Daybook: The Journey of an Artist

By: Anne Truitt

Narrated by: Anne Truitt

Length: 8 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

A classic work for artists of all kinds, about reconciling the call of creative work with the demands of daily life and narrated by Anne Truitt herself.

Renowned American artist Anne Truitt kept this illuminating and inspiring journal over a period of seven years, determined to come to terms with the forces that shaped her art and life. Within its beautifully written pages, you will come to know a woman whose range of sensitivity - moral, intellectual, sensual, emotional, and spiritual - is remarkably broad. She recalls her childhood on the eastern shore of Maryland, her career change from psychology to art, and her path to making sculptures so finely painted that they would "set color free in three dimensions." She reflects on the generous advice of other artists, watches her own daughter's journey into motherhood, meditates on criticism and solitude, and struggles to express her vision. Resonant and true, encouraging and revelatory, Anne Truitt guides herself - and us - through a life in which domestic activities and the needs of children and friends are constantly juxtaposed against the world of color and abstract geometry to which she is drawn in her art.

A rare window on the workings of a creative mind, Daybook showcases and extraordinary artists whose insights generously and succinctly illuminate the artist process.

Anne Truitt [1921-2004] had her first solo exhibition at the André Emmerich Gallery in New York in 1963. Her work is in the collections of major museums around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Whitney Museum of American Art; the National Gallery of Art, the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, and the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington, DC. The recipient of many grants, she was the director of the artists' colony Yaddo for several years in the early 1990s. Today the Estate of Anne Truitt is represented by Matthew Marks Gallery.

©1982 Anne Truitt (P)2013 Anne Truitt LLC

Luminous, insightful, lovely

Loved listening to the author read her work. Loved hearing her voice sharing her compelling articulation of both her sense and role of herself as an artist, as well as giving such beautiful insights into her work.

There are so many quotes, examples & perspectives that will live with me. Abstract art will never be the same, and the intensity of her ability to both see and explain nuance was a revelation.

The author speaks slowly & thoughtfully, which is her natural style. But those moment when she allows her emotions to shine through her speech are magical & I wish she had been able to be a little less careful & allow the charm, vulnerability and joy that was within her more egress. Still loved this work & look forward to her next!

Wise and thoughtful

This intimate chronicle of several years in the life of this important American artist and mother is simply wonderful—thought provoking and of interest to a broad spectrum of readers. The writing is graceful and the narration by the author gives the feeling of being in a room with her while she muses about her day. Her insights on the experience of being an artist are widely applicable to other endeavors, especially writing. Her thoughts on motherhood and balancing different spheres of life resonate today with renewed clarity. Highly recommend.