Art and Words

"So many windows, so many stories. And behind each window is a person experiencing their version of reality; each room is the world for someone." ~ N.Y Adams

Illustration by Gwen van Knippenberg

"What I say is, a town isn’t a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it’s got a bookstore, it knows it’s not fooling a soul." ~ Neil Gaiman

Illustration • Port Town Bookshop • Marija Stefanović

“There is no mistaking a real book when one meets it. It is like falling in love.” ~ Christopher Morley, Pipefuls

Illustration: The Bookworm by Annya Marttinen

The Land of Story-Books

By Robert Louis Stevenson

At evening when the lamp is lit, Around the fire my parents sit; They sit at home and talk and sing, And do not play at anything.

Now, with my little gun, I crawl All in the dark along the wall, And follow round the forest track Away behind the sofa back.

There, in the night, where none can spy, All in my hunter's camp I lie, And play at books that I have read Till it is time to go to bed.

These are the hills, these are the woods, These are my starry solitudes; And there the river by whose brink The roaring lions come to drink.

I see the others far away As if in firelit camp they lay, And I, like to an Indian scout, Around their party prowled about.

So, when my nurse comes in for me, Home I return across the sea, And go to bed with backward looks At my dear land of Story-books.

Art: Acorn Books by Joe Gilronan 🪄⭐✨

“I cannot remember the books I’ve read any more than the meals I have eaten; even so, they have made me.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

📕Painting • In The Bookstore • Irina Sztukowski

"A library is many things. It's a place to go if you want to sit and think. It is a place where books live, and where you can get in touch with other people, and other thoughts, through books. Books hold most of the secrets of the world, most of the thoughts that men and women have had. And when you are reading a book, you and the author are alone together—just the two of you. A library is a good place to go when you feel unhappy, for there, in a book, you may find encouragement and comfort. A library is a good place to go when you feel bewildered or undecided, for there, in a book, you may have your question answered. Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people—people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book."

~ E.B. White, Letter to Child Patrons of the Troy Public Library

Bonsoir from the Bookstore • Elvie Carrier

Description: A small bookstore in the Latin Quarter, Paris, France.

📖"The Bookshop" • Evgenia Lumfur

"𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭!… 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐤, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭? 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫, 𝐛𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞, 𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐒𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐖𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭: 𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭."

~ 𝐁𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐰, "𝐎𝐥𝐝 𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐬 𝐀𝐫𝐞 𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭," 𝟏𝟖𝟖𝟔

🐈"Books and Cats in the Library" • Daria Danilova

"There is nothing like the smell of a bookstore. If you ask me, it's actually a combination of smells: part library, part new book, and part expectation for what you might find."

~ Kathryn Fitzmaurice

📕📘Illustration • Bluebird Books • Mitchel Toy

"Both reading and writing are experiences – lifelong – in the course of which we who encounter words used in certain ways are persuaded by them to be brought mind and heart within the presence, the power, of the imagination." ~ Eudora Welty

Photograph • The Novel Reader • The Lightmapper

The Bookshop in the Woods

Painting By Soizick Meister

Soizick Meister was born and raised in a small town close to the ocean in Brittany, France.

During her youth she developed an attraction for images, words, found items and the desire to travel.

When she was 19, she moved to Switzerland to study graphic design. She has worked for book publishers, magazines, corporate clientes and has had many exhibitions in France and Switzerland.