Talking About The Spirit Books

I am honored to have been chosen for the Jaffe Center for Book Arts' featured Artist of the Week short video. I talk about the process of making the Spirit Books in general and this one, Spirit Book # 90: Rising Certainty in particular. It's not long: five minutes, eighteen seconds to be exact. If you are interested, do take a look. The sooner the better. It's only there for viewing for the rest of the week.

Here's the link:

www.jaffecollection.org

Studio Sunday-Spirit Book #95

I just completed Spirit Book #95 and gave it to my daughter for her birthday. The cradle is made from sycamore twigs gathered in her neighborhood in Brooklyn. In the language of flowers, sycamore stands for curiosity. Through a series of associations starting with curiosity, I came to the title: Visible Wonder. The book was made with Lokta paper from Nepal. The pages have embroidered holes, French knots, and seed beads.

Newburyport Magazine

Last spring I was interviewed by Will Broaddus for an article in Newburyport Magazine which is a quarterly publication affiliated with the Newburyport Daily News. He spent a lot of time on the phone with me and asked insightful questions. Jim Vaikornas whose photographs I admire in the Daily News came to the studio and took photos. I am so pleased with the article that was published in the fall issue of the magazine.

Here is a link to the magazine. It doesn't take you directly to the article. If you click on the cover, you should be able to find it. 

Studio Sunday-Starting Spirit Book #101

This piece will be the cradle of Spirit Book #101. I assign a number when I start and a name when the piece is complete. The roots and stem came from the garden. I feel bad that I killed the rose but am looking forward to working with its remains.

The Spirit Books at the Arnold-Part 14

Spirit Book #96: Harmonious Rebirth is another recombination. One of our favorite family vacations spots was Percé on the Gaspé Peninsula in Quebec, Canada. The cradle was gathered at the beach at Au Coin Du Banc. It was originally used for Spirit Book #50 and held several small books nestled in its nooks and crannies. I aways had a feeling that one large book would be better but it wasn't until I finally decided to deal with the things that bothered me about the book for #70: Collected Solace that I put book and cradle together.

The book is made from darker Mashamba paper from Africa with lighter Resho paper from Bhutan. The edges of the pages have rolls of Mashamba encircled with gold wire and beads at the center. I loved the edges but did not like the inside of the pages. I had glued the Resho paper to the Mashamba and it looked and felt too stiff.

I thought that making separate sections and inserting them in between the existing pages would be the answer but hesitated to begin as there were 49 sections to make. I eventually braved it and was glad I did. Since I couldn't sew the sections in as the book was complete, I attached each already sewn together section with a little bit of glue, enough to hold it but not enough to make the pages stiff. The pages were patterned with small punched holes, pinpricked holes, and seed beads.

Spirit Book #96: Harmonious Rebirth is probably the most labor intensive of the Spirit Books. The making of the sections took over 50 hours. I named it rebirth for the rebirth and renewal of the initial parts and harmonious for the way the book and cradle came together.

Thanks for reading this series of posts. The last day for viewing the Spirit Books at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University is Sunday, July 22. I'll be there to chat and answer questions from 1–4 PM.

The Spirit Books at the Arnold-Part 13

I thought there would be some special intention about Spirit Book #100 but it took me by surprise. Sometimes Spirit Books that I thought were finished are rethought or remade. I like that they evolve naturally and sometimes it takes a while for them to find their true forms.

Spirit Book #100 has a cradle made from wood gathered at the beach at Plum Island this past winter. The book was originally made for Spirit Book #92 in 2016. As I was thinking about the book for 100, I took the one from 92 and set it on top of the cradle just to see how I felt about making a book of that size. It turned out that I liked more than the size—I liked the book itself. I didn't realize what number it was in the series until I made the base and started to think about a name.

I have a little book where I record information about each Spirit Book and give it a name. I write out words connected with the materials and patterns. I look in my books about symbolism and the dictionary and free associate to come up with words for the name. In this case, I made notes about spirals (the patterns on the pages) and thought about where I found the wood—at the beach at the edge of the water. The name is Returning Embrace.

The Spirit Books are on view at the Hunnewell Building Visitor Center at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University until July 22. Gallery hours are 10 AM-5 PM everyday but Wednesday. I'll be there on the last day, Sunday, July 22, from 1-4 PM. Stop by and say hello!

The Spirit Books at the Arnold-Part 12

The Spirit Books began after a massive pruning in our yard in 1988. I felt such an attraction to the pieces of rose bush, grape vine, lilacs, blackberry, and honeysuckle that I brought piles of them inside. Some of the pieces were sculptural but many were just sticks. I spent four years experimenting before I made the first Spirit Book. The rose thorns on the corners of the pages of Spirit Book #31: Illuminating Grace came from that first collection.

The Lokta paper from Nepal is covered with spirals stitched with gold metallic thread. I think part of the inspiration for covering pages with spirals comes from all the pictures of medieval manuscripts I looked at when I began the serious study of calligraphy.  I was more interested in the body of the lettering than in the illuminated initials and loved the borders which seemed to contain both busyness and calm at the same time.

The rose thorns in Spirit Book #31: Illuminating Grace came from the wild Rosa multiflora which means grace in the language of flowers. Illuminating comes from the gold spirals which light the pages in a way similar to the small bits of gold in the medieval manuscript.

The Spirit Books are on view at the Hunnewell Building Visitor Center at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University until July 22. Gallery hours are 10 AM-5 PM everyday but Wednesday. I'll be there on the last day, Sunday, July 22, from 1-4 PM. Stop by and say hello!

The Spirit Books at the Arnold-Part 11

Spirit Book #91: Rising Certainty has a cradle of several pieces of birch bark that have been joined together with wire. The pieces were gathered at Maudslay State Park in Newburyport, MA. I particularly like the combination of gray and rust in the rolled pieces of bark. The book is made with amate paper from Mexico for the pages with persimmon paper from Japan interlaced to balance the two colors of the bark. The cover is Mashamba paper from Africa. There are French knots and stitches with embroidery floss and copper metallic thread.

The lifting forms of the birch bark led me to begin the name with rising. The birch is a symbol of protection offering certainty in an uncertain world.

The Spirit Books are on view at the Hunnewell Building Visitor Center at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University until July 22. Gallery hours are 10 AM-5 PM everyday but Wednesday.

The Spirit Books at the Arnold: Part 10

 Spirit Book #41: Ceremonial Sympathy is another Spirit Book that has been created from prior ones. The stories of the various iterations can get complicated. The cradle is made from weeping mulberry branches that were gathered at Atkinson Common in Newburyport many years ago after a winter storm. It was previously the cradle for Spirit Book #40: Patient Protection whose book became part of #96: Harmonious Rebirth which is in the exhibition. The book of #41 was originally on a cradle of a fragment of a Christmas tree discarded along High Street in Newburyport. The decision to not continue using that cradle was a practical one. The tips of the branches were too thin and were easily broken off. I had chosen the color of the paper to match the warm golden tones of the original cradle.

There is a circular bead made of horn at the center of each page and pinpricked holes and glass seed beads creating patterns around the center bead. Rectangular horn beads are sewn along the edges of the pages.

The word "ceremonial" in the title comes from the original cradle and its use in the celebration of Christmas and the solstice. The warm colors of the pages suggest sympathy.

The Spirit Books are on view at the Hunnewell Building Visitor Center at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University until July 22. Gallery hours are 10 AM-5 PM everyday but Wednesday.

The Spirit Books at the Arnold-Part 9

At one point last year I had used most of the gathered pieces of wood in the studio and was looking for some new material. I took a trip to the Yard Waste Facility in Newburyport (the tree dump to us) where I have an open invitation from Mike to poke around. Among other things, I found two pieces of intertwined vines and attached them to each other. Well, my husband did the attaching.

My first thought for the pattern on the pages was to echo the vines with stitching. I made a test page.

I decided against it partly because I felt it was too imitative of the pattern of the vines and partly because it didn't feel like it quite fit with the rest of the Spirit Books. The stitching was more like drawing with thread. The drawing aspect brought the book closer to the traditional books we are used to with drawings and words and some kind of a story. The Spirit Books are about books as contemplative objects, books taken out of time with nowhere to go but the present. As I prepared my June 2 talk at the Arnold, I found this quote from John Greenleaf Whittier. I think it explains what the patterns on the pages mean to me.

I find that if I am patient, things will resolve themselves. The idea of a grid with dots came the next day. I didn't want it too look too formal so I stitched French knots which are more irregular than beads. On each page, I replaced one knot with a bead.

The book is made with amate paper from Mexico for the cover and Resho paper from Bhutan for the pages. There are small differences on the pages. The lines of gold thread alternate between vertical and horizontal, the bead is in a different place on each page, and the two colors of thread vary in placement. Spirit Book #94: Timeless Union was given its name for the union of the intertwined vines and the circle as a symbol of timelessness.

The Spirit Books are on view at the Hunnewell Building Visitor Center at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University until July 22. Gallery hours are 10 AM-5 PM everyday but Wednesday.

The Spirit Books at the Arnold-Part 8

 I made Spirit Book #13: Hope Offering in 1998 and it is still one of my, and my family's, favorites. It's one of the few I will not part with. The hawthorn twigs were sent to me from Oklahoma by artist Sunni Mercer who had taken Calligraphy 101 with me when she was studying at Rivier College (now University) in Nashua, NH. I tied them together with thread and placed horn beads and pods from the herb rue on some of the thorns.

Nestled inside is a book made from Lokta and amate paper with woven paper strip designs in the center with gold metallic thread and beads. The hawthorn is a symbol of hope. In Ireland and Wales, women hang bits of cloth on branches near sacred wells, a custom that was originally an offering to the goddess. The hawthorn cradle is embellished with beads and seed pods from rue which is the symbol of all good things at weddings in Lithuania. 

The Spirit Books are on view at the Hunnewell Building Visitor Center at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University until July 22. Gallery hours are 10 AM-5 PM everyday but Wednesday.

The Spirit Books at the Arnold-Part 7

I bring bittersweet into the house every autumn. I like to gather it early in the season when it is easier to handle. Once the orange berries are visible, they are messier when handled. Oriental bittersweet is a very invasive plant (those lovely orange berries are choking the trees they climb on) so I always dispose of the berries in the trash at the end of the season.

As I was gathering the vines for the mantle and mirror and dining room wreath, I took some especially interwined vines for a Spirit Book. I originally made the cradle with just vines but later attached them to a piece of weathered wood with the same rust colored tones.

I wanted to echo the vine with spirals. At the center of the spirals are beads and flattened circles of wire inspired by a jewelry class with Lisa Scala at Scala Art Center in Georgetown. While I haven't made much jewelry, I have incorporated a few wire details into the Spirit Books. The edges of the pages also have beads and wire rings. The paper is Lokta paper from Nepal from Paper Connection International.

I named it Spirit Book #57: Twined Salutation. Twined for the bittersweet vines and salutation for the way the book opens itself in greeting.

The Spirit Books are on view at the Hunnewell Building Visitor Center at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University until July 22. Gallery hours are 10 AM-5 PM everyday but Wednesday.

The Spirit Books at the Arnold-Part 6

When I went to the Brush Art Gallery and Studios in Lowell last spring to set up a mini exhibit of the Spirit Books, Gay Tracy, one of the studio artists at the time, took me into her studio and offered me a pile of twisted branches from Harry Lauder's Walking Stick. They were grayed and lichened and beautiful. Of course I said yes. I've always been fascinated by the plant, Corylus avellana 'Contorta', also known as corkscrew hazel or contorted filbert but never found a place for one in the garden.

I arranged some of the branches to make a cradle and my husband attached them together with carefully hidden screws. I chose two of my favorite gray papers made by Paszkowski Paper in Ukraine for the book. Spirals are my favorite pattern to stitch and they seemed especially appropriate here. Each stitch is done with two strands of gray embroidery floss and a single strand of gold metallic thread. There are small silver seed beads stitched on the pages as well.

This is Spirit Book #93: Winding Sanctuary.

The Spirit Books are on view at the Hunnewell Building Visitor Center at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University until July 22. Gallery hours are 10 AM-5 PM everyday but Wednesday.

The Spirit Books at the Arnold-Part 5

In the last post I mentioned that the cradle was originally used in Spirit Book #79. It was replaced by this one that was a gift from artist Merike Van Zanten from her lakeside home and studio in Maine. It was one of a few armfuls of pieces that she delivered to my door last year.

The acorns were gathered in Stoneham, MA by Thomas Lane and his mother Christina. I trimmed the edges to make flattish buttons which were sewn to the pages with gold metallic thread. The spirals are stitched with thread and copper beads are sewn on the edges of the pages.

The paper is amate paper from Mexico. It is one of my favorites. I love its color, texture, and history. It was the paper made by the Mayans and Aztecs from the inner bark of the fig tree and is made by hand the same way today. You can view a video of the papermaking process filmed in San Pablito by Eliza Holliday here. The darker paper is Shawa paper from Bhutan.

The book is named Enduring Benevolence because both the cradle and the acorns on the pages were gifts. Enduring comes from the acorns. Oaks are symbols of longevity and endurance.

The Spirit Books are on view at the Hunnewell Building Visitor Center at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University until July 22. Gallery hours are 10 AM-5 PM everyday but Wednesday.

The Spirit Books at the Arnold-Part 4

Spirit Book #98: Lunar Meditation is a previously used cradle (for Spirit Book #79 which now has a new cradle) and a new book. The wood was saved for me by Mike at the Yard Waste Facility after my husband spoke to him and showed him a copy of my Spirit Books catalog.

The book is made from hu'un paper from Mexico. The circles are two layers of stitching with copper metallic thread. They are surrounded by small stitches and tiny glass seed beads. The idea for the empty circle seemed to just arrive but I know it was inspired by a series of posts by Mo Crow (Mo Orkiszewski) from Australia.

Mo and I have a long distance friendship that represents the good side of the internet. We probably wouldn't have had this rich interchange of art and inspiration without it. In 2013 she made a Spirit Book of the Spirit Books which used images and texts of mine along with her work in an exquisite, organic, earthy binding.

It was her last summer's series of posts, Once in a Blue Moon, that planted the circle in my head. I recommend checking out Mo's blog, It's Crow Time for some inspiration of your own from down under.

The Spirit Books are on view at the Hunnewell Building Visitor Center at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University until July 22. Gallery hours are 10 AM-5 PM everyday but Wednesday.

The Spirit Books at the Arnold-Part 3

Spirit Book #27: Absorbed Prayer greets you in the lobby of the Hunnewell Building and provides of preview of the exhibition in Visitors Center. Created in 2001, it is still one of my favorites. The cradle is made from the stems that hold the chestnut blossoms and then the conkers to the spire. In the autumn, they fall to the ground along with the conkers that my kids used to carry home every year. I gathered them along High Street in Newburyport during one of my walks.

The pages are made from Lokta paper from Nepal and the cover of Mashamba paper from Africa. The stitching is done with gold metallic thread. Glass seed beads are at the center of the spirals. At the exhibition, the Spirit Books are all in cases but there are sample papers on binder rings so you can feel the textures of the papers.

My favorite part of the Spirit Books is the stitching and my favorite patterns are spirals. I find stitching to be a kind of meditation. I draw the pattern on back of the pages and then poke holes for the stitches. When I am sewing, I know exactly where to put the needle and can relax into the slow up and down movement of my hand.

The name "Absorbed Prayer" comes from the book, Time Sanctified: The Book of Hours in Medieval Art and Life where the author, Roger S. Wieck, wrote: “Books of Hours reveal something about the medieval experience of absorbed prayer.” I like to think the Spirit Books reveal the same about my experience.

The Spirit Books at the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, May 4–July 22
Hours: 10 AM–5 PM, closed Wednesdays
Reception: Saturday, May 19, 1–3 PM
Artist Talk, Saturday, June 2, 4 PM

The Spirit Books at the Arnold-Part 2

With Lilac Sunday at the Arnold today and our lilacs getting ready to bloom, it's the perfect time to share the story of Spirit Book #43: Renewed Wisdom. The cradle was made from lilac and blackberry roots from our garden. When we moved into our house 33 years ago, there was an overgrown stand of lilacs. Over the years we have cut down or dug out dead wood and planted some new plants, not to mention pulled or cut out the oh so many maple seedlings that took root. This piece came from a 2004 pruning session. The blackberry vines were growing in the midst of the lilacs.

The book was recycled from a previous Spirit Book. I never have a sketch or a plan. I start working and see how it evolves. Most often I am happy with the result but sometimes the finished piece just doesn't work. Usually I am able to incorporate some or all of it into another Spirit Book. The book here was made from half of a book from an earlier piece. The stitching is done with copper metallic thread and the beads on the edges are made from copper, glass, and myrrh. The paper is from Bhutan and Mexico.

I named the piece Renewed because the book was renewed from a previous incarnation. Wisdom comes from the myrrh beads. Myrrh was one of the gifts of the Wise Men to the Christ child.

Spirit Book #100

I thought there would be some special intention about Spirit Book #100 but it took me by surprise. Sometimes Spirit Books that I thought were finished are rethought or remade. I like that they evolve naturally and sometimes it takes a while for them to find their true forms.

Spirit Book #100 has a cradle made from wood gathered at the beach at Plum Island this past winter. The book was originally made for Spirit Book #92 in 2016. As I was thinking about the book for 100, I took the one from 92 and set it on top of the cradle just to see how I felt about making a book of that size. It turned out that I liked more than the size—I liked the book itself. I didn't realize what number it was in the series until I made the base and started to think about a name.

I have a little book where I record information about each Spirit Book and give it a name. I write out words connected with the materials and patterns. I look in my books about symbolism and the dictionary and free associate to come up with words for the name. In this case, I made notes about spirals (the patterns on the pages) and thought about where I found the wood—at the beach at the edge of the water. The name is Returning Embrace.

Spirit Book #100: Returning Embrace will be one of the works on exhibit at the Arnold Arboretum from May 4—July 22. The reception is May 19, 1–3 PM and I'll be giving a talk on June 2 at 3 PM.