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Anything but a Still Life
Nathan M Greenfield
Goose Lane Editions

I love buying books for gifts. Every year at Christmas I give books to my parents and I always try to choose at least one with an Atlantic connection.

Last year, I bought my mother Carol Bruneau’s Brighten the Corner Where You Are, a fictional story inspired by the life of Maud Lewis. This year’s choice is *SPOILER ALERT* (If you are my Mom or Dad stop reading now. I mean it, DAD, especially YOU. I know you are reading this.)

Okay, so this year I am really leaning towards another art-related book, but non-fiction this time. It’s Anything but a Still Life: The Art and Lives of Molly Lamb and Bruno Bobak by Nathan M Greenfield. 

I was always aware of Molly Lamb Bobak as an artist. She lived in Fredericton so as I was growing up her name was mentioned often in the news, but it was more than that. Her paintings of crowds fascinated me. Looking at just one brush-stroked person at a time was completely different from looking at the whole group en masse–somehow the indistinct became distinct. I am definitely a big fan of her work.

So I think this book would be a great read. The Bobaks were war artists during the Second World War, so reading about that alone would be incredibly interesting. But the book goes beyond that, spanning their 50 years of marriage, and it has photos and art included. Sounds good to me. 

What do you think, Dad?

Riel Nason also has two books in our #GiftAtlantic collection: Disaster at the Highland Games and The Town that Drowned.