Dear Reader,
If you suffer as I do from hypertension, a.k.a. high blood
pressure, research shows that you had better do something about
it. What sounds like good advice is also fraught with hard decisions
about what “do” might mean: medication, breathing
exercises, yoga classes, look at art – wait! that last
one just sneaked in.
I am indeed fortunate to have an art library.
Thirty-two linear feet of art books, topped by a Boze CD player
and a vast collection of music. While I require silence when
I write, making art or looking at art books must have musical
accompaniment. Why? It is the closest approximation of nirvana
I can create. Plucking a book from a shelf and sitting for a
few minutes before a Zoom meeting or stress-inducing appointment
is an automatic calmer-downer.
In addition to enjoying the visual nature of art books, each
holds a memory: opening a surprise gift (Faith Ringgold
by Michele Wallace), standing in a check-out line in Amsterdam
at the Van Gogh Museum (100 Masterpieces in the Van Gogh
Museum by John Leighton) or the Palais de Tokyo in Paris
(All Eyes on Kees van Dongen by Anita Hopmans). Why wouldn’t
you want to fill your brain with memories and images like these
and feel your blood pressure go down? It works every time.
