Could you tell us about Chaim Potok’s evolution as an artist and a writer?
“Novels, certainly those written by Chaim, gestated for a while before the first word met its page. Asher Lev was the culmination of decades of dormant activity as an artist. As a young person Chaim drew and sketched and even created a comic strip for his high school newspaper, but his activity in water colors and oils did not last into his teens. Though he enjoyed that endeavor, he acquiesced to his father’s expectation that he leave it and move on to preparing for his Bar-Mitzvah. In his world, that was serious and extensive preparation. He was expected to learn not only the tropes for cantillating the Torah portion of several chapters as well as a Prophetic chapter, but also the grammar inherent in those sections. And, of course, he was expected to prepare a discourse on those Biblical portions. So, drawing was considered a frivolity. Also, his younger brother, with whom he shared a room, did not appreciate the aromas of oil paints and turpentine. During his college and seminary day
