GARDEN BOOK

CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO SEE AN ENLARGEMENT

The Chinese proverb ..."A BOOK IS LIKE A GARDEN YOU CARRY IN YOUR POCKET"... seemed like the perfect spring board for launching myself into my first book for a book show here in Port Townsend. When I was asked by Jean-Marie Tarascio to be part of the COMING UNBOUND-BOOK AS SCULPTURE show at Northwind Gallery, I saw it as an opportunity... and as a brightly shining carrot dangled in front of me... to follow up with some ideas I have had for a long time. I have always thought that etched metals could be a perfect marriage with book arts.....the ability to etch front and back with pattern or words or imagery....rigid and permanent covers....a welcome heft when picked up....the ability to cut (with a jeweler's saw) beyond the natural border of the book...getting to use miniature piano hinges (they are so perfectly proportioned and beautiful and can be cut to any length)... and that glow of metal and patina that cannot be duplicated with paper or hardboard. The GARDEN BOOK was my first attempt for this show. There was a bit of a learning curve and everything did seem to take much longer than it should have but I am happy with the result. The GARDEN BOOK MEASURES 7.5" x 6" and is photo etched brass....giving it a rich look.

I realized while making books for this show that content is as important to me as the etched covers. It wasn't going to be ok with me to just make a blank journal style book. A year or two ago I bought a plug-in program called Topaz Lab to go along with photoshop elements. With this program I can take any of my own photos and send them through multiple filters to get a look that is just different enough to stand out from a regular photo. That difference might be about the texture....the detail....or the color....or all three. The filters just 'art' things up a bit. The images in the GARDEN BOOK are all my own....mostly shot in my yard over the last several years. Here are a few images from the book...all are ink jet printed on Japanese Gampi paper and are attached to Arches Cover paper with vellum pages inserted between.


The other 10 artists participating in this book show are: Renee Bush, Mary-Ellen Campbell, Linda Jarvis, Gloria Lamson, Counsel Langley, Carolyn Law, Jean-Marie Tarascio, Rebecca Welti, Joan Wenske, Helga Winter.