Poems, Written and Painted

Poems, Written and Painted contains Anders Shafer's painted and written poems that reflect various stages of his life. Written between 1966 and 2023, these poems capture changing convictions of "what's cool." 25 poems are accompanied by 25 paintings.

"For me, writing poetry seems very similar to making visual art. I think of my paintings as painted poems. In this book, I put in a selection of paintings to illustrate this point. They seem to come from the same mysterious place. Someone said that poems are like 'a stream of consciousness set to music.' Interesting how the pictures and poems work together." Anders Shafer

Anders C. Shafer is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, where he was the Max Schoenfeld Distinguished Professor. He taught painting, drawing, and illustration for 43 years. A practicing professional artist, he has works in many museums including: The Smithsonian, the Allen Museum, Portland Museum of Art, and the Sheldon Museum. He has won over a hundred awards and been in countless exhibitions. His best known book is The Fantastic Journey of Pieter Bruegel, published by Dutton's Children's Books, New York.