Joel Timmel

Artist Statement

I have been a writer
(of sorts)
With some interruption
Since I was 17 years old.
"Love me or leave me"
This is what I am!

Being a writer for almost fifty years (be that a long or a short amount of time I do not know given it seems like I only started 'yesterday'), I have always written for myself. I have never given thought who is or is not going to read and/or like 'this?' That was not the point, ever! What I found, early on in life, is that I needed someone to talk to and this was my outlet.

To quote Alexis de Tocqueville:

"The Americans owe nothing to any man, they expect nothing from any man; they acquire the habit of always considering themselves as standing alone, and they are apt to imagine that their whole destiny is in their own hands.

"Thus not only does democracy make every man forget his ancestors, but it hides his descendants and separates his contemporaries from him; it throws him back forever upon himself alone and threatens in the end to confine him entirely within the solitude of his own heart."

In my youth there were very few people who 'understood' my sexuality ... my interest in the Eastern world ... my diverse philosophical tastes ... and lastly, and this remains ongoing, my travels. The closest this latter ever came (of course, there were exceptions, however minute) was either "Oh, really, where is that?" Or, "I've always wanted to go there!"

Not to be a bore, and as much as I found companionship in 'the lover within me' many years ago, so I became my best and most accommodating confidant. And, much as Truman Capote in his last work, the time has come for me to break those 'confidences.'

Due to an extremely short attention span, my writing as a tendency to be on the poetic side. A poem can be completed rather quickly, whereas a novel, which often ends up saying the exact same thing, can take many years and numerous stacks of paper. With my multitude interests and awareness that life can be ever so short, longer manuscripts would have been too much of a struggle ... hence came to be my diaries, poems, and meandering journals.

Biography

The author spends the summer months in Saugatuck, MI, and winters in Naples, FL. He spends two months every year traveling in Europe and the Caribbean. The author is currently working on three books of poetry entitled Writings for the Common Man, Poetry in the Nude. and Haiku, The Open Door.

The Artisians represented by
The Timmel Collection
have no relationship to nor (may) agree with the content of the writings contained herewithin.

(Please note, those under 18 should proceed with caution and those over 18 with limited mentalities should not proceed at all.)