I AM AN ARTIST

``I am an artist when I follow a line where it leads me,'' begins this exploration of the many kinds of response to the world that may lead to an aesthetic experience, if not to creating a work of art: noticing patterns, putting names to colors, touching a rough surface, observing natural phenomena, and more. While suggesting the delight in precisely observed detail, Brickman's carefully wrought accompanying images leave scope for the imagination in their ample white space and with colorful points of focus that fade into black and white in their peripheral surroundings. The reiterated title grates, a bit; otherwise, a gentle, attractive nudge to the creative instinct. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 5-8)