Customer Reviews

The Sound of Sleat: A Painter's Life

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

This beautifully crafted book folds back time and space to reveal the mind of the artist. The editors have set out to create a remarkable empathy with Jon Schueler - the wartime hero, the struggling artist and the lover of Nature. This trinitarian perspective is full of colour as revealed in the passages of intense personal correspondence and the additional more reflective text at his own hand. There is a frankness and honesty about the writing which is compelling for the reader. In weaving this complex tapestry of an artist's life, the editors have subtly exposed the constant searching and often desperate frustrations of his early years before the canvas. There is much to say about his main sources of inspiration particularly his 'women in the sky'.

In more than one sense Jon Schueler found himself and his vocation on his first working visit to Mallaig - the small fishing village on the west coast of Scotland which later became a central part of his existence. Here he encountered Nature in all its diversity and strengths. He experienced the changing state of the sea and sky - the lost horizon of so much of his painting. He went out with the local fishermen and encountered the rawness and savagery of hostile waves whipped to a frenzy by the Atlantic gales howling through the Minch and across the islands of the Inner Hebrides. He walked in the snow clouds and driving rain sweeping across the rocky headlands, retained these images deep inside and then returned to his studio to confront the ultimate reality of the artist - the blank canvas stretched and primed ready to receive significant, vibrant and urgent brushmarks. Drawing on his visual memory of 'sea dogs', the revelation of a summer's night above the Sound of Sleat and his provocative female muses, Jon Schueler succeeded over many years in creating paintings without edges. These are powerful and complex structures which reach into the depths of your soul, unearth the archetypes and scratch at the unconscious mind. These paintings are Jungian in the truest sense and illustrate Jon Schueler's personal journey through many turbulent relationships with women and other artists. This was an artist who did not spare himself any of life's vicissitudes - they were his burden, his trial, his cross and his release.

In the final analysis the book itself is a remarkable achievement and deserves to be read widely by those who examine the achievements of the New York School of Abstract Expressionists. This group should not be sub-divided into early or late contributors as they were all drawing on the same well for their inspiration - a hopeful world being reborn in the tragic aftermath of the World Wars of this century. It is often said that these artists took painting to the limit - even to the extremity - of free form and the deconstruction of figurative line. While all of this is probably true, they have left behind a truly astonishing series of images which constantly remind us of our own responsibility towards Nature and of our own mortality. These pictures convey us forward into the future with a message to our grandchildren and their grandchildren that this solitary planet earth deserves our vigilant care and respect.

The artist, often suprisingly, can remain in touch with the capacity of science, engineering and technology to restore our faith in the future. At the same time he or she acknowledges the struggle for survival in difficult and troubled times across a frequently war-torn world. The artist will never have a comfortable life in this regard as Jon Schueler's marks on paper serve to remind us. But Art like Science is a belief system that goes to the centre of our being. It is a spiritual path. Jon Schueler was my friend and I shall continue to respect him for his courage and determination - and his willingness to underpin his artistic expression with thoughts, words and deeds which reflect his generosity of spirit. This was an artist worthy of his generation!

The book is about the dignity and freedom of artistic expression and deserves to be read by all those who claim a knowledge of the history of painting in the 20th century.

This is a tour-de-force of the creative process by a man as he casts a cold, critical eye on his own struggles. The honesty of this musician, painter and writer regarding himself, his relationships and his quest braces you like the wind of Scotland. His 'sense of place' regarding the Sound of Sleat rivals that of the poet W.B. Yeats.

A beautiful book. I am reading this book while I am teaching myself oil painting, in an abstract way. Although I do not have a chance to see the sky of the Sound of Sleat, I can feel the beauty of it through the book. This book tells everything about being a painter. At the end, nothing matters except the love of painting. This is the book should be read by anyone who wants to be a painter, or just to paint.

Boy, Scheuler had a difficult time. I love this book. It really captures the difficulties of being a painter, the selfish behaviour, disasters with money, successes and failures of creative life. I regularly lend it to friends in arts practice. If you are any kind of painter, chances are you will recognize yourself in this book. I'm no fan of Scheuler's work, but he expresses himself very well and I find myself at least understanding WHY he did what he did.

If you are interested in modern art, the abstract impressionists, or art history in general- you will love this account of an artists' life. The artists' journal entries are especially well written and poignant. Must read for art historians.

This beautifully crafted book folds back time and space to reveal the mind of the artist. The editors have set out to create a remarkable empathy with Jon Schueler - the wartime hero, the struggling artist and the lover of Nature. This trinitarian perspective is full of colour as revealed in the passages of intense personal correspondence and the additional more reflective text at his own hand. There is a frankness and honesty about the writing which is compelling for the reader. In weaving this complex tapestry of an artist's life, the editors have subtly exposed the constant searching and often desperate frustrations of his early years before the canvas. There is much to say about his main sources of inspiration particularly his 'women in the sky'.

In more than one sense Jon Schueler found himself and his vocation on his first working visit to Mallaig - the small fishing village on the west coast of Scotland which later became a central part of his existence. Here he encountered Nature in all its diversity and strengths. He experienced the changing state of the sea and sky - the lost horizon of so much of his painting. He went out with the local fishermen and encountered the rawness and savagery of hostile waves whipped to a frenzy by the Atlantic gales howling through the Minch and across the islands of the Inner Hebrides. He walked in the snow clouds and driving rain sweeping across the rocky headlands, retained these images deep inside and then returned to his studio to confront the ultimate reality of the artist - the blank canvas stretched and primed ready to receive significant, vibrant and urgent brushmarks. Drawing on his visual memory of 'sea dogs', the revelation of a summer's night above the Sound of Sleat and his provocative female muses, Jon Schueler succeeded over many years in creating paintings without edges. These are powerful and complex structures which reach into the depths of your soul, unearth the archetypes and scratch at the unconscious mind. These paintings are Jungian in the truest sense and illustrate Jon Schueler's personal journey through many turbulent relationships with women and other artists. This was an artist who did not spare himself any of life's vicissitudes - they were his burden, his trial, his cross and his release.

In the final analysis the book itself is a remarkable achievement and deserves to be read widely by those who examine the achievements of the New York School of Abstract Expressionists. This group should not be sub-divided into early or late contributors as they were all drawing on the same well for their inspiration - a hopeful world being reborn in the tragic aftermath of the World Wars of this century. It is often said that these artists took painting to the limit - even to the extremity - of free form and the deconstruction of figurative line. While all of this is probably true, they have left behind a truly astonishing series of images which constantly remind us of our own responsibility towards Nature and of our own mortality. These pictures convey us forward into the future with a message to our grandchildren and their grandchildren that this solitary planet earth deserves our vigilant care and respect.

The artist, often suprisingly, can remain in touch with the capacity of science, engineering and technology to restore our faith in the future. At the same time he or she acknowledges the struggle for survival in difficult and troubled times across a frequently war-torn world. The artist will never have a comfortable life in this regard as Jon Schueler's marks on paper serve to remind us. But Art like Science is a belief system that goes to the centre of our being. It is a spiritual path. Jon Schueler was my friend and I shall continue to respect him for his courage and determination - and his willingness to underpin his artistic expression with thoughts, words and deeds which reflect his generosity of spirit. This was an artist worthy of his generation!

The book is about the dignity and freedom of artistic expression and deserves to be read by all those who claim a knowledge of the history of painting in the 20th century.

i read only about half of this book and left it only feeling sorry for Jon Schueler that this was a major part of his legacy as a painter. if you want to read the memoir of a highly self centered artist driven purely by ego than this is the book for you. his struggles with art are predictable and childish and never really deviate from a self-perscribed fragile genius line. so if you like self absorbed ego this is for you but mind that a book on a pop artist or minimalist might be a good counter balance to this intellectually-lacking foray.

p.s. one star is unfair but thought it was the only way to even out all these five stars. in reality its probably at least a solid two stars. . . i mean the people who put it together did do a really good job. . .