James Gordon Irving, Front and Back Cover of Stars: A Golden Nature Guide, Herbert S. Zim, author, St. Martin’s Press, New York. Originally published by Golden Books, this paperback edition published 1956, 1951.
Stars. My own copy of this book worn from love and misuse is pictured here. When I was young it taught me the patterns of the constellations, their names, the movement of the sun, phases of the moon, and other celestial and planetary phenomena. This knowledge still informs my work. Artist James Gordon Irving’s images were seminal; his pervasive indigo night and passion for geometry certainly influenced me. I see a clear echo in my print Pegasus, for example. However, rather than articulating the mechanics of the heavens as Irving did, I have leaned towards imaging fictions; or at least the houses of the sky beside the ones we build on the ground. Above all this book sparked a love of the miniature collection. Here the largest things you can think of: planets, stars, galaxies, nebulae are compressed into a tiny volume; a universe that you can slip into your pocket – like a journal.
James Gordon Irving, Auroras or Northern Lights from Stars: A Golden Nature Guide, Herbert S. Zim, author, St. Martin’s Press, New York. Originally published by Golden Books, this paperback edition published 1956, 1951.
