Artful critique by Stillman & Birn

My favorite bookmaker (no, they won’t take bets on the Superbowl) Stillman & Birn has some nice words about my book on their Facebook page. They are the first to discuss my art work in depth and I appreciate their insight:

THE ART OF “A KISS BEFORE YOU GO”
Much has been written about Danny Gregory’s new memoir, “A Kiss Before You Go”. The book is a powerful account of grief and mourning in the year following the death of Gregory’s wife Patti. The book has won acclaim in numerous reviews and has been cited as one of the top books in its category by Oprah Winfrey. But not enough has been written about the book’s graphics and their artistic achievement. This is understandable in a way: Gregory’s poignant narrative is so compelling, that it is the focus for the reader. But anyone interested in art journaling should take a careful look at these accomplished drawings, and the seamless way in which they are integrated with the text. Here are two examples of this. The first is a riff on Hokusai’s iconic “Great Wave”. Gregory uses this image as a metaphor for the waves of intense emotion which can be overwhelming in dealing with grief. The second image of a church on a black background has a more subtle connection to the narrative, an anecdote about the potential for people to atrophy, socially, in solitude. Both images have a tone of urgent spontaneity, yet both renderings are obviously grounded in an impressive technical mastery of draftsmanship and color control from a leading exponent of the art journal form. Click here to see an enlargement of these pages: http://bit.ly/UPY62O