ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I HAVE EVER SEEN!
October 01, 2017 11:57 Book stuff | Food for Thought
It is really fun when you find a great book!
Paul Pletka: Imagined Wests, by Amy Scott, came to me as a review copy from the University of Oklahoma Press, unsolicited. It is beyond belief!
I happened to have met Paul and Nancy Pletka at their home in Santa Fe, a few years ago. It is one of those homes you just look around with your mouth open. Wonderful! We have a Pletka print that is other worldly to look at.
The book on Paul is big, very heavy, and filled with marvelous color plates of his work – 248 pages. Some of the pictures are double page and even a drawing on the inside cover – expensive! Pletka paints Native Americans, religious events, gods, santos, nature, and so much more.
His color, even when he uses a limited palette, is jump in your face. I love his use of space and he does not use space traditionally. The detail in his pictures is staggering and he sees all kinds of things and puts them in his pictures. It looks like Paul loves painting people with all their warts and costumes. Pletka is a true American treasure and one artist New Mexico can be proud of.
Oh, and let me not forget, Amy Scott (Autry Museum) has insights into Pletka, James Ballinger (Phoenix Art Museum) wrote the Foreword, and there are many inside goodies from Pletka.
For someone in the arts or interested in collecting, this would make a perfect holiday gift. Sure it is $65, but worth every penny and it is so much better than a sweater or socks. The book is a masterpiece. This is the kind of book you will have on your shelf for your whole life. It is Christmas all year long.
Barbe Awalt
Nov 12: 4th Annual Albuquerque Balloon Museum Arts & Crafts Fair, 9am to 5pm
HENRIETTA CHRISTMAS & PAUL RHETTS ("The Basic Genealogy Checklist")
Dec 9: Los Lunas Public Library, 10am
January 6: Hispanic Genealogy Research Center at National Hispanic Cultural Center, Albuquerque, 10am
January 9: El Castillo Living Center, Santa Fe, NM, 7pm
RILEY MITCHELL ("The Essential Paranormal Bucket List")
Oct 21: Santa Fe Public Library, 2pm
Oct 30: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
SLIM RANDLES ("The Fly Fisherman's Bucket List")
Nov 9: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
JOSEPH SANCHEZ ("Historic Route 66")
Oct 7: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Nov 4: Hispanic Genealogy Research Center at National Hispanic Cultural Center, 10am
Nov 18: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 3pm
JOHN TAYLOR & RICHARD MELZER ("Tragic Trails & Enchanted Journeys" & "Captain Maximiliano Luna")
Nov 11: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Nov 16: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
ROBERT TORREZ ("Voices from the Past")
Nov 4: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Nov 30: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
ROSS VAN DUSEN ("What Makes the Lightning?", "How the Crocka Dog Came to Be"; and "Lyle Got Stuck in a Tree")
Oct 28: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Dec 1: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 6pm
I happened to have met Paul and Nancy Pletka at their home in Santa Fe, a few years ago. It is one of those homes you just look around with your mouth open. Wonderful! We have a Pletka print that is other worldly to look at.
The book on Paul is big, very heavy, and filled with marvelous color plates of his work – 248 pages. Some of the pictures are double page and even a drawing on the inside cover – expensive! Pletka paints Native Americans, religious events, gods, santos, nature, and so much more.
His color, even when he uses a limited palette, is jump in your face. I love his use of space and he does not use space traditionally. The detail in his pictures is staggering and he sees all kinds of things and puts them in his pictures. It looks like Paul loves painting people with all their warts and costumes. Pletka is a true American treasure and one artist New Mexico can be proud of.
Oh, and let me not forget, Amy Scott (Autry Museum) has insights into Pletka, James Ballinger (Phoenix Art Museum) wrote the Foreword, and there are many inside goodies from Pletka.
For someone in the arts or interested in collecting, this would make a perfect holiday gift. Sure it is $65, but worth every penny and it is so much better than a sweater or socks. The book is a masterpiece. This is the kind of book you will have on your shelf for your whole life. It is Christmas all year long.
Barbe Awalt
UPCOMING CALENDAR:
RIO GRANDE BOOKSNov 12: 4th Annual Albuquerque Balloon Museum Arts & Crafts Fair, 9am to 5pm
HENRIETTA CHRISTMAS & PAUL RHETTS ("The Basic Genealogy Checklist")
Dec 9: Los Lunas Public Library, 10am
January 6: Hispanic Genealogy Research Center at National Hispanic Cultural Center, Albuquerque, 10am
January 9: El Castillo Living Center, Santa Fe, NM, 7pm
RILEY MITCHELL ("The Essential Paranormal Bucket List")
Oct 21: Santa Fe Public Library, 2pm
Oct 30: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
SLIM RANDLES ("The Fly Fisherman's Bucket List")
Nov 9: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
JOSEPH SANCHEZ ("Historic Route 66")
Oct 7: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Nov 4: Hispanic Genealogy Research Center at National Hispanic Cultural Center, 10am
Nov 18: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 3pm
JOHN TAYLOR & RICHARD MELZER ("Tragic Trails & Enchanted Journeys" & "Captain Maximiliano Luna")
Nov 11: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Nov 16: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
ROBERT TORREZ ("Voices from the Past")
Nov 4: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Nov 30: Bookworks, Rio Grande Blvd, 6pm
ROSS VAN DUSEN ("What Makes the Lightning?", "How the Crocka Dog Came to Be"; and "Lyle Got Stuck in a Tree")
Oct 28: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 1pm
Dec 1: Treasure House Books, Old Town Plaza, 6pm