Barry Moser
is Barry Moser's key to pulling and pushing through failure toward success, Read and weep in the face of presumptions! Barry Moser is, in my little ole opinion, the greatest engraver of book artwork living today, His pictures alone tell the story and his original Pennyroyal Press runs are simply priceless, Here, he writes rather than illustrates, and while the result is not as fabulous, it's quite worthy, These are collected essays describing his thoughts, politics, and family background, The theme is highlighted throughout the book, and it is
Persistence,
Indefatigable energy.
The habit of work,
For artists and other creative types, he insists one should never give up and should never take rejection as a final ultimatum.
The title of the book can also apply to his family, as he was born into a Southern American background with racism deeply ingrained, Yet, he moved to New England and his life evolved into a complete opposite of what his birth might have ordained,
Good books are invincible things, neither malice nor stupidity can crush them,
Moser's love of the printed page comes through very strongly, He loves making books, he loves reading books, he loves illustrating books, Books, books, books. There is talk here of incunabla, those books printed before, There is the grunt work he endures to create those florid prints of mystery and magic, There is the consequence of spending your life engraving wooden blocks loss of hearing amp carpal tunnel,
He also devotes a short section to Norman Rockwell, making a point about Rockwell's ability to tell a story with one picture, I really enjoyed that and actually went out and found a large volume of Rockwell's illustrations to add to my collection, It's another welldone publication from the David R, Godine group, with pages of Moser's engravings at the end of the book,
If you're not aware of Mr, Moser, here are a few of his pieces:
MOBY DICK
sitelink
JAMES JOYCE
sitelink
THE WIZARD OF OZ
sitelink
Again, this is NOT a book of his artwork, rather his written thoughts.
When he veered into politics just slightly and a love affair, it felt a bit uncomfortable, but his overall process on how to be an artist was intriguing.
It certainly made my secondhand bookshops trips more filtered as his books now add on to the evergrowing list,
Book Season Year Round move the sun My sister bought my grandfather a wood engraving by Barry Moser, which he liked very much.
Being the sort of man who delves a little further into something that he likes, my grandpa made inquiries into whether this Moser fellow had written any books.
Well, you could say that yes, Barry Moser does write books, After reading it himself, he passed it on to me I had just started taking art classes at my university, thinking I would enjoy it.
The short review is this: If you make things, read this book, Not just "art" things, but if you write, sing, build furniture, are a mechanic, stuff mattresses, whatever, It will be one of the most important things that you ever read,
Okay, the longer review,
Anyone who enjoys a hobby of some sort will always struggle with it, Young "artistic types" myself included will be discouraged by failure time and time again, We've all come across those amazing people who seem to have amazing things flow from their fingertips like one of those springs that seem to come from nowhere and never stop.
Jealous, ever Barry Moser tells us to stop feeling small or sorry or inept or whatever, and just get to work, Nothing will ever come from nothing, so don't lament that you're not a naturalborn artist, No one is, he says, More than anything else that I read or experienced in my university and "artistic" career galvanized me into working harder than this book, Made me understand what failure really is, and how to recognize or maybe not a real success, This book lifts despairing objectmakers out of their sorrow, and brings those godlike figures back down to earth, It will make you realize that we are all on a relatively flat playing field, and the only thing that will really make a difference in the end is ourselves, and what we do with that.
Read this book, even if you don't like his style, If lofty, flowery sentences half a page long are your thing, you'll be disappointed, Moser is to the point about his opinions, and makes no excuses for himself, These are his views he's not drawing from some other source or going to make excuses for himself, The book jumps from personal accounts to speeches to opinion pieces, Barry Moser, despite his tendency to sound like a Baptist preacher and his abysmal table manners, is a virtuoso close to our hearts, He is best known as an artist who works with books, and more specifically with the texts he loves, He has illustrated legions of children's books, adult books and poetry collections, And as works of art they have been embraced by children, adults and librarians for over three decades, But he started life as a modest lad, learning letterpress and how type should look on the page, engraving the endgrain of boxwood when it could still be obtained and perfecting the art of watercolor to the point where he could illuminate anything from the words of Br'er Rabbit to the poetry of Donald Hall and Richard Wilbur.
His most recent project, illustrating the entire Bible, has occupied him for years and this magnum opus has just been published, to national attention,
Persistence,
Indefatigable energy.
The habit of work,
For artists and other creative types, he insists one should never give up and should never take rejection as a final ultimatum.
The title of the book can also apply to his family, as he was born into a Southern American background with racism deeply ingrained, Yet, he moved to New England and his life evolved into a complete opposite of what his birth might have ordained,
Good books are invincible things, neither malice nor stupidity can crush them,
Moser's love of the printed page comes through very strongly, He loves making books, he loves reading books, he loves illustrating books, Books, books, books. There is talk here of incunabla, those books printed before, There is the grunt work he endures to create those florid prints of mystery and magic, There is the consequence of spending your life engraving wooden blocks loss of hearing amp carpal tunnel,
He also devotes a short section to Norman Rockwell, making a point about Rockwell's ability to tell a story with one picture, I really enjoyed that and actually went out and found a large volume of Rockwell's illustrations to add to my collection, It's another welldone publication from the David R, Godine group, with pages of Moser's engravings at the end of the book,
If you're not aware of Mr, Moser, here are a few of his pieces:
MOBY DICK
sitelink
JAMES JOYCE
sitelink
THE WIZARD OF OZ
sitelink
Again, this is NOT a book of his artwork, rather his written thoughts.
When he veered into politics just slightly and a love affair, it felt a bit uncomfortable, but his overall process on how to be an artist was intriguing.
It certainly made my secondhand bookshops trips more filtered as his books now add on to the evergrowing list,
Book Season Year Round move the sun My sister bought my grandfather a wood engraving by Barry Moser, which he liked very much.
Being the sort of man who delves a little further into something that he likes, my grandpa made inquiries into whether this Moser fellow had written any books.
Well, you could say that yes, Barry Moser does write books, After reading it himself, he passed it on to me I had just started taking art classes at my university, thinking I would enjoy it.
The short review is this: If you make things, read this book, Not just "art" things, but if you write, sing, build furniture, are a mechanic, stuff mattresses, whatever, It will be one of the most important things that you ever read,
Okay, the longer review,
Anyone who enjoys a hobby of some sort will always struggle with it, Young "artistic types" myself included will be discouraged by failure time and time again, We've all come across those amazing people who seem to have amazing things flow from their fingertips like one of those springs that seem to come from nowhere and never stop.
Jealous, ever Barry Moser tells us to stop feeling small or sorry or inept or whatever, and just get to work, Nothing will ever come from nothing, so don't lament that you're not a naturalborn artist, No one is, he says, More than anything else that I read or experienced in my university and "artistic" career galvanized me into working harder than this book, Made me understand what failure really is, and how to recognize or maybe not a real success, This book lifts despairing objectmakers out of their sorrow, and brings those godlike figures back down to earth, It will make you realize that we are all on a relatively flat playing field, and the only thing that will really make a difference in the end is ourselves, and what we do with that.
Read this book, even if you don't like his style, If lofty, flowery sentences half a page long are your thing, you'll be disappointed, Moser is to the point about his opinions, and makes no excuses for himself, These are his views he's not drawing from some other source or going to make excuses for himself, The book jumps from personal accounts to speeches to opinion pieces, Barry Moser, despite his tendency to sound like a Baptist preacher and his abysmal table manners, is a virtuoso close to our hearts, He is best known as an artist who works with books, and more specifically with the texts he loves, He has illustrated legions of children's books, adult books and poetry collections, And as works of art they have been embraced by children, adults and librarians for over three decades, But he started life as a modest lad, learning letterpress and how type should look on the page, engraving the endgrain of boxwood when it could still be obtained and perfecting the art of watercolor to the point where he could illuminate anything from the words of Br'er Rabbit to the poetry of Donald Hall and Richard Wilbur.
His most recent project, illustrating the entire Bible, has occupied him for years and this magnum opus has just been published, to national attention,
But it is his writing that occupies pride of place in this book, and as a writer Moser is as passionate and as engaged and engaging as he is as an artist.
Here is a rich selection of his prose, his essays, his speeches, and even his letters and notes all concerning his work as a working artist.
Reading it, one comes away with a firm impression of a mind at work, a generous and genial mind, but one that is never afraid to separate the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the chaff.
If you want to know how an artist thinks, how someone who has not only read books but thought deeply about how their texts operates, how someone who is as committed to the book as object as anyone working in the field goes about integrating text and image, then this book is a book you should read and reread.
It possesses depth, intelligence, and passion, The words are from the heart, but the conclusions come from experience, William Blake, the protogenius, observed that "Execution is the chariot of genius, " In Moser's work, as in his words, we see that chariot flying at warp speed,