Böcker av Ronald L Oliver

I am a product of the lower income working class. My father worked with machinery while my mother was a variety store clerk for most of her adult life. You could say that I was a poor boy, and my story has been told so many times before. I want to tell it one last time, because a lot of people don¿t pay attention. This collection looks back at the drawings and paintings done over a lifetime. It began with a hunger to draw that I first noticed and acted on when I was around twelve years old. This book represents a chance to put them altogether into a whole that traces my development over the years, and I hope it tells my story in full.From the start, I have used drawing and painting as a of seeking truth. It allowed me to focus better on the world at hand and ignore everything else. By calling them ]artwork], they looked more lasting as I wanted them to remain and stay. I thought they could speak with my voice and say what I wanted to say.It came natural to me from of an inner desire to get things right, to speak the truth. It seemed that there was a basic need to draw, paint, and express what was on the inside. I could organize and put things together on paper or canvas that went together in no other way, at no other time. It was a way entering the bigger world outside myself and I walked into that world eagerly. I was first inspired by a glossy photo‐journal of the early sixties with photographs of Caroline Kennedy on top of a horse. When I later tried to ride a horse in imitation it ran to the middle of an interstate expressway and stopped in its tracks, frozen with fear. I loved horses until I learned they had a will of their own that was often greater than that of the rider. Regardless, they were often better on paper than in real life.I started drawing with a pencil and charcoal but later graduated to oils paints, acrylics, pastels and finally watercolors. I always felt lost until I made it my own and was comfortable with it. I still search for a permanent beauty, a harmony that may not be there otherwise. It gives me a deep satisfaction when it comes out as I wanted it in the first place. It helps me to keep me away from telling scattered and pointless, disorganized stories. Art was good therapy then now. The process still works. I would encourage anyone with the smallest well of desire or need to jump in the water, to get wet. It feels good, and the water is fine.

This book is a supplement to last year¿s Retrospective Perspectives, Volume I. It includes about thirty more pages andmany more illustrations with accompanying commentary. It has been divided into the major headings of ]The Garden], ]Trees], ]Abstracts] and ]Portraits] as these provide a meaningful description of the content in which I specialize. The reader needs to be aware that this work was done over a period of approximately twenty-five years but always on a sideline basis. Since retiring in 2014, I have concentrated on drawing and painting to the exclusion of any other work, so it is focused and more intense than when I first started to draw and paint. It is hoped that the reader enjoys the content.From the start, I have used drawing and painting as a way of calming down, concentrating and focusing on settling things around me. By calling them ]artwork] I could make them look as I wanted them to remain. I thought they should speak with my voice and say what I wanted to say. It came natural to me because that was what I wanted. It was just that simple. I still see things that way: there is the passing and there is the fixed. It seems like there was a basic need to draw, paint, and express what was inside. I could organize and put things together on paper or canvas that went together in no other way, at no other time. It was a way out of myself and I took it. At times, it was the best way to do things when was no other way.I was first inspired by a glossy photo-journal of the early sixties with photographs of Caroline Kennedy on top of a horse. They went together and it all made sense. Her father was highly esteemed but was later shot while riding a convertible in Dallas, but Caroline lives. It makes for a sad story but that is the way that many stories go. One lives and learns.When I later tried to ride a horse in imitation it ran to the middle of an interstate expressway and stopped in its tracks. I loved horses until I learned they were not all without fault. I found they had a will of their own that was often greater than that of the rider. Regardless, they were often better on paper than in real life. I started drawing with a pencil and charcoal but later graduated to oils paints, acrylics, pastels and finally watercolors. I saved the best for last.I still search for a permanent beauty, a harmony that may not be there otherwise, and a deep satisfaction when it comes out as I wanted it in the first place. It helps me to keep me away from feeling scattered and pointless, disorganized. Art was good therapy then and is good therapy now. The process still works. I would encourage anyone with the smallest well of desire or need to jump in the water, to get wet. It feels good, and the water is fine.Over the years, I have found that my pursuit of creating comes only in bursts and spells. There were times when I felt moved to do it. There were times when I had no desire at all. The desire, the passion usually happened only once or twice a year. At times, a drought would come when I mostly twiddled my thumbs and carried on. I never found a way to pursue this interest in the everyday world. Everyone knew that artists starved. Who wants to pursue a trail to starvation?I think this unfortunate state needs to change. The older I grew the greater was the desire to do images of people and things that mattered most. I think we are all drawn to what is most important in our lives. I hope you are ready to join me in looking back over sixty years of life in service to others in small towns, small cities and finally big cities. I hope you find it enjoyable.

Ronald Oliver was first inspired to pen a collection of verses and illustrations while working on bullying prevention during the late eighties. In the second edition of If Dirt Could Talk, Oliver focuses his poetic presentation on animal stories with the hope of encouraging others to fondly recall childhood experiences and rekindle their love of nature. Oliver?s poems reflect on many of nature?s creatures such as coyotes, ants, and squirrels, as well as the surrounding landscape that holds diverse plant life such as cactus, trees, and tumbleweed. Included are Oliver?s vivid illustrations created in watercolor, acrylic, mixed media, and colored pencil. If Dirt Could Talk shares a collection of poems and illustrations that expressively explore the world of nature and its creatures.