Valentine's Day Greeting

 

Line from the closing stanza of the poem "A Day" by John Greenleaf Whittier. Lettering with Blue Pumpkin nib and Calligraphica Crystals.

Valentine Heart

Polished jasper from Percé, Quebec with baby's breath

Studio Sunday-Window Love

The last of the valentine love images for this year looking out a studio window.

Valentine

Lots of love on Valentine's Day.

Happy Valentine's Day

The photo was taken in the Jardin du Luxembourg during our fall trip to Paris. Here is an update on my talk about the Gardens of Paris. I will be giving it for the Newburyport Horticultural Society on March 11. This is for members only, or for those who are interested in becoming a member. I will be giving the talk a second time, again at the Newburyport Public Library, in April or May and this one will be open to the public. I'll keep you updated and hope to see you there.

Valentine Count Up-Origami Hearts

I love this heart made from origami hearts that Anne Bates Allen shared on facebook. It was made by middle school students to celebrate heart health.

Valentine Count Up-Gold Marker Love

I bought some little black canvases (2" x 4") at the Dick Blick store in Boston on Saturday. I thought about doing something with white acrylic but I was too impatient. I wrote the word LOVE with a gold marker and added vines and silver dots. I have 3 more of rectangles and 4 little squares to go. I'm not sure if I'll continue with the gold and silver or get out the brush and paint.

Valentine Count Up-Love Between the Pages

23 Sandy Gallery in Portland, Oregon is featuring a curated collection of artist books celebrating love, lust, innocence, passion and desire through February. You can also view the books online.

This is a two-in-one post. It's also Book Arts Tuesday.

Valentine Count Up-Blog Giveaway

My transition from teaching in schools has had many aspects, one of which is passing along things that were part of that life. The supplies and materials are long gone. When sorting through my jewelry, I realized that much of my collection made from recycled objects and worn for the statement quality (look at how many amazing things can be made by reusing things) and their kid appeal were no longer what I wanted to wear. So I am offering them as a giveaway. Items are:

* pair of earrings and people pin made from soda cans

* pair of earrings made from soda cans

* pair of earrings made from paper

* 3 bracelets made from can tabs (all separate giveaways)

Leave a comment—on any subject or your favorite material for reusing in creative projects. Drawing will be made randomly. If you enter, PLEASE PLEASE put your email address in the post. If you do not, I cannot notify you and so I will automatically choose another number.

Valentine Count Up-Recycled Valentine

As you know, I am a big fan of recycling. Here is a valentine message recycled from my 2014 new year image—Valentine on a piece of the egg shell, a heart from yesterday's visit to Paper Source, and the beans and roses from the new year.

Valentine Count Up-Love love me do

The little heart books contain lyrics from Beatles songs—a perfect celebration of Valentine's Day and the 50th anniversary of the Beatles coming to the US. I remember writing "I want to hold you hand" in the snow.

You can find directions for a tree shaped book here and adapt them to a heart shape.

Valentine Count Up-John Greenleaf Whittier

Whittier speaks of the heart in a line from his poem, The First Flowers.

They break the spell of cold and darkness,
The weary watch of sleepless pain;
And from my heart, as from the river,
The ice of winter melts again.

Read the complete poem at Poem Hunter.

The quote was written on a strip of Tyvek and floats in the breeze on an apple tree at Maudslay State Park. It was part of my Whispered Fragments installation at Outdoor Sculpture at Maudslay in 2008. I'll be part of Pecha Kucha Portsmouth 18 on Sunday, February 16 with a presentation (20 slides, 20 seconds to talk about each) on my work over the years at Maudslay at the Portsmouth Gaslight Company at 7 PM.

Valentine Count Up-Books of the Heart

BOOKS OF THE HEART || HEART OF THE BOOKS

Exhibition of Artist's Books from the Baylor Book Arts Collection in the Crouch Fine Arts Library

In honor of Valentine's Day, the Crouch Fine Arts Library is highlighting selections from the Baylor Book Arts Collection that reflect the heart and things of the heart. To see information about each of the books in this exhibit, hover over the "Books in the Exhibit" tab at the top of this page.

In Feburary 2014, we added ten new additions to the online exhibit, several of which are on display in the Crouch Fine Arts Library during the month. Thanks to Crouch staff member Alison Larson for the display!

One of the books in the exhibit—Theia Mania by Alicia Bailey

Valentine Count Up-The Little Prince

I made this pillow case when I was in high school and Le Petit Prince was my favorite book. The message— One sees well only with the heart—still speaks to me. There is show at the Morgan Library in New York that I would love to see—The Little Prince: The New York Story. Here's what the Morgan website says about it:

Since its publication seventy years ago, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry's The Little Prince has captivated millions of readers throughout the world. It may come as a surprise that this French tale of an interstellar traveler who comes to Earth in search of friendship and understanding was written and first published in New York City, during the two years the author spent here at the height of the Second World War.

As he prepared to leave the city to rejoin the war effort as a reconnaissance pilot, Saint-Exupéry appeared at his friend Silvia Hamilton's door wearing his military uniform. "I'd like to give you something splendid," he said, "but this is all I have." He tossed a rumpled paper bag onto her entryway table. Inside were the manuscript and drawings for The Little Prince, which the Morgan acquired from her in 1968.

Focusing on the story's American origins, this exhibition features twenty-five of the manuscript pages—replete with crossed-out words, cigarette burns, and coffee stains—and all forty-three of the earliest versions of drawings for the book. Also on view are rare printed editions from the Morgan's collection as well as personal letters, photographs, and artifacts on loan from the Saint-Exupéry estate, private collections, and museums and libraries in France and the United States.

The Little Prince: A New York Story is the first exhibition to explore in depth the creative decisions Saint-Exupéry made as he crafted his beloved story that reminds us that what matters most can only be seen with the heart.

Valentine Count Up-Hanging Hearts

I made this as a sample for today's Book-Play workshop at the Newburyport Public Library. As with everything we are making in the workshop, the base is the hot dog booklet. You can find the basic technique for making the hearts in this post about making trees. The top heart is 2 heart booklets made from half-sheets of reycled pink copy paper which have been glued together. Inside are 6 smaller white booklet hearts. The bottom heart is two smaller heart booklets glued together. The only thing that stopped me from making more was time. It's great fun!

Valentine Count Up-Convivio Book of Days

I always look forward to the monthly installment of Convivio Bookworks' Book of Days. Each month is a beautifully designed page with significant calendar days, both common and uncommon. In addition to Valentine's Day, February includes: 3 St. Blaise’s Day. Protector against maladies of the throat.

Here's what accompanies the image:

The cold of winter lingers but the wheel of the year already is shifting toward spring and new growth. Valentine’s Day makes love a big theme of the month... these are valentines our niece Isabella made for us when she was five.

A good place to start your exploration is the Convivio Bookworks website where you'll find links to the Book of Days (current edition and archive) and the Book of Days Blog as well as letterpress and book arts and a delightful selection of items for seasonal celebrations for sale.

Valentine Count Up-Sweetness

To me, there is a Valentine quality to this image which is one of my series The Wondrous Nearer Drew: Artwork Inpired by the Poetry of Emily Dickinson and the Flowers of Massachusetts. The image was created from a photograph of sedum (taken at the Whittier Home in Amesbury, MA so poetry connections abound) that has been duplicated and manipulated in Photoshop with a hand-lettered line from Poem 1717.

I haven't done much publicizing of it but I have created a book the 30 images. It would make a perfect Valentine gift for an Emily Dickinson fan or garden lover. There are copies available through my etsy shop. If you purchase the print copy, I'll also email you a pdf for viewing on a computer, tablet, or phone. And I will ship promptly for delivery in time for Valentine's Day.

The Wondrous Nearer Drew on etsy

Valentine Count Up-Stravinsky Fountain

I am ever so slowly working my Paris photos. This heart is in the Stravinsky Fountain which was created by Jean Tinguely and Niki de Saint Phalle (the heart is part of her contribution) in 1983. I'll be spending more time with the photos this month as I prepare for my talk on the Gardens of Paris for the Newburyport Horticultural Society at the Newburyport Public Library on March 11 at 7 PM.

I'll be posting a Valentine related image each day through February 14.

Book Arts Tuesday-Valentine Book to Make and Share

Here's a simple unfolding book to make for a valentine. I usually call the form a Who Am I? Book but this time instead of unfolding to reveal an identity, the final page completes the message. For me, Valentine's Day is about more than romance. Here's a wish for all my friends, known and unknown.

I used a small piece of grocery bag for the pages, a Trader Ming's box for the cover, and a ribbon and a button for the tie. Paper from the collage box decorated the cover and the writing was done with red marker.

You can print this PDF for directions to make the book. And here's PDF in Spanish. Thanks as always to Lourdes V. Pichardo and Laura Mason Zeisler, M.Ed for the translation.