To blatantly namedrop, Tom Robbins suggested I read this as I had mentioned that I was reading ‘An Artists Way’ of which he had not heard. He said the best book he had ever read of the artistic temperament was The Horse’s Mouth, now if Mr Robbins suggests one reads a book.. one does! I ordered it straight away…
It is a great tale of the trials of Gulley Jimson, who discovered, rather late on in life, that his role was to be a painter, he had tried to rebel against this family trait but to no avail and once the decision had been made nothing would stand in his way. A life of impoverishment, ordeal and jail sentences ensued but he took it all in his stride and just knew this was the path he must follow. We meet the various women in his life along the way who he has discarded in favour of his talent, he knows he is a great artist and is following the path trodden before by William Blake.
It is I have to confess quite a hard read, I really enjoyed it, but getting used to the dialect of the times was a slight challenge, but it is very funny and also clearly shows the mind of the artists and how the art must prevail!
You can buy it here
