Books, Boxes and Portfolios by Franz Zeier
“This is as good as it gets,” Chris says about a book he uses, “like a cookbook” to make portfolios and boxes for his art.

Favorite tip: “If your work arrives in a beautiful package, people are more likely to value it.”

This book confirmed Chris’ belief in the importance of treating each step in the process of bookmaking with reverence. “You should care for your work and keep it in a beautiful container. It has an effect on the work itself and on your future work and how people receive your work.”

My Garden Full of Flowers by Emil Nolde
“I love Emil Nolde for his colors and his simplicity,” Chris says. “It’s something I haven’t achieved but hope I can achieve in my lifetime.”

Favorite tip: Nolde traveled a lot and always drew.

Famously, Nolde’s was declared a “degenerate artist” between 1938-1945, and was prohibited by the Nazi’s from making art, yet he painted hundreds of small watercolors in the seclusion of his home that expressed personal feelings, moods and dream landscapes, calling the work, ungemalte bilder (unpainted pictures).

The Klee Universe, by Christine Hopfengart
“Klee has always been my touchstone—more influential to me than almost anyone,” Chris says. Klee collected children’s art and much of his own art is inspired by children’s art.

Favorite tip: “His way of working was the result of games and experiments he set for himself without any known endpoint,” Chris said. Upon completion, Klee would give the work a title, whether it was simplifying landscapes to the point of a series of pure colored lines or layering color after color to see what would happen.

The Illustrated Zuleika Dobson by Max Beerbohm
Chris is drawn to Beerbohm’s life as a writer-illustrator. This satire of Edwardian life at Oxford University is illustrated with Beerbohm’s closely observed caricatures.

Favorite tip: Chris aspires to Beerbohm’s practice of drawing from memory rather than exclusively from photos or life. “It’s a meditative practice,” Chris said. Memory relieves the pressure to capture things immediately with pen or pencil. “Beerbohm’s must have been an incredible gift to conjure those faces from memory.”

Beerbohm said: “No good work can be done without concentration and self-sacrifice and toil and doubt.”

The Embodied Image
This is a catalogue from an exhibit in 2000 and was the first Chinese show at the Met that Chris “really took note of.” It crystalized for him the importance of the movement of the brush itself—that it can “tell a story and convey meaning.”

Favorite tip: “Instead of thinking of the object I’m drawing, I try to think about the how of drawing it."

And this concludes my year of blogging. Thank you for reading along and stay tuned. There may be more...

Wishing everyone a peaceful 2017!