" Leaf by Niggle " is a short story written by J. R. R. Tolkien in 1938 – 39 and first published in the Dublin Review in January 1945.

This is notable because the book, consisting of a seminal essay called " On Fairy-Stories " and " Leaf by Niggle ," offers the underlying philosophy ( Creation and Sub-Creation, see below ) of much of Tolkien's fantastical writings.

" Leaf by Niggle " is often seen as an allegory of Tolkien's own creative process, and, to an extent, of his own life.

However, there are many mundane chores and duties that prevent Niggle from giving his work the attention it deserves, so it remains incomplete and is not fully realized.

Moreover, Parish is lame and has a sick wife, and honestly needs help — Niggle, having a good heart, takes time out to help.

Eventually, Niggle is forced to take his trip, and cannot get out of it.

Niggle is reunited with his old neighbour, Parish, who now proves his worth as a gardener, and together they make the Tree and Forest even more beautiful.

A religious reading of Leaf by Niggle could lead to the conclusion that the allegory of " Leaf by Niggle " is life, death, purgatory and paradise.

In this allegorical view, Niggle is not prepared for his unavoidable trip, as humans often are not prepared for death.

Niggle's yearnings after truth and beauty ( God's creations ) are echoed in his great painting ; after death, Niggle is rewarded with the realization ( the making-real ) of his yearning.

" In specific reference to Niggle, he wrote in Letter 241, " It is not really or properly an ' allegory ' so much as ' mythical '.

After discipline in Purgatory, however, Niggle finds himself in the very landscape depicted by his painting which he is now able to finish with the assistance of a neighbour who obstructed him during life.

The picture complete, Niggle is free to journey to the distant mountains which represent the highest stage of his spiritual development.

At the back of his head, Niggle knows that he has a great trip looming, and he must pack and prepare his bags.

Finally, Niggle journeys farther and deeper into the Forest, and beyond into the great mountains that he only faintly glimpsed in his painting.

Niggle ends up discarding all his other artworks, or tacks them onto the main canvas, which becomes a single vast embodiment of his vision.

On Fairy-Stories was subsequently published with Leaf by Niggle in Tree and Leaf, as well as in The Tolkien Reader, published in 1966.

These two, together with The Adventures of Tom Bombadil and Leaf by Niggle, have appeared as Tales from the Perilous Realm.

*" Leaf by Niggle ", a highly allegorical short story often ( including here ) published in tandem with the essay " On Fairy-Stories " as Tree and Leaf.

In this story, an artist, named Niggle, lives in a society that does not much value art.

And Niggle has other pressing work duties that require his attention.

Then Niggle himself catches a chill doing errands for Parish in the rain.

Long after both Niggle and Parish have taken their journeys, the lovely field that they built together becomes a place for many travelers to visit before their final voyage into the Mountains, and it earns the name " Niggle's Parish.

But Leaf by Niggle can also be interpreted as an illustration of Tolkien's religious philosophy of creation and sub-creation.

An autobiographical interpretation places Tolkien himself as Niggle — in mundane matters as well as spiritual ones.

Like Niggle, Tolkien came to abandon other projects or graft them onto his " Tree ," Middle-earth.

Like Niggle, Tolkien faced many chores and duties that kept him from the work he loved ; and like Niggle, Tolkien was a horrible procrastinator.

Leila ( Malia Phillips ), 25, is a Greenwich Village painter of Persianesque miniatures who has red hair that cascades almost to her ankles.

Roy Mason is essentially a landscape painter whose style and direction has a kinship with the English watercolorists of the early nineteenth century, especially the beautifully patterned art of John Sell Cotman.

This is true also of a painter like Jackson Pollock.

his wife, Marion, is a portrait painter.

In a sense, perhaps, Thurber is indebted artistically to the surrealist painter ( was it Salvador Dali??

One is not sure who emerges as the main personality of this book -- Mijbil, with his rollicking ways, or Maxwell himself, poet, portrait painter, writer, journalist, traveller and zoologist, sensitive but never sentimental recorder of an unusual way of life, in a language at once lyrical and forceful, vivid and unabashed.

The design is based upon a German war bonds poster by Fritz Erler ( painter ) | Fritz Erler.

His period of activity as a painter is traditionally limited to the two decades between 1639 and 1660, fitting directly within the generally accepted limits of the Dutch Golden Age ’ s most significant period, 1640-1665.

He is known to have been married to Cornelia Bosman in 1658, a date coinciding so directly with the end of his productivity as a painter that it has been accepted that his marriage played some sort of role in the end of his artistic career.

While it is assumed that the younger Cuyp did work with his father initially to develop rudimentary talents, Aelbert became more focused on landscape paintings while Jacob was a portrait painter by profession.

What is meant by stating that Aelbert learned form from his father is that his eventual transition from a specifically landscape painter to the involvement of foreground figures is attributed to his interaction with his Jacob.

The evidence for Aelbert ’ s evolution to foreground figure painter is in the production of some paintings from 1645-50 featuring foreground animals that do not fit with Jacob ’ s style.

It is this reluctance which was felt by the Rijksmuseum to reattribute works to other painters ( Abraham van Calraet does not even appear in a Museum catalogue until 1926, and even then he is not given his own entry ) which shows how important it is to art historians that painters are accurately connected to their works — and this is continuously necessary for those of Aelbert Cuyp, as Dordrecht ’ s most famous painter may not in fact be Dordrecht ’ s most famous painter.

Mixing artist or student quality acrylic paint with household acrylic emulsions is possible, allowing the use of pre-mixed tints straight from the tube or tin, so presenting the painter with a vast color range at his or her disposal.

It is possible that the Dutch painter Johan Barthold Jongkind, whom Monet knew, may have prompted his aunt on this matter.

While presenting the Carnegie Institute's Gold Medal to Beaux in 1899, William Merritt Chase stated " Miss Beaux is not only the greatest living woman painter, but the best that has ever lived.