Openers: The Book As Art

Abstract

I f a picture paints a thousand words — as the adage suggests — then why am I using written language to compile my “Openers”? Why not simply paint a picture that sums up what I’d like to convey instead? Well … for starters, I can’t paint, or at least not very well, which is why I have tremendous admiration for those who can. When I pick up a book that contains eye-capturing images — whether a children’s picture book, a young adult comic strip, an illustrated dictionary, or a coffee table volume — my “reading” experience is transformed. The visual art fires up a portion of my brain that allows me to “marvel” in a completely different way.