What are you reading?

Recently I did a presentation for the California and Nevada Studio Art Quilt Associates chapter in which I mentioned that I read a lot in order to be inspired in my work. I am an eclectic reader and it shows in my work. Non fiction and fiction both have pride of place on my reading chair end table. I often have more than one book going at a time—which can be challenging I admit, especially if it is two novels. Characters can seem to float from one story to the next if I don’t pay attention.

I schedule my reading. Every day at around 4 pm I stop what I am doing and crawl into that chair to start another journey of contemplation. If I am lucky at the end of the evening I can squeeze in another half hour before bed.

Several of my pieces were directly influenced by books. Knowledge has Raw Edges was made in response to Emperor of all Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee. Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas is a constant inspiration for all the details within my quilts: ant trails, embryos, insects and roots.

In response to an inquiry during the presentation I am listing some of the more recent books that I have read as well as some all time favorites in no particular order:

The Overstory by Richard Powers, Ninth Street Women: Lee Krasner, Elaine de Kooning, Grace Hartigan, Joan Mitchell, and Helen Frankenthaler: Five Painters and the Movement That Changed Modern Art by Mary Gabriel, The Glory and the Dream by William Manchester, 1491, New revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles Mann, A Column of Fire by Ken Follett. Mink River by Brian Doyle, Late Migrations, A Natural History of Love and Loss by Margaret Renkl, The Broken Earth Trilogy: The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate, The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin, Life after Life by Kate Atkinson, Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward, Memory Wall by Anthony Doerr, A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol, The Man Who Planted Trees by Jim Robbins.

And mysteries, too numerous to list. I like Ruth Rendell, Elizabeth George, Brenda Chapman and Louise Penny for this escapist grouping. Give me a mystery any day to while away the too hot days of summer or the too cold days of winter.