Living Color: A Writer Paints Her World
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 Bonesin 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.