Moonlight and Music: The Enchanted World of Gayleen Aiken

by Gayleen Aiken, Rachel Klein

Teeming with colorful details and including hand-written notes in the corner of each one, Gayleen Aiken's paintings tell stories of a simpler, perpetually happy world, as she recreates the Vermont home of her childhood, peopled it with an imaginary family of cousins and their many cats--all named Susie. 24 color illustrations.

29 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1997

Reviews

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gayleen Aiken is a reasonably well-known self-taught/"outsider" artist, but as far as I can tell, there's no good exhibition guide or full-length study covering her life and work. What there is, at least in print media, is this slim volume, which features a small selection of her work (mostly from the 1990s) paired with brief, whimsical descriptions from Aiken herself.

It's a quick read and one that left me with a million more questions. But it's beautiful and gentle, full of appreciation of a bygone world, and well worth checking out if you have an interest in self-taught artists, rural Vermont, and/or authentic Americana.

[Jamie Bronstein · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book; the art is adorable.