Rowena Sunder, Artist in New York

by Linda Campbell Franklin

Rowena Sunder, still an artist in 2018, composes a meta auto-biographical book about five years of her life in New York City between 1965 and 1970. She escapes Toledo and her father's idea that she should marry and paint on Sundays and drives away in her VW bug. She sells one painting on the way, and arrives in the big city during one of its most exciting times. She works at the (invented) Museum of Invention, sublets on E. 94th Street, makes friends, acquires a cat named Kittyhawk, and finds NYC much to her liking. After selling paintings to a psychotherapist, he listens while she struggles with mixed feelings about focus. She finally rejoices in the swarm of ideas that come to her from everywhere. Now, a half-century later, she draws her book, and talks directly to the reader in a series of vignettes, all connected by her gift of too many ideas. Rowena loves words and puns and little jokes and these add other perspectives to every page.

152 pages, Paperback

Published January 31, 2018

About the author

I've been writing and illustrating for 77 years. My most recent books are a graphic memoir/novel -- ROWENA SUNDER, ARTIST IN NEW YORK, 1965-70, published by McFarland & Co., Publishers, in 2018, and WHAT'S NEXT -- a book of short storries and poetry, also 2018, and self-published for my MFA thesis. It also is illustrated. I have done comic strips, cartoons, stories, poems, and several novels which need to be edited. My head goes faster than my fingers. I live in Baltimore Maryland, and have for 29 years. I have a couple of old blogs that I no longer keep up on blogspot. Barkinglips is the name, also for my videos on Vimeo and Youtube. I have a Twitter account, but never use it...I opened it when Obama was elected, and quit when tRump was elected. On INSTAGRAM I am very active, mostly with cartoons and with photographs.

Reviews

[Cheryl Fair · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book by real-life artist Linda Campbell Franklin! Playful, with charming illustrations and a wonderful upbeat attitude about life as an artist in New York.

[Linda Franklin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm the author and artist, but I keep reading it. It's about a young woman who goes to NYC in 1965 to become a "famous" artist...she's there 5 years. It's a book of vignettes and ideas, of which she has many, maybe too many. Also a book of quotations, as each of the 150pp has a quotation or two related to art, life in NY, ideas. Hope you will enjoy if you read it!

[Louise Gilmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Rowena Sunder" is not just a book, it's a classic work of art- charming, witty, revelatory - a must buy!!!