Book Arts Tuesday-Spirit Books on Display

Today's post is short and sweet—a photo of the installation at the Governor's Academy in Byfield, MA that was completed today. I was stunned by the size of the title and my name but am getting used to it. The exhibit opens with a reception this Friday, April 3 from 6-7:30 and will be up through May 1.

Studio Sunday-Woolf Quote

This morning I made a card for Ted, the owner of Loretta, our favorite restaurant in Newburyport which celebrates its 5th anniversary tomorrow. Lettering done with Speedball c-4 and Higgins Eternal Ink, then scanned into the computer in photoshop. No adjustments to letters and spacing this time—just a slight reduction of the size of the image and an addition of Virginia Woolf in type.

Book Arts Tuesday-Book-Play Workshop

I had a wonderful time at the Book-Play workshop last week at the Amherst Town Library in Amherst, NH. It was a lively and creative group. Play is not just for children. It's amazing what can be accomplished in an hour and a half with recycled paper. All the books are hot dog booklets.

One enterprising gentleman amazed us all. He went to the library computer, downloaded photos from his website, arranged them in powerpoint, and printed the page. The photos weren't all arranged in the proper direction but I'm sure he'll get it right when he has more time at home.

I provide garden catalogs for scrap paper but they are also a great source for imagery for the book. And especially welcome at the end of this long winter when we are all crazy for spring.

Tiny books made from paper found in the collage box inside of a slightly larger book made from recycled paper. So little and sweet.

I love when people do things I haven't thought of like cut into the shapes

and using a used glue stick lid to hold up a book.

Studio Sunday-Camera Day

I spent several hours today photographing the 4 new Spirit Books and a few other things. I always feel insecure about my abilities behind the camera. After last week's attitude shift about making the bases, I decided one was in order here. I tried to not judge my efforts but just do the best I could. I thought back to this paragraph in Art Lessons: Reflections From An Artist's Life:

Jaki introduced us to the book Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Shunryu Suzuki. She urged us to take away value judgements in reference to our lettering. If we make a letter and think it’s good, it puts pressure on us as we make the next one. If we look at a letter we have just made and say it’s bad, it decreases our confidence and our flow and we don’t make the next one with the right attitude. Suzuki wrote: “Good and bad are only in your mind. So we should not say, ‘This is good,’ or ‘This is bad.’ Instead of saying bad you should say, ‘not- to-do!’”

Tomorrow the best ones will go from the laptop to the big screen of my computer. I'll be posting them on my website after the opening of my exhibit at the Governor's Academy on April 3.

Vernal Equinox

This little patch of snowdrops is blooming in the garden. What a great way to mark the first day of spring! I wrote out the word vernal equinox four times a few weeks ago when I had extra ink in the dish.

My first thought was to use the one on the upper right. I liked it because it looked less like what I usually do. I posted the photo of the page on facebook and several people put in a vote for the bottom left. I eventually decided to go with that one. I used photoshop to correct the spacing between the "e" and "q" and "u." I put the lettering layer on the photo and screened and flattened it to get the green lettering. I then placed the lettering layer on the photo which had a reduced opacity (55%).

Book Arts Tuesday-From the Good Mountain

Thanks to a comment on a Making Books facebook post by Margaret Venema, I learned about this wonderful book. Here's how it starts:

In the city of Mainz in Germany around the year 1450, there appeared a mysterious thing. It was made of rag and bones, soot and seeds. It wore a dark brown coat and was filled with gold. It took lead and tin, strong oak, and a mountain to make it.

What was it?

It was written and illustrated by James Rumford, who also makes handmade books at Manoa Press in Honolulu. His website is excellent. You'll find information about the process of making From the Good Mountain as well as his other books, Tips for Authors and Illustrators, and book guides for parents, teachers, and children. I look forward to spending time with some of his other books especially The Cloudmakers about papermaking.

Here's what he wrote about his interests and his work on the Author page:

I have always had a fascination with calligraphy, not just calligraphy using Latin letters but the calligraphies of China and Persia.

I have loved traveling and seeing new and different places. I have lived in Africa and Afghanistan, Arabia and America. I now live in Hawai‘i.

The books I write and illustrate have all grown out of these passions.

They are built around one simple idea: the world is as big as you want to make it.

Happy St. Patrick's day

Playing with a new Koh-I-Noor Nexus Studio Pen that I got at Dick Blick last week.

Flowers to brighten the last winter days

This has been a winter for visiting my local flower shop, Beach Plum Too. I started the new year with white hydrangea, continued the white theme with some lilies, added a little color with an assortment that included Alstromeiria, and on my most recent visit, could not resist the incredible orange of these Star-of-Bethelem (most often white) which I combined with sea lavender.

Studio Sunday-Learning Lessons

It is ironic that 4 days before giving one of my Art Lessons talks, I had one of the most frustrating days in the studio, all because I did exactly what I urge others not to do. Last Thursday, I approached the task of making the bases for four new Spirit Books with the attitude: This is my least favorite part. I’ll grit my teeth and try to get it done as fast as possible.

The books of the Spirit Books evolve organically. The paper is torn rather than cut. There are no exact angles or even edges. The bases are different. They are made from binder’s board covered with paper and precision is important. For me, the books are easy and relaxing while the attention to measuring and straight edges required for the bases is exhausting.

The next day I went into the studio with a completely different attitude. For starters, I didn’t look at making the bases as my least favorite part but as work that required a different kind of energy. I banished thoughts of inadequacy. I didn’t focus on the end goal of completion but took pleasure in working slowly. I stopped saying I want to get this done as quickly as possible and allowed myself to finish when I finished.

And now today, Sunday, I am almost done. Three of the bases are complete and one awaits attaching the layers which I will do first thing tomorrow morning. The very last step, naming the books, will be done on Tuesday. Tomorrow I’m saving my mental energy for preparing for my evening talk at the Nevins Memorial Library in Methuen, MA.

I’ll be premiering the four new Spirit Books, along with a selection of older ones with locally gathered cradles, on April 3 at the Remis Gallery at the Governor’s Academy in Byfield, MA. I’ll be sharing them on the blog after that. Since they seem to evolve on their own, I don't feel it's bragging to say that I'm very pleased with them.

Challenge Day 4

Day 4: Photocopier work. In the late '80s, I did a lot of experimenting with the photocopier—copying objects and then manipulating the images by recopying and enlarging. I rented a Ricoh copier which I eventually purchased. I was sad to see it go when the parts were no longer available to fix it.

Above: from a black and white version of Childbirth Journey, charcoal marks and photocopier imagery from natural materials (grape vines, buds, and egg shells I believe)

2) from a series of 4 lullabies (looks like grape vines with budding grapes, ferns, and maybe wisteria)

3) from a limited edition artist book produced on the copier, Contradictions: Jack Kerouac, Lowell, the River, quotes in calligraphy on tracing vellum, images created on the copier from a photograph of Pawtucket Falls by Betsey Bolton with my reflections on Kerouac and Lowell and the Merrimack River in type. (Some copies still available-contact me at susan (at) susangaylord.com if you're interested)

Book Arts Tuesday-dpi's Art Quarter

I am thrilled to have my work featured in this wonderful magazine, Art Quarter vol. 08: Cut, Slice, & Dice—the best selection of paper artworks from Taiwan. Published by dpi magazine, it's more book than magazine and beautifully designed and printed. It's a privilege to be in the company of such interesting work from around the world. If anyone could translate some Chinese for me, please let me know. I was sent interview questions, some of which I responded to in a rather lengthy manner. I'm interested in finding out how they streamlined my words.

Visit their facebook for more information.

Studio Sunday-International Women's Day

A quote from the files (1983) by Virginia Woolf in celebration of International Women's Day

Challenge Day 3

Childbirth Journey- Here's the first work I consider truly my own-15 pastel drawings with words from my journal in calligraphy (24 x 36 framed). It came after a tumultuous year that brought the unexpected death of my mother in January and the birth of my first child in June. After I exhibited them at the Newburyport Art Association, I felt that their personal nature asked for a more intimate place of display and that was what led me to the book. I'm amazed now at how compelled I was to share these feelings.

Book Arts Tuesday-Jeff Peachey

I've known about Jeff Peachey and the wonderful tools he makes for a long time. A post on facebook alerted me to his blog where he made some posts after travel in Southeast Asia. The above picture is of a copper book from the Huế Museum of Royal Fine Arts that was made between 1802-1945.

This is from another post from his travels:

I traveled in Vietnam around the New Year. In Huế, which was the capitol of Vietnam until 1945, there was a small mobile shoe repair stand on the street. In addition to the ubiquitous Vietnamese plastic stools, this cobbler had a small assortment of shoe repair tools laid out on a work-cloth. I noticed the knife he was using was made out of a hacksaw blade, so I offered to purchase it. When traveling, I often like to try to purchase tools from people that are actually using them, so I can see how they are used in context and know that they work. He named what must have been an outrageous price, because when I accepted he nearly fell off his stool. A few minutes after I left, I noticed he was quickly packing up his business, hopefully to take the day off and celebrate his big score. We were both extremely happy with this transaction.

His website also contains a catalog of the tools he makes. They are things of beauty as well as use.

I don't consider myself a binder and a lot of his tools are out of my league. However this woodcut print fits me perfectly.

Website Update

Over the past few weeks I've spent some time on my website. I've added a short Calligraphy & Lettering section to the art page, added some additional information to the Talks & Workshops page (and more will be coming), and expanded the News section. Take a look at susangaylord.com.

Studio Sunday-A Birthday Gift

Birthday flowers for a friend are a warm up for my Books in Bloom arrangement that will have multiple small narrow vases and a quote from An Island Garden by Celia Thaxter on paper.

Challenge Day 2

More calligraphy: As I continued, I started to become more interested in experimenting with the letters, working more loosely, and using quotes rather than poems and passages. These are from an exhibit I had at the Concord Free Library in Concord, MA with quotes by Concord authors. In preparing for the latest version of my Art Lessons talk, I realized that this was a pivotal collection of work. It was the first time I did a series on a common theme and I liked working in a series but realized I was not satisfied doing work that was interpretive. I wanted to do something that came completely (or as completely as anything can) from within.