOOK

As some of you know, I have, from time to time, posted images from my early watercolors, including many scenes from Philadelphia...a city I dearly love. So it should be no surprise that my recent interest in iPhoto books would result in one of my Philadelphia paintings. These were all done in the early and mid 80s and the images were scanned from slides I took. I am pleased to report that all but 2 or 3 of the paintings have been sold.



The book measures 6x8 inches, is spiral bound, and has 30 pages with 41 full color illustrations. The price is $30.00 and includes S&H. It is available here, or on my website.

Next up...the Wilmington Book

BOOKS...BOOKS...BOOKS

For the past several months I have been thoroughly enjoying myself creating art books using the iPhoto apps on my Mac. Those of you who follow this blog regularly know that I've spent a lot of time recently cataloging and digitializing slides of work from my distant past. With all of those images available to me organizing and recording them into something like...oh...I don't know...a book...seemed like the natural thing to do.

So far I've created a dozen books on the computer and have printed 7 of them. I am making them available on my website, but I'm really doing this for my own satisfaction, plus with the idea that perhaps some of them can be used as a portfolio of sorts in promoting my work to galleries and dealers.

Of all the books, one is particularly special to me, An Emergency Room Sketchbook. This is something I have been thinking about for years and today I received my first copy in the mail.


An Emergency Room Sketchbook...spiral bound 6x8". 56 pages with 64 pen & ink drawings.
price...$40.00 includes S&H

The drawings are from my journal/sketchbook which was my constant companion during my ER days.

I will be introducing the other books in future posts. They include: the Philadelphia Paintings, The Wilmington years, Barns & Farms, the Art of W.F.R., Acrylic Paintings, Clay Drawings, and Industrial Art.

YES...I have been on a book roll!!

Recommended reading

I know it is a bit risky recommending books to others, especially when there are so many good volumes available, and we all seem to have our personal favorites. Having said that, I will proceed with such a recommendation. These are three of the many books I purchased over the years (most of them over 15 years ago) in my quest to become an artist.

The recent ice storm that ravaged western KY last month forced me out of my studio for over a week, during which time I revisited my library and re-read these three books. That is what started me on the series of small water media paintings I have been posting for the past few weeks.

If you have the time and the inclination, I recommend them to all artists, but especially watercolorist.





I will be away from home for the next week visiting family, friends, and galleries in Maryland, Delaware, Pennsylvania, and NJ. Sounds like a lot, but it is possible to visit everyone of those states and never drive for more then 30 minutes. I may or may not be able to attend to this blog while away.