I was a writer before I was an art historian. For me, art history was a means to writing. As a young, evolving scribbler, poetry and fiction were my preferred métiers. These days I rarely write poetry. I never write fiction.

Over the years I have written a series of loosely structured autobiographical narratives. I came to writing these during the latter part of the 1980s as the expression of a felt need. They usually help me to work out a problem or issue with which I am grappling. I do not think of myself as writing for an audience.

The process of writing these essays opened up a space that allowed me to break free from the academic mold. After years of training in the scholarly voice, writing in the first person casual seemed somewhat transgressive. I felt guilty and nervous the first time I wrote an incomplete sentence. I felt like I was breaking the rules. A selection of these writings are included here because they comprise an integral part of my writing self.