Week 11: Opening Reception

   Artists are always making things. Paintings, pottery, sculpture, books... Whatever is the medium, there is always the work of making the work. Eventually, the work is put on display... for sale or view to the public... When there's a new exhibit of artworks, there is always an Opening Reception. That is the title of this week's book-of-the-week.

The cover: title plate and card of a vessel by potter Cynthia Bringle

This little book is a collection of postcards for artists' receptions. These postcards come in the mail... or are posted on bulletin boards in art centers... or on countertops and wall boards in galleries. Their lifespan is short, but the work that goes into these exhibits... and onto the postcards... may take a lifetime.

Thoughtfulness, social consciousness, and craftsmanship might be the focus of the exhibition. One teacher I had said all original art is initially viewed as insanity. Uh oh.

Another mentor said, to be authentically creative... we often need to retrieve our childhood playfulness and openness... to respond to our inner voice and not adapt it to social norms. Uh oh.

One teacher said that art is simply communication... with materials. I like that.

So I try to find the story in every piece of artwork I see, whether it's a painting, a poster, or a pot.

   In North Carolina... and everywhere, artists are making their work. They are thinking about the world as landscape or as shadow box. They are telling their personal stories in poetry and in pottery. They are using clay, glass, yarn, wood, iron, paper, and a world of materials to express ideas and issues. It's all there to see at the Opening Reception.

Week 10: Baby's Blanket

Recently, I was reading Mary Oliver's latest book of poetry, A Thousand Mornings, Poems. Reading her poems is like having a conversation with a friend...in song. Oliver's poems are about common things that make life beautiful or real... window sills and chubby robins... or coffee and sunbeams... about the love of a child...about fear and sadness. The impetus for this week's Book-of-the-Week, Baby's Blanket came from two things: an old watercolor landscape I had been saving, and Mary Oliver's poetry. 

A patchwork paper cover with letterpress title plate and little hearts...

Another stiff-leaf book, Baby's Blanket is constructed from a watercolor painting of a winter landscape done by one of my children years ago. The watercolor landscape had been kept safely in a box in the closet for the past 15 years... seen daily by the dust mites and the silverfish, and every decade by me when I was hunting some family relic. Recently I pulled it out into the daylight and decided to use it as illustration for this book. I cut it into three pieces and wrote a poem about a particular snowy day in my memory. Then I printed the poem onto the triptych using antique Cheltenham type and a Vandercook letterpress. This is the poem Baby's Blanket...

Page 1

On the morning of your birth,

the snow fell

A soft white baby's blanket

covering the earth

Page 2

It was mid-March and the sun

had shown warm and bright

the day before.

I was filled with energy

and anticipation of your coming

I mopped the floors

and cleaned the house.

Page 3

On the morning of your birth

the sky alit

with the pure white beauty

of a snow-covered landscape

and you.

   It's March now and spring is probably here... last week there was snow in the Northeast and we had some cold nights and nippy days. But today in North Carolina the sun is shining, trees are budding, daffodils have been blooming for weeks and we're back to daylight savings time... It's the time of year the earth is reborn. It is the birthday for the earth!

...And I have ordered my seeds for the garden, have begun to burn the last of the kindling in the studio woodstove, and have tidied up the winter's debris of fallen tree limbs and piles of leaves. We are painting things around the house and making lists of Things to Do. It's time to get ready for the party that is spring in North Carolina... a time of year that promises healthy gardens, blooming flower beds, and peaceful natural beauty... the wonderful youth of the year. I wish you a wonderful spring in your own area... and a rebirth of hope, joy, industry, and art!

...and to my darling son, born March 16,  1980... Happy Birthday!

Week 9: Beyond the Palisade

  
 Wall, fence, enclosure, stockade, barrier, curtain, screen, bullwork, bastile, moat, railing, rampart, trench, ditch, barricade. What are walls for?  To keep things in and keep things out. This week's book-of-the-week, titled Beyond the Palisade is about what's on the other side of the walls we construct within ourselves.. 

Leather and silk and a photograph of a window grill in Angers, France

A palisade is a word from the French 1600's and refers to a wall of stakes set firmly in the ground as a defense. The cut paper images of windows and stairways in the foreground of this little book act as a barrier to the patchwork imagery of photographs taken during my first trip to France. Personally, I suspect I had built my own palisade of reasons for not taking this wonderful trip. Luckily, an opportunity occurred and in 2005 I found myself in this beautiful and complex country.

Behind the cut paper are photographs of churches, government buildings and castles...

Known for the marked beauty in architecture and artistry, France's history of conflict in politics and religion is a contrast worthy of a palisade. Quaint French villages of hundred-years old cottages, chateaux and open-air vegetable markets; tiny streets of cobblestone that wind and twist... the aroma of croissants and lavendar... and French milled soap in every Super U! ...as a tourist, I was oblivious to the social tensions and daily challenges. The only thing missing was a standard size cup of coffee.

In the villages life goes on behind hand-tatted lace curtains

A beautiful country of mild climate and excellent agriculturists... each turn revealed another beautiful flower garden.. another sweetly lowing bovine... another community of industry and artistry. The year-long dry spell and environmental legal challenges did not affect a tourist's preoccupation with the TGV, rural maps,  signposts and beautiful vistas.

A lone windmill grinds wheat.. used to make crepes in the restaurant next door.

Whether walls are built to keep things in or to keep things out, a palisade can be breeched... a curtain can be pulled aside, a window can be raised, a door can be opened, a room can be entered. All it takes is the opportunity... and courage to go Beyond the Palisade.

Week 8: Night Blooms

     Many times imagery is the impetus for words, and that is the case for this week's book-of-the-week, Night Blooms. A dark brown, navy blue, and shadowy-white sheet of pastepaper is the illustration for this little book set to poetry.

The cover: pastepaper and letterpress title plate

Vintage letterpress ornaments frame the title page and each text page

The moon shines round and whole

hanging in the overturned teacup of the sky

Luna whispers, "Pray to me...

and I will grant your wishes,"

then crawls inside the psyche

with her sly white smile.

The stars shine down

singing their twinkling song.

"We see you! We see you!"

And the clouds moving

always on the move, silently

gliding across the ink black sky.

A garden lies below

dark and spooky with the slithering

of the night-crawlers and little animals

out of their tunnels beneath the ground.

Where the day's growth is dormant

with the setting sun

and the plants are all asleep.

But in One corner,
on One night of the year,
the moon and the stars and the clouds
are rivaled by the blooms
of the Night-Blooming Cereus
Princess of the night.

She reigns for just a moment

as her minions surround her rapt

and awestruck by her beauteous

creamy white blooms.

Beautiful for themselves?

or for the flicker of their lifespan.

Youth, come so quick, bloom, wilt

and fall in the night in a matter of seconds.

Change, a raven swooping across the sky

And looking back now, at this

quicksilver life... isn't it All

just like the Night-blooming Cereus?

   And ending with the colophon... an inscription giving a brief description of the work including its author, the name of the printer or publisher, and the date and place of publication. The colophon dates back to the 15th century, and is often placed at the end of a book. Letterpress fonts, type of paper, inks and even the pressman's mood on the day of printing can be included in the colophon... really, anything deemed significant to the printing of the book. In this case, "Variable edition 1 of 8" refers to the fact that eight copies of the text were printed on the letterpress and that each book has a unique sheet of paste paper for the illustration.

Like each life, each volume of Night Blooms is one-of-a-kind.

Week 7: Priority Mail

This week's book-of-the-week, Priority Mail, is made with the results of two of my favorite pastimes: (making) pastepaper and (collecting) postage stamps.

A cover paper of pastepainted Tyvek® postal envelope

Every stamp has a story... though I'm just the collector of the stamps, not the stories. This stamp, from Republic of China (Taiwan), was on a package I received from my brother... who has lived in Taiwan with his family for the past 20+ years... now there's a story!

Republic of China, Taiwan

   Postage stamps are tiny works of art that have a unique style and character depending on the location and era of their creation. Postage stamp themes now number in the hundreds (or thousands?) but years ago, there were just a few.. in the '60's we had the 4¢ Lincoln stamp and the 5¢ Queen Elizabeth stamp. I look forward to the new pallet of stamps that are created for the USPS each new year! I stand in line at the local Post Office and buy packs of stamps in all sorts of colors and themes... Chinese New Year is one of my favorites!

A Love stamp from Penland... a place I love.

A collection of US States' stamps... such a big country!

a touch of art

  Pastepaper, like stamps, is a form of art that is both unassuming and commonplace. Pastepaper dates back to the Middle Ages. Medieval manuscripts used paste-paints for illuminated script and edge decoration, as well as the inside cover end-sheets. A mixture of wheat or rice paste was mixed with the colored pigment, giving it body and a means of adhesion. In modern times, paste-paints have been used by many book artists to make a heavyweight and durable paper for covering books and use for internal pages. Because of a relaxation of purpose, the imagery can be either playful or dark, and emotions and imagination are quickly worked into the piece as patterns and imagery. Stamps, brush strokes, and fingerpainting in layers of colors make a surprising and delightful backdrop for books. 

   Priority Mail is a sample book of paste papers, marbled papers and postage stamps. They are bound into this little activity book of your own narrative... 

Week 6: The Year of the Snake

   Time is one of those things, that.. though real.. can't be touched nor held.. can't be begun nor stopped.. is infinite and yet inconsequential... and is always in sequence. But not always in the same sequence. Calendars prove that. The years are numbered in A.D. and B.C. and B. C. E. .. there are solar calendars, lunar calendars, fiscal calendars, court calendars...the Gregorian Calendar, the Hindu Calendar, the Islamic Calendar, and the Chinese Calendar... This week's book of the week, based on the Chinese Lunisolar Calendar, is titled The Year of the Snake. 

A brass button and silk ribbon over japanese print paper

When stretched out, the accordion folds resemble the body of a long black snake... the astrological symbol of this Chinese New Year...which starts today, February 10, 2013.

Black snake slithering across the porch...

Poised and ready to strike!

Inside the little book... hand-lettered in gold ink.. are the attributes and prescriptions for the Year of the Snake. Wisdom and wealth, focus and discipline, attention to detail, intuition and mystery all are traits of a person born in the year of the snake...1905, 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013.

Add responsibility and make headway

Focus and move forward

   And the prophesies of the New Year...

Change.... Isn't it always that?

 
Happy New Year of the Snake!

Week 5: Steps to a Perfect Birthday

    Two things... birth and death. Death is a powerful and fearful part of life and lends itself to serious contemplation about the meaning of life. There have been several books created on this blog which refer to death and the transformation of one life to the hereafter... Yet, an equally powerful life event is the birth of a being. Always awe-inspiring to me, the celebration of a birth day is one yearly event which I love to practice! Self help and DIY books are always popular, so that's why this week's book-of-the-week is a do-it-yourself book titled Steps to a Perfect Birthday. 

Hand-marbled bookcloth and cover paper

Printed on the toy letterpress

Birthdays are (should be) a festive time... with special attire, especially
Step 1: Funny Hats!

Are birthday hats always funny looking?

Hand-made hats keep everyone busy too!

Step 2: Candles... Blowing out candles and making wishes is always a high point of a  birthday!

   You can never tell anyone what you wished, or it won't come true. Why is that? ..and what do 3-year-olds wish for? What do 80-year-olds wish for? Ever notice that the whole room helps with the blowing? Are they making wishes too?

Three candles, whew!

Step 3: Friends and Family... Nothing makes a birthday party wonderful like being with folks who love you and think you are just the best!

They surround you with love and a sense of special-ness... They tell stories about you and laugh at your jokes. Ha Ha.

Kids love anybody's birthday!

Step 4: Cake. You've got to have cake for a birthday... Usually it's decorated with stuff you like... roses or super heros or gummy worms.

Oh Yea! ...Chocolate Chip Layer Cake, German Chocolate Cake, Coconut Cake, Strawberry Shortcake, Lemon Cream Cake, Carrot Cake, Devils Food Cake, Bundt Cake, Barbie Cake and Bunny Cake! What's your favorite birthday cake?

A gumdrop cake with candy hearts, yum!

Step 5: Surprises! The anticipation of some yet-to-be surprise party always gives me a shy smile the days before my birthday... 

A little pocket with a watercolor painting

...and then the day comes and there are the cards from far away friends and those prettily wrapped presents...Yeah!  The memory of years of wrapping-paper and frilly ribbon-bows is probably why I love making books with so many pastepaper pages... all just presents in disguise.

When it's your day, I hope your birthday is PERFECT!