Living Color: A Writer Paints Her World [Paperback]

Natalie Goldberg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2, 1997

Join the bestselling author of Wild Mind and Writing Down the Bones as she explores a new realm of creativity--the world of color--and offers us an intimate view of how everyday life is transformed into art.



In twelve high-spirited chapters, Natalie introduces us to her family, her artist friends, her New Mexico home, her painting trips to Europe--always focusing on the questions faced by any creative person, whatever their medium. Why, for example, does an artist choose some subjects and not others? ("I was crazy about the wrong-color sky and the heart-sinking beckoning of headlights on old cars," she acknowledges.) How does a painter draw nourishment from another painter's work? ("I didn't want fancy art theories. I wanted a direct connection with the painting before me.") When is it time to move into a new form? ("I had to go to an empty white canvas and find out what was within me.")



More than 60 four-color reproductions of Natalie's distinctive and joyous paintings appear throughout. The result is a feast for the eyes and a celebration of the creative spirit in action.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In this series of autobiographical essays accompanied by paintings (or autobiographical paintings accompanied by essays), Natalie Goldberg examines the relationship between her writing, her art, and her life. Known for her books about writing (Writing Down the Bones in particular), Goldberg once used painting as others do a walk in the woods or a martini before dinner--as a way to unwind after a day of work. Fearing dilettantism, she quit painting altogether, only to find that when she stopped painting, "I gave up a deep source of my writing, that place in me where I can let my work flow." Once again she embraced visual expression, which she realized she had used "as a metaphor or mirror to break out of something I didn't understand in writing." The paintings have a colorful, folksy feel; the book is an interesting exploration of the influences that the various aspects of our lives have on our work and vice versa.

From the Inside Flap

Join the bestselling author of Wild Mind and Writing Down the Bones as she explores a new realm of creativity--the world of color--and offers us an intimate view of how everyday life is transformed into art.

In twelve high-spirited chapters, Natalie introduces us to her family, her artist friends, her New Mexico home, her painting trips to Europe--always focusing on the questions faced by any creative person, whatever their medium. Why, for example, does an artist choose some subjects and not others? ("I was crazy about the wrong-color sky and the heart-sinking beckoning of headlights on old cars," she acknowledges.) How does a painter draw nourishment from another painter's work? ("I didn't want fancy art theories. I wanted a direct connection with the painting before me.") When is it time to move into a new form? ("I had to go to an empty white canvas and find out what was within me.")

More than 60 four-color reproductions of Natalie's distinctive and joyous paintings appear throughout. The result is a feast for the eyes and a celebration of the creative spirit in action.

Product Details

• Paperback: 154 pages
• Publisher: Bantam; 1ST edition (September 2, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553354892
• ISBN-13: 978-0553354898
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 0.4 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #459,373 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Natalie Goldberg lived in Brooklyn until she was six, when her family moved out to Farmingdale, Long Island, where her father owned the bar the Aero Tavern. From a young age, Goldberg was mad for books and reading, and especially loved Carson McCullers's The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, which she read in ninth grade. She thinks that single book led her eventually to put pen to paper when she was twenty-four years old. She received a BA in English literature from George Washington University and an MA in humanities from St. John's University.

Goldberg has painted for as long as she has written, and her paintings can be seen in Living Color: A Writer Paints Her World and Top of My Lungs: Poems and Paintings. They can also be viewed at the Ernesto Mayans Gallery on Canyon Road in Sante Fe.

A dedicated teacher, Goldberg has taught writing and literature for the last thirty-five years. She also leads national workshops and retreats, and her schedule can be accessed via her website: nataliegoldberg.com

In 2006, she completed with the filmmaker Mary Feidt a one-hour documentary, Tangled Up in Bob, about Bob Dylan's childhood on the Iron Range in Northern Minnesota. The film can be obtained on Amazon or the website tangledupinbob.com.

Goldberg has been a serious Zen practitioner since 1974 and studied with Katagiri Roshi from 1978 to 1984.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars playful and brilliant, December 31, 2001

By 

Alejandra Vernon "artist & illustrator" (Long Beach, California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Living Color: A Writer Paints Her World (Paperback)

Natalie's paintings are dazzling...she seems to have caught the emotional color of her subjects, the inner dance of things...it's essential magic. In the chapter titled "How I Paint", she says: " I noticed that the blue of my paints wasn't blue enough to get the intensity of that New Mexico sky. I painted the sky red instead. I painted Jazz yellow. He was a brown dog, but yellow expressed him better. Color became fluid".

There's a chapter on her father, with 7 paintings of him, the first from '78, the last, '98...wonderful portraits, with a sadness in them, despite the vivid colors.
Another chapter, "A Deep Source of my Writing", is about how her writing and painting are interrelated.

She writes of her European travels, her visits to the Musee Matisse, Cezanne's studio, the Kafka Museum, and so much more...with an easy flow that makes reading a pleasure, but it's the paintings that captivate me.

Her interiors are incredible..ordinary places like bathrooms and kitchens, turned into playgrounds of glorious color...her buildings and outdoor scenes are also amazing (her sense of perspective is fabulous !), but I love her cars best of all. If I could own one painting, it would be the green Chevy truck on page 22. It seems to have a face, with a side window that's winking at me.

This is a very special book, so full of life and love. It makes me laugh, inspires me, gives me hope and warms my heart.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the most important creative books ever written, February 14, 2000

By 

Aisling D'Art "artist and author" (Portsmouth, NH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Living Color: A Writer Paints Her World (Paperback)

I can only echo the other rave reviews: This book is a must-own (not just a must-read) if you're an artist, a writer, or both. Even if you can't draw a stick figure, but have always wanted to be an artist, this book will set you on the path to creative expression. Don't just wish to be an artist... get this book, and start painting!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you're a writer, artist, or wannabe, buy this book!, January 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Living Color: A Writer Paints Her World (Paperback)

Don't lend it to a friend, guard it with your life! Ms. Goldberg's drawings are wondrous. I want to say that they remind me of David Hockney's work - but that wouldn't quite do it. Because her style is hers alone and it's magical! The accompanying text throughout gives you an understanding of her drawings - and how she's able to unleash that part of her creativity - and have FUN! I never fail to read the latest Natalie Goldberg book - her insights, her truthfulness about her struggles help me realize that we're all artists. Some of us are just a little freer and further along than the rest. Thank goodness Natalie keeps writing to show us paths that she's hewn for herself.