Bookish Mary

August 01, 2023

We are on the downside of summer, soon the leaves will be painting the days with their changing colours. The air will gently move into a cooler zone and the days will get shorter and the nights longer. However, bookmaking is a constant adventure in experimenting, playing and creating for me, regardless of the season.

SKINNY DIPPING

Skinning Dipping is a tunnel book I created from left over pieces from other projects.

WORKS ON PAPER

I saw a beautiful mosaic floor in a movie I was watching and this inspired me to play with some patterns on paper. I believe a new book will be in the making dedicated to patterns. I used water colours and ink for each piece.

TO DREAM

A while ago I created a book Dream Rooms. The follow-up to that book was a book called To Dream. These are the doorways one enters from the awake world to the dream world. I have donated this book to Maya Lopez Muro's archive at studio d'arte II, in Italy.

The cover has a photo of a full moon among the clouds.

The fly leaf is a Japanese paper with strands of string that represent strands of dreams.

The first door, closed.

The door open.

The image behind the door. The text is one definition of dream and five words: cultivate, clarity, create, colour and curiosity.

The second door. The patterned background is done with water colour and an iridescent ink over top, creating sparkling diamond shapes.

The open door.

The image behind the door with another definition of dream. The photo, a reflection, represents the definition.

The third door with cut paper work.

The definition of dream and a photograph to represent it. The image is a reflection in a large metal dome. The strip of blue paper is backing the cut paper work.

The fourth door. The designs are painted with gold ink.

The open doors with a photo and definition behind it.

The fifth door.

The map behind the fifth door with another definition of dream.

POSTAGE PORTALS TO NEW ADVENTURES

Postage Portals To New Adventures was created in response to a call by the Mostra international di Libri d'artista (International Artist Book Exhibition) in Italy. The theme was Stupor Mundi (world surprise). The exhibit takes place at the Castello Svevo in Barletta, from September 27th to October 8, 2023. It will then travel to Puglia, Marches, and Tuscany. This book is part of the exhibit. I did a combination of drawings and postage stamps for this book. I have collected stamps from a young age and still do today, on a very small scale.

A postage stamp is a little work of art that speaks to a country's history. It is a time traveler that introduces us to its historical leadership, culture, nature, achievements, traditions and peoples. It is a moment in time that opens a portal that piques our curiosity to wonder and learn more about that country. It engages us, and if inspired, we may take an imaginary journey, to that country, in our mind.

Of course, the practical function of a postage stamp is that of messenger, moving letters and parcels from one location in a city or somewhere in the world to another location in a city or somewhere in the world. It may unite people, or set people apart, bring joy or sadness. It is timeless and has a life beyond postage in the collector's arena.

This is the complete book. It has twenty full pages and twenty partial pages.

This is a soft covered book. I decorated the cover with four artist's stamps. I don't remember how I came to have them, however, they were a perfect fit for this book.

I donated this book to Lucia Spagnuolo's artist book archive in Italy.

MAIL ART

Over the years, I have participated in calls for mail art exhibitions. I find it interesting to create a small piece of art on a 4 x 6 inch/10 x 15 cm card. Recently, I found a site online that has calls: open and permanent, for mail art, to which I responded.

King

Queen

The call was: Queen or King?, Milano, Italy. I put both on a card.

The call: Draw Me A Skull, in celebration of Day of the Dead. Portugal. I only knew this celebration from Mexico. It appears it is celebrated elsewhere, as well.

The call: Homage to Henri Rousseau, Italy.

This is a permanent call: Far Far Away: Tristan Da Cunha, a small island in the South Atlantic Ocean.

The call: Inspired by Sonja Ahlers' work: Richmond Art Gallery in British Columbia.

The call: 'Nature and Me', goes to Belgium.

CURIOUS IMAGININGS

After creating the mail art pieces, I was inspired, so I continued to create, using the same format. They quickly turned into an artist book called Curious Imaginings.

This is a long stitch binding with leather and horn. The leather is so soft on both sides, I decided to leave it unlined. The weight of the horn ornament keeps the book closed. When opened, the imprint of the collaged pieces have been transferred to the suede side of the leather, like a ghost print. There are 20 pieces in this book. I stitched each individual page into the cover and left the strands of waxed thread untrimmed. The paper and collaged images were coloured with water colours.