The book for Week 12 is Pralines, Cupcakes, and Beautiful Gates. It's a painted canvas cover with tacket binding and a button and macrame cord closure.
Recently I visited the beautiful city of New Orleans, Louisiana. For four days I was immersed in the culture of this very unique American city. New Orleans is a
book of incredibly diverse history, culture and art. To an artist, New Orleans seems to be based on art.. from its cuisine, to its music, to its architecture, to everyday life... its all one big art project.. by the individual and also the community. I got a chance to walk along the sidewalks of Magazine Street... look in the yards, beyond the iron fences and gates, and past ancient storefronts of vibrant modern-day commerce. I ate dinners with the locals, listened to the jazz blues music in open-air park festivals, watched parade preparations, and listened to the stories of the people born in this very unique city.
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| The original Pralines and Cupcakes store on Magazine Street |
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| The Garden District |
I imagined living in one of the century old "doll houses" that line the lush tropical streets... handmade craftsmanship in every board.. and the stories and histories and ghosts..
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| Easter Basket Pages |
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| Easter Basket Houses |
Gentle pinks and yellows, turquoise and greens, the houses sit like decorated Easter eggs along the shady sidewalk... like the marbled papers within the book.
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| Beaded Fence |
And because it was almost St. Patrick's Day.. many of the fences and gates were decorated with strings of green beads... as the local New Orleanians picked their outfits, created their floats, and practiced their marching for the St. Patty's Day parades. Parades are BIG in New Orleans. Think of the floats as pages of a book...and within each float are more stories of the people who created the floats and how that came about and what they mean... like beads of a rosary... and those hanging on the fences...
The gates remind me of the covers of a book, protecting the precious pages within, but also presenting a welcoming and beautiful ornament for entering. I just love iron gates and fences.
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| Cross Hatch Gate |
So I made the binding of the book to reflect those gates...
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| Tacket Binding and Macrame Cord Closure |
And I made sure there were pages of vibrant colors mixing.....
...just like the people of New Orleans.
Kathy
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