There is a country in my mind, a landscape in my heart, a place that does not appear on any map but is so clear and sharply detailed that to paint it, I have only to look within. --Charles Wysocki
Hearland is the bright and beautiful chronicle of Charles Wysocki's love affair with life and with Americana. Bursting with his distinctive, highly detailed, full-color paintings, drawings, sketches, and photogrraphs form his own collection--and embellished by his own verse--Heartland will bring joy and inspiration to his many fans. Rarely does an artist afford his collectors, fans, and even friends such an intimate inside view of the world as he sees it.
"As you turn the pages of this album," he says in his introduction," you will come upon a sled, a house, a field of pumpkins, the smell of the sea--all the bits and pieces of what is called the real world--transformed by the magic of imagination into Heartland, where the welcome is warm, time is kind, and the heart is forever at home." The book is divided into six sections that correspond to the artist's major themes: "Through the Eyes of a Child," "The Bounty of the Earth," "The Charm of America," "The Worth of Work," "The Lure of the Sea," and "The Joy of Love."
Like An American Celebration, his best-selling 1985 book, Heartland presents a warm and romantic view of the hard work and quiet pleasures of nineteenth-century American life. But Heartland goes beyond that volume in presenting the artist's creative world--the sources of his inspiration. "I think Heartland is different from my other book in that it is very personal. You get to understand not only my artwork, but me personally. That's very important, because I put so much of myself into my work. I love people, and I love my country, and I express this graphically. In Heartland, you get to know me as a person."
"There is a simple message in my work," Charles Wysocki has always said, "and it is love." As shown witin the pages of Heartland, that love infuses all his work. More than an art book, Heartland is the personal chronicle of Wysocki's unique vision. It is a trasure to cherish and appreciate for generations.
