Makers by Nature

“Over many decades, Bruce Herman has gifted us with a huge range of paintings that combines subtlety and profundity, along with a theological richness all too rare today. Here he adopts the role of the letter-writer, and with characteristic insight and compassion, leads us deep into what he calls the ‘holy terror’ of making art.”

”‘Make out of love, not fear.’ ‘You must unmake in order to make.’ ‘Time to bring out the dynamite.’ These gems of artistic counsel—the antithesis of cheap praise—have enhanced the lives of students, colleagues, and friends fortunate enough to know Bruce Herman. The epistolary wisdom in this volume ensures that more lives will be ornamented with such rugged counsel as well.”

“With both wit and wisdom, Bruce Herman guides readers into a spacious place where the craft of artmaking is intelligently explained to the apprentice, humbly explored alongside fellow masters, and with warm-hearted encouragement, affirmed to those who journey in between. By way of a series of letters which explore topics such as vocation, failure, style, irony, and tradition, Herman complicates the craft for those who’d want it to be a simplistic affair, and he simplifies it for those who’dwant to complicate it unnecessarily. All throughout, he shows artmaking to be an utter gift. This is a much-needed and altogether refreshing book in the field of art and faith.”

“Bruce Herman has given us, and future generations of makers, an invaluable gift. Years of wisdom and advice given to countless young artists and those who care for culture have been compressed into this book. I am indebted to Bruce for what these letters teach me as an artist.”

“In painting, writing, and living, Bruce Herman pours himself into the world. He is, as this book’s title suggests, a master painter. But he is also a fine writer. This volume contains twenty sets of letters addressed to a variety of friends—students, collectors, theologians, and fellow artists. As expected, each epistle enables Herman’s readers to benefit from the artist’s lifetime of learning, his strong connections to so many, and his life-giving practice of paying attention. Bruce is always paying attention to God, the world, art, and those he loves.”

“The artistic vocation is a hard one, fraught with perils of the spirit and laden with innumerable real-world obstacles. The artist Bruce Herman has navigated this terrain with grace and integrity over a long and distinguished career. In Makersby Nature, Bruce deploys his characteristic insight, wisdom, and compassion in a series of letters to young artists. Full of theoretical sophistication and deep thought, these letters are at the same time warm and accessible, just like Bruce himself. This book is a treasure for earnest young artists of faith.”

Bruce Herman (MFA, Boston University College of Fine Arts) is a painter, writer, and speaker. His art has been exhibited internationally and is in public and private collections worldwide. He taught studio art for nearly four decades at Gordon College, where he held the Lothlórien Distinguished Chair in Fine Arts. He enjoys sailing, hiking, and carpentry and is married to Meg and has two children and five grandchildren.

Malcolm Guite (PhD, Durham) is the chaplain at Girton College, Cambridge, where he also teaches in the Faculty of Divinity. He is a priest, poet, and songwriter, and he travels and speaks regularly throughout the UK and North America. He is the author of Faith, Hope and Poetry: Theology and the Poetic Imagination as well as several collections of poems, including Parable and Paradox: Sonnets on the Sayings of Jesus and Other Poems; Waiting on the Word: A Poem a Day for Advent, Christmas, and Epiphany; The Word in the Wilderness: A Poem a Day for Lent, Holy Week, and Easter; and Sounding the Seasons.

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