Spring Clean-up and New Creations
Spring is around the corner, regardless of the snow that fell last evening, leaving a white blanket on the ground. It is that space between the seasons where it is not winter and not yet spring. We all wait with baited breath and every little whiff of spring makes our spirits rise and revs our internal engines. And so it is time to clean-up the work space and create something new.
CLEAN-UP PIECES
While creating, all the little left-over pieces end up in a pile on the table. They get shuffled back and forth while I am creating something new or trying out a new technique. Finally, the pile became unmanageable and I attacked it with a frenzy, twisting, cutting, folding and gluing. Here are some of those clean-up pieces:
A little abstract drawing
Paste paper over graphic board for the cover
RECYCLED SUMINAGASHI:
I found some new paper and wanted to try it out with suminagashi marbling. I think the paper had some sizing in it, because the suminagashi ink just ran off the page. I didn't want to throw away my effort, so I cut up the pages and created a little booklet with them.
TYGER TYGER by William Blake
I remember learning this poem in a poetry class, while in University. When I painted the paper it came to mind again.
This is the paste paper envelope for the accordion book
The text is handwritten. I played with the center section of the book and wrote the text from bottom to top on the left-hand and right-hand sides.
The last page
SUNBURST I AND II
I had some larger pieces of paper left over from another project and I used stencils and water colours to create these two accordion books. I stencilled both sides of the paper. This is the smaller one of the two.
Cover for Sunburst I with satin ribbon for closure
This is the larger of the two. I used the same paper for the cover and a satin ribbon for the closure. I stencilled both sides of this accordion book too.
THE CIRCLE GAME
The Circle Game is a song written by Joni Mitchell, a Canadian singer and songwriter. I like her style of storytelling in her songs. This is a maquette I made, which will be re-worked into a book with water colour paper. I used sketch paper and tyvek for this maquette.
NEW WORK
ROLL THE DICE by Charles Bukowski
I used the flip-open style to create this interesting book. I chose this poem by Charles Bukowski to go with it, because the poem lends itself to be read out-of-order and still make sense. The book, when being opened, has a sound that could be interpreted as dice being rolled across a surface.
NEW PROJECT: ARTEFACT/ARTIFACT
Dictionary definitions:
Art:
- skill acquired through experience, study or observation;
- a branch of learning;
- an occupation requiring knowledge or skill;
- the conscious use of skill and creative imagination especially in the production of aesthetic objects.
Artefact/artifact:
- usually simple objects (tool or ornament) showing human workmanship or modification as distinguished from a natural object (an object remaining from a particular period)
- Something or someone arising from or association with an earlier time, especially when regarded as no longer appropriate, relevant or important
Fact:
- something that has actual existence
- a piece of information presented as having objective reality
Technology is one of the fastest growing products in our modern day markets. As it develops and changes, there are remnants of each phase of this development, left behind as we try to keep up. I have started a project called ARTE-FACT to incorporate them into artist books.
STORED DATA - 1
I had a wonderful computer that provided me with many years of use. When it pumped out its last few lines of binary code and gently signed off for the last time, I placed it on a shelf, refusing to part with it. Over the years I dusted it off, shifted it from place to place and kept telling myself I needed to do 'something' with it. At my last cleaning I pulled it off the shelf and with screwdriver in hand I salvaged what pieces I could from this old friend. I was also left with a bunch of discs with data that I no longer had use for and this project was born.
Stored Data case with keys from the computer keyboard.
CALL ME - 2
I recycled a tower box that I had made quite a while ago, but had never attached the shelves. I used book cloth and decorated papers to decorate the box. Each panel is decorated differently.
The top lid of the box is decorated with marbled paper and paste paper pieces
These are the first two pieces of this project. There are a couple more to be made.
SUMMER BREEZE
This is a little accordion book made with tyvek, pieces of photographs and marbled papers. The cover is Japanese chiogami.
PHOENIX RISING
I have always enjoyed the legend of the Phoenix. In researching it I discovered it has history in many cultures. This is my version of the legend.
I embroidered the cover piece many years ago and incorporated it into a cloth shopping bag. When the bag wore out I retrieved the embroidered piece. This is the perfect project for it now. Each page, other than the title page, is acrylic with the art pieces stitched to them.
I stitched the embroidered piece to a piece of clear acrylic, which was then stitched to a larger piece of acrylic.
I did cut-paper work on the title page.
I did pochoir on the first page and used imitation gold leaf for the sun. The text is handwritten with archival ink.
This page includes water colour and imitation gold leaf with archival ink for the text and lines.
This page is hand-drawn and coloured with water colours.
This page is hand-drawn and coloured with water colours. There are pieces of decorative papers and feathers as part of this picture.
This page is hand-drawn, coloured with water colours and imitation gold leaf.
This page is hand-drawn with paper-cut work.
brocade on the inside back cover
brocade on the outside back cover
the protective cover
That's all for now. Enjoy the spring wherever your may be.
Mary
(all work on this site is copyright - if you want to use something from this site, contact me)
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