Studio Sunday/A book...

I take just as much pleasure from casual creations propped about the studio and house as framed pieces and more polished work. I fell in love with this light green paper at Artist and Craftsman Supply in Saugus, MA (there are shops around the country—good prices and interesting selection, more things available in the store than online) and it made a perfect home for the Arabian proverb. I did the lettering and decoration with my pentel brush pens from John Neal. This is the shelf above the scanner and printers (color inkjet and black and white laser). The basket is where bills go—how nice to hide it behind a happy thought. In front are film cards and an ink cartridge. To the left—some photos to be be filed and some index cards where I will write favorite quotes. I store most information in the computer but I'm not ready to give up the pleasure of leafing through cards of quotations. On the right an electric pencil sharpener. And above paper storage and books.

Pecha Kucha 8 Report

I participated in last night's Pecha Kucha Night in Portsmouth, NH. It was great fun. I met interesting people and got to see some great presentations. When we arrived, we looked at the printed sheet listing the speakers for the evening. I was number 5, halfway through, and thought, "what a comfortable place to be." Imagine my surprise when they said they were getting ready to start and my name was on the screen. They like to mix it up and I was the first. But I took a deep breath, went to the front of the room, and got started. You introduce yourself, you say, "I'm ready," and it begins. As I mentioned in the last post, you show 20 images and have 20 seconds to talk about each. The images are sent ahead and they are timed. I had planned and practiced (tips to come in a later post) and I think it went well. One of the themes was spring and I showed Circles for the Seasons for spring. The colors were way off but people still seemed to appreciate the work. The good thing about going first was I could really focus on the other presentations. Here is what we saw and heard:

Pam Ikegami, UNH Professor of Japanese Language and Culture, did a presentation on connections between New Hampshire and Japan, interviewing people with the dual connection and asking them what they learned from the two cultures.

Stephanie Cornell, one of the organizers who has just returned to New England after four years of living in Asia, did a presentation Why I Love Japan with great photographs and insight into the Japanese people and the visual culture. She blogs about her experiences at littlemisstwig.com.

Documentary photographer Audrey Gottlieb showed a wonderful collection of photographs of Japan.

Poet Michael Chmielecki spoke about and read his moving poem about the tsunami.

Designer and illustrator Matt Talbot shared his love of robots. You can see his work at mattrobot.com.

Alfonso Fabrega, Art Director and Senior Visual Designer at PixelMEDIA chose high fiving as his topic and spoke about the trends in our culture towards expressions of approval with like in facebook as an example. He suggests that they do not foster the critical dialogue needed for improvement in our work. The talk was much lighter than this description sounds.

Illustrator Jim Roldan spoke about the creative reawakening that led him back to his childhood love of comics.

Lars Trodson shared his journey from journalist to public relations to novelist. His mystery, Eagles Fly Alone, will be publish in September.

Pecha Kucha 8 in Portsmouth was just one of many similar events taking place in cities around the world yesterday. In addition to an evening of fun and sharing, money was raised to send to Architecture for Humanity's Japan fund.

Pecha Kucha Portsmouth/Circles for the Seasons

I am preparing to participate in Pecha Kucha Night in Portsmouth, NH tomorrow. It's called Sakura: A Night of Creative Awakening and donations will be collected to support the efforts of Architecture for Humanity in Sendai, Japan. The themes include rebirth, reawakening, and Japanese culture. I will be showing slides from Circles for the Seasons that celebrate spring.

I have been reading about these events for a few years and wanted to participate. I saw a poster about this event last week in Portsmouth. And now I am signed up and getting ready. It will be a challenge. Here's how it works: Each presenter shows twenty slides and has twenty seconds to talk about each. Here's the tricky part—the slides are automatically advanced so twenty seconds means twenty seconds. I have my images selected and sent and am at work on the talking part.

Check back Friday for a report. I'm looking forward to seeing and hearing all the presentations.

View Circles for the Seasons on flickr.

Happy Birthday Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan turns seventy today. The photo was taken in Woodstock, NY at a place where Dylan stayed.

Here are two picture books—written for kids but great for adults as well. When Bob Met Woody is brand new by Gary Golio who also wrote an excellent picture book about Jimi Hendrix. Forever Young is the lyrics to the song. Great illustrations with lots of little biographical details tucked in.

Studio Sunday/On the Shelf 1

Beads, basket, and a good luck pig

Invitation to World Literature

Thanks to Susan Stephenson of Australia who has a great blog about children's learning, literacy, and literature called The Book Chook for this link. Invitation to World Literature is a production of WGBH Educational Foundation with Seftel Productions for Annenberg Media, sharing not just information, but wisdom and knowledge—stories from ancient times to today.

The thirteen books include The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Popol Vuh, The Bhagavad Gita, The Odyssey, The Thousand and One Nights, and the more contemporary Things Fall Apart and One Hundred Years of Solitude.

For each book, there are three categories:

WATCH (a video introducing each book with historical context and thoughts from scholars, writers, artists, and teachers)

READ (Getting Started, Read the Text, Expert's Views, Translations and Editions, and a Glossary with pronunciations to listen to)

EXPLORE (Timeline & Map, Slideshow, Connections, Key Points)

There are hours and hours of learning and adventure to be found at the Invitation to World Literature.

The Measure of My Strength

I've finally had a chance to spend time with a recently acquired book, The Measure of My Strength: Lizinga Lemandla Ami by Sunni Mercer. Sunni was my student when I taught calligraphy at Rivier College in the 1980s. Shortly after she moved to Oklahoma. Spirit Book #13: Hope Offering is made from pieces of a Washington hawthorn she sent me from there.

I haven't seen Sunni since her 1995 exhibit at OK Harris in New York but facebook has reconnected us. Her latest project, The Measure of My Strength, tells the story of women and children in Swaziland, the country with the highest HIV/AIDS rate in the world. Here is how it is described on the book's website:

The women of Swaziland have much to teach us. They face seemingly insurmountable difficulties daily as they care for the children left abandoned by victims of the AIDS epidemic, yet their words and images testify to perseverance, hope, and joy.

This book through contemplative sculpture, inspiring words and compelling photographs relates stories about the power of hope and the strength of endurance in the face of profound and devastating hardship.


And here is Sunni's message from the website:

I believe contemporary art developed as art in context can function as a powerful storyteller. As such, may what you see here challenge and encourage you to participate; become an agent of change, so that together we might save a generation.

Visit the The Measure of My Strength for information about the exhibition (it travels) and the book.

Learn more about Sunni Mercer's work.

Learn more about the photographers Bridget and Eric Pipkin.

spring rain

A Free ebook at lulu.com

Over the years I have a published a series of e-books on bookmaking. After many experiments, I have decided that lulu.com is the best home for them.

I chose lulu as the host for two reasons. One: you can easily preview the books before purchase. Two and best of all: you have an account. Any e-book you purchase will always remain in your account--no more worrying about losing the file on your computer.

Visit lulu and get a free copy of the illustrated Recycled Materials for Making Books. While you're there, check out the selection of e-books priced from $2.95 to $19.95.

And a note for schools and libraries: Purchase orders are welcome. The books can be viewed on lulu and ordered directly from me with this order form.

Milton Glaser/To Inform and Delight

I recently watched (twice) the documentary, To Inform and Delight, about the designer Milton Glaser. What an amazing man! He is funny, wise, and eloquent. His work is wide-ranging (the Dylan record cover, I (heart) NY, the Rubin Museum of Art in NY—one of my favorite museums, posters, books, magazines, The Underground Gourmet, New York magazine, Brooklyn Brewery), deep, and innovative. After seeing the film, I wanted to know and hear more. His website, miltonglaser.com, is a treasure trove of information and inspiration. He values teaching and the website is a course in itself. While most of the website is visual, make sure you visit the Milton page where there are essays and interviews, biographical information, and a short film. It is hard to choose any one passage to share, but I love his answer to the question "What is your view of the poster and its relation to ‘high art?’" in Commercial Art.

When does ‘high art’ meet ‘low art?’ At this encounter is everything above the line ‘art’ and everything below ‘non-art’? What shall we call the material below the line craft, applied art, commercial art, decoration? Who invented this question? Who is served by the distinction? Does it matter? The search for ‘high art’ is a theological issue, like the search for the true cross. The culture priests attempt to protect the world from false religion or faith, a never-ending task. I have a modest proposal; why don’t we discard the word ‘art’ and replace it with the word ‘work?’ Those objects made with care and extraordinary talent we can call ‘great work’, those deserving special attention, but not breathtaking, we call ‘good work’. Honest, appropriately made objects without special distinction we name ‘work’ alone. And what remains deserves the title ‘bad work’. One simple fact encourages me in this proposal; we value a good rug, a beautiful book, or a good poster over any bad painting.

I am... Book

Last month, I gave a series of workshops at the Cutler School in Hamilton, MA. At their request, I designed the projects around their theme for the year: Be responsible/Be respectful/Be your best.

I made this book with the second graders. I used the Who Am I? Book form in which four flaps open to reveal a center image. For my sample the front of the flaps said:

Front of flap:
1. I am responsible when I
On other side of lifted flap:
prepare for my classes.

2. I am respectful when I
listen to others.

3. I am my best when I
help others.

4. I am
Susan

I used the back panel of a grocery bag for the pages and a front or back panel of a cereal box for the cover which was then covered with papers from the collage box. The blue strip in the middle with the yellow and white leaves came from the chopstick sleeve at a Thai restaurant. Velcro was used for the closure. If the order in which the pages are read matters to you, you should number the pages. Also noticed how I fixed an error on Susan. For some reason, I first wrote it with a small s. I wrote an upper case S on a small piece of grocery bag and glued it over the small S--an easy way to fix a mistake.

Written Directions

In Spanish

See all the pages on flickr

Studio Sunday/the computer screen

I've decided to try to post a photo of something in the studio every Sunday. I had thought about some interesting object, tool, or storage space, but today what commands my interest is the computer. It's a cold and wet and rainy afternoon and I am playing with images of flowers in Photoshop. The flowers that I looked at and photographed yesterday have become worlds unto themselves.

Here is the final image (at least for now) for the lilac.

Newburyport Literary Festival Report 2011

How amazing is this—our little city of 17,000 people just had its sixth annual Newburyport Literary Festival. The choice of this year's honoree, Newburyport native and abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, was occasioned by the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War. This was the first year that I was not personally involved in any activity (no exhibits, no workshops, no planning meetings). I attended the opening and closing ceremonies, Dinner with the Authors, and four sessions during the day.

Compared to prior years and the pressure of installing exhibits (walls covered with student work at the Firehouse, hanging poetry strips from trees), I would describe it as a relaxing time except that my mind was so stimulated, relaxing is probably not the appropriate word. It reminds me that the world we live in is so rich with information that sometimes we just have to close our eyes and draw a deep breath.

I felt I was being ricocheted through time. Just before going I had finished reading The Party's Over by John Gruen about the New York art scene (not just visual art but music, theater, and writing) in the fifties and was getting ready to start on the new biography of the artist Lee Krasner. Opening night was a moving tribute to William Lloyd Garrison. Ellen Fitzpatrick who I feel I know from the The News Hour on PBS moderated a discussion between Lois Brown of Mt. Holyoke and Kate Clifford-Larson of Simmons College. From their years of research into Garrison and his time, they painted a moving portrait of a courageous, resolute, and warm man. Suddenly I had left New York in the fifties and was back in the nineteenth century with a list of books to read if I wanted to visit there for longer.

On Saturday, the main day of the festival, I started the morning with a talk by John Hanson Mitchell who I know from his work as editor of the Mass Audubon's newsletter The Sanctuary and his book, Ceremonial Time. As he spoke about his most recent book, The Paradise of All These Parts: A Natural History of Boston, we journeyed from early geologic time to the Big Dig. I then went to a lively, funny, and inspiring talk and reading by Aine Greaney, author of Dance Lessons (present day and the 1950s in Ireland and the US). She spoke about the book, her writing process, and what it's like to be "lunatic editor" who obsesses over every particular of language but is guided mostly by the flow and music of the written word. Dance Lessons is in my book queue after I finish with Lee Krasner. Onto Rodman Philbrick, author of the YA novel Freak the Mighty, who spoke with self-deprecating humor and wit about his development as a writer from his teenage efforts and ambitions (He sent out short stories at an early age and when they weren't accepted, decided that what would really impress them was a novel) to his life as a prolific writer of mysteries and thrillers and books for young adults. He writes four books a year and still manages to spend a lot of afternoons fishing.

In the afternoon, I went to see Howard Frank Mosher whose topic was Transforming History Into Fiction: The Story of a Born Liar—A Slide Show Talk & Reading of Walking to Gatlinburg. I had never heard of the author but as I have been giving illustrated talks, I decided that seeing how someone else did it would be of interest. It was not what I expected but funny and an absolute delight. Mr. Mosher sported a red V-neck sweater and stood by an old slide projector on the stage of the Firehouse. The picture he projected was not that large, the photographs were not that easy to see (especially from my angle where he was often between the projector and the screen), but he was completely engaging as he started with a slide of the old vehicle that had taken him around the country on book tours and research trips—the "Loser Cruiser." What a storyteller!

The Festival closed with a further celebration of the causes of William Lloyd Garrison and included a polyphonic reading of poetry by members of the Pow Wow River Poets and a melopoeia (music and poetry and song) by poets Rhina Espaillat and Alfred Nicol, guitarist John Tavano, and soprano Ann Tucker and concluded with a reading of the Gettysburg Address by Newburyport elder statesman and man with an incredible voice—Josiah Welch.

And last of all, an invitation to next year's events which will honor poetry and music, but as always present a broad range of the literary arts.

Seeing the Garden Through the Seasons

Here is something new—a talk for garden clubs. Over the past few years, I have had opportunities to give talks instead of workshops, first An Artist's Journey for the Exeter Center for Creative Arts and some college art classes and second, The Handmade Book from Ancient Egypt to Your Library for the South Carolina Association of School Librarians, and I loved it. Creating the talks was extremely enjoyable and both were well-received. I've been spending a lot of time in the garden and out and about with my camera and taking lots of photographs of blooms and blossoms. Celebrations of the seasons have always been important to me and I'm making them more and more a part of my work.

To See a World in a Grain of Sand,
And a Heaven in a Wild Flower
William Blake

Sometimes we can feel the natural world most deeply when we look most closely. With rich imagery and an artist’s eye, Susan leads you on a journey through the turning of the year. Each season is celebrated with its quintessential plants. There will be a little bit of botany, a little bit of poetry, and lots of inspiration to look with more intention at the world around you.


If you're interested in a talk (I am based in Newburyport, MA), here is more information:

Flyer

Sampler

Happy Birthday Roger Hargreaves

Today is Roger Hargreaves' birthday. He's the author of the Little Miss and Mister books which were loved in this house. I remember the thrilling moment when I found a whole stack of them at the library book sale. Google has a rotating series of images today celebrating the author and the books. What fun!

May Day at Home and in the Garden

Our Maypole.

Harriet the fox by Ben Kirk welcoming in the May

The wreath gets decked out for May—buds from pruning the Cornus kousa and artificial flowers

The wonderfully fragrant Viburnum carlesii. I love watching the flowers slowly open.

Flowering quince on the back deck.

Grape hyacinth among the books

Myrtle in a glass basket on the bathroom shelf

In the dining room. I love this vase my daughter bought at Oldies Marketplace.

Book Arts Hotspots Worldwide

Peter Verheyen of Syracuse University is a hero in the book arts world. He does so much to keep it connected across the globe. First and foremost is the Book Arts List which he started in 1994 and tirelessly keeps going. If you are interested in book arts, it is well worth joining. The members are incredibly knowledgeable and always willing to share. There are occasional philosophical discussions, frequent postings of book arts exhibitions and classes (with equally frequent pleas to posters to put the location in the subject line), and lots of technical information. His site, The Book Arts Web, has links to Professional Organizations, Book Arts Education, Bookbinders and Book Artists, Tutorials & Reference, Suppliers, and much, much more. As if that isn't enough, he also is the publisher and editor of the now annual online magazine, The Bonefolder: e-journal for the book binder and book artist. And now his most recent aid for connectivity—Book Arts Hotspots Worldwide through google maps. Another wonderful resource. Thank you Peter!

Bookmaking in Cuba

Deb Dannelly has sent these wonderful photos of children's bookmaking in Cuba. Thanks so much Deb. I know many others will be as inspired as I am. Beautiful!

I also wanted to send you photos of some of the children’s nature/flower books that were completed about three weeks ago in Havana in one of the workshops I conducted there. It was a big class of 18,mixed ages, probably from about 5yrs to 16yrs!!! With this class I tried to include as many as I could in the neighbourhood. The covers were made from donated centre cuts from art matboards from a framer which I brought with me to Cuba, the paper for the accordion was a nice heavier weight paper. I know you are a huge promoter of recycled materials but in the case of Cuba, I like to bring them beautiful papers that they may have never seen before...it is a real treat for them. The images were made from their choices of beautiful collage papers, stamps and ink pads, and various sizes of coloured markers, or as you will see, all three!! They loved the workshop and there was paper, glue sticks, and ink pads flying...it looked like a cyclone had swept through....

I have sent one photo of the workshop in action and then individual shots of open books. Hope you enjoy them. I have told the children that I was sending you some photos and they were thrilled to think that someone else they didn’t even know,wanted to see them.

Oatcakes

I make a batch of oatcakes every year for May Day. They're bland but delicious. I serve them with butter (or substitute), jam, and stewed rhubarb which is my preferred complement. The circular shape of the oatcakes represents the sun. It is cut into quarters for the four quarter days that mark the beginnings of the seasons in the Celtic calendar, with May Day or Beltane being the first day of summer. Tucked into the oatcake are sprigs of Sweet Woodruff, a traditional May herb and the key flavoring ingredient in May Wine.

Here's the recipe so you can enjoy your own:

3 cups oatmeal
½ cup flour (wheat or other)
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 tbs. oil
½ cup hot water plus more if needed


Coarsely grind oatmeal in blender or food processor or place in a ziploc bag and roll with a rolling pin until it is a coarse meal. If using food processor, you can make the dough by adding the flour and baking soda, mixing, and then adding the oil and hot water. If not, mix ground oatmeal, flour and baking soda in a bowl. Make a well in the center and pour in oil and 1/2 cup of water. Stir. Add more water if needed to make a stiff dough.

Either
Turn the dough onto a surface covered with ground oatmeal or flour. Knead a few times and roll into balls. Flatten each ball with the palm of your hand and roll out to make a circle. Cut circle in quarters.

Or
I find it is makes less mess if you take the dough out of the bowl in small bits and knead each one a few times, then form into a ball and continue with the directions.

Bake in a 350° oven for 20-30 minutes or until dry. I take a look after 15 minutes.

PDF of Oatcakes Recipe

A New Roundel

A new addition to what I am calling Roundels. While they may be seen to have a certain mandala-like quality, I think I take more inspiration from the rose windows of medieval cathedrals. This one started with a photograph of creeping phlox. Every day there is something new and wonderful to photograph. Spring is here!

The Green Man

We celebrated May Day on Sunday both in Cambridge and at home. Usually there is a gap between the two and the day is more like a week. There will be a few May day related posts this week to extend the celebration.

First is the green man, Jack in the Green, and the words to one of my favorites of the songs we sing in Cambridge.

Now winter is over, I’m happy to say,
And we’re all met again in our ribbons so gay.
And we’re all met again on the first day of Spring
To go about dancing with Jack in the Green.


Now Jack in the Green is a very strange man,
Tho’ he dies every Autumn, he is born every Spring.
And each year on our birthday, we will dance
through the street,
And in return Jack he will ripen our wheat.


With his mantle he’ll cover the trees that are bare.
Our gardens he’ll trim with his jacket so fair.
And our fields he will sow with the hair of his head.
And our grain it will ripen ‘til Old Jack is dead!


Now the sun is half- up and betokens the hour
That the children arrive with their garlands of flowers.
So now let the music and the dancing begin,
And touch the good heart of young Jack in the Green!


I drew this green man several years ago. I put a light green tint on a photograph of tree bark and placed the drawing on top.

Here is a Green Man book my daughter made when she was small.

Happy May Day!

It's the first of May, the first day of summer on the Celtic calendar, and the time when it really feels like spring in New England.

Wishing you renewal and growth in this time of unfurling leaves and opening blossoms.