Today my husband lugged two big boxes of art history books down the stairs and loaded them into the car to give away. The weighty and colorful volumes sat on our bookshelves for ages, rarely if ever being pulled out to open and enjoy until they became part of the scenery, coated with dust and forgotten. A few weeks ago, I needed them because I wanted to study their colorful paintings as inspiration while writing The Art Lover's Book of Fun. (bobbin-olive productions.) The weighty volumes answered my summons willingly, as good friends do. How fun it was to once again be surrounded with famous works of art, to hold them near to see details of line, space, composition and color and read accompanying words of scholars who told how each masterwork fit into the historic scheme of our art heritage.
The internet is a blessing. It’s nothing short of a miracle and possessing a new computer my ink-on-paper volumes have become---well — unnecessary. Our well-stocked community library is a few miles away with books about almost any painting I wish to see. Our city has many museums and art galleries easily accessible by car and chock full of original masterworks. When the need arises, even at two in the morning, I can summon an electronic image of any art piece with the touch of a button in my office/work room.
So, what’s the problem? We were taught from the start that books are your friends. Saying a final good bye to friends means a door in your life closes and that’s sad. Reducing my carbon footprint is a goal but this loss of beloved treasures has left an emptiness in me.
Writing about it has helped lessen the sting. Check out both the The Art Lover's Book of Fun and the many Life Stories journals at bobbin-olive.com and record your own ups and downs as you experience them.
