The Irish artist Louis le Brocquy has been a friend to such writers as Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney, both of whom he collaborated with, and to painters including Francis Bacon. This meditation on le Brocquy"s artistic practice, published on the occasion of the his 90th birthday, consider mutual influence in le Brocquy"s creative relationships and commonalities between poetry and painting--both in subject matter and intensity of experience. In le Brocquy"s words, "Reality is stripped down to a deeper layer and the ordinary is seen to be marvelous." In this book-length essay, the artist seeks to elucidate for himself and readers how the act of rendering an object might create a parallel experience of the world. Le Brocquy, born in Dublin and self-taught, has been awarded the Venice Biennale"s Premio Acquisto Internationale, and his work has been shown in museums throughout the world.