New Orleans Gambit

The following article appeared in New Orleans Gambit
in January 2005

Living the Artist's Life


By Paul Dorrell

Paul Dorrell reads and signs Living the Artist's Life
5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27
Garden District Book Shop, The Rink, 2727 Prytania St., 895-2266;

With a bibliography that sports entries such as a Vincent van Gogh biography, F. Scott Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night and Friedrich Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil, Paul Dorrell clearly swings for the fences in his book Living the Artist's Life (Hillstead). Beginning his foreword with artist Robert Henri's quote, 'Art is a terrible way to make a living, but a wonderful way to live,' Dorrell matches his work's ambition with a conversational tone that makes the book succeed as an animated, how-to resource for everyone from starving artists to gallery owners to general free thinkers. A fun and engaging read, Living the Artist's Life includes plenty of anecdotes from Dorrell's life that entertain as well as set examples. Passages range from dealing with depression and substance abuse to how best to solicit a gallery with postcards. -- Etheridge

A Guide to Growing, Persevering, and Succeeding in the Art World