Thursday Thoughts...

“The things that we love tell us what we are” 

St Thomas Aquinas

It feels like across the world, many people are showing us what they love; and by this telling us a lot about what they are. People who love their country, equality and decency; compared to people who love power and money.

One small thing caught my eye here as I thought more upon the words - the use of the phrase "... tell us what we are" because I assumed as I first read it, that it said "... tell us who we are".

What difference does what v who make I wondered? Perhaps who simply makes you go" I am a person who loves x y or z". Whereas what asks you to consider the compilation of things?

I sat for a while and pondered the things I love and what they say about me. I decided that things did not equal people, so my nearest and dearest are loved, but I shan't be pondering upon what that might say about me.

I wondered what I am given some of the things I love include quiet time, reading, conversations with friends, making and creating, sipping a good coffee, walking quietly, looking at small things of beauty in the world, and sleeping well.

What does the make me? Something along the lines of a peaceful, quiet, artistic character searching for beauty in the world?

I'll take that.

Lots of this way and that

 We are looking at a Cyclone crossing the Coast near us in the next few days so we are a little bit into preparing - moving outdoor furniture, filling up water containers, charging everything, getting our documents together, helping out neighbours, making plans, tuning in to all the services etc. Nothing major, just ready in case we lose power for a few days or the water supply gets interrupted. We have enough food to see us through for more than one would expect to be needed!

And so our minds are a bit jumpy and I have been doing this and that with not very much to show for it.

This is me planning to make a pouch for my Red Card book. Trying to work out which red crochet thread might best match the red sewing machine thread. I  think the lucky answer was pretty much any of them so that was good news.

Nevertheless, I have found moments to stop and look at the beauty of life...

Evening light.

And I love how this one just blurred. I would love to be able to paint this!

And flowers. Always flowers.

I spent a few days in Sydney last week and on one of our wanders, my friend showed me this. I like to think Resistance is yellow!

Still Looking Slowly

My work is slow. It takes time. There are so many choices and decisions along the way; most of which need me to test them or trial them. And so we are still looking slowly...

I like the cards, I worked out where the masking strip for lettering would be, I knew which tape worked. I had chosen the pencil and the white pen (tried a silver one but it just looked like more pencil). I had my watercolour palette worked out and I worked out how many pebbles and broadly in which positions.

I kept going back to my 'recipe' and trying to work out how I could include transparent or translucent paper.  It's not easy with an accordion stitched book, but I checked out whether the 10gsm Tengucho could be glued over an area.

I tested the Spray adhesive - but it left a rusty brown mark which wasn't going to work. Then I tried a plain old Blu Stick and you can see this was not yet quite dry.

I thought that gluing the whole piece of the Tengucho down really flattened it, and took away the look of it, so tried just gluing at either end; leaving the middle part of the paper 'free' and so you could see the texture better.

I quite liked it and was almost set to do it, when I wondered as the book was handled, would the lightweight paper lift or roll? And yes you can see that it does, so it was back to the drawing board for the transparent paper. Sigh.

I began to think other design elements and piercing came to mind - not outlining, just in a few places around the pebble forms. This was tested on a piece that had worked up until the moment I had to remove the tape, and a fair chunk of card came with it.

I wondered about blind embossing and embossing and found the small pebble forms I had used to blind emboss the covers of my Grief is A Stone book-ets back here. And I really like their subtlety and the way they simply hint at the forms. 

And so we continue. I have now painted and drawn all the cards for the books. I have blind embossed all the cards, and pierced all the cards. With wisdom I have decided to ignore the recipe because in the end, if the recipe doesn't serve the book it is not helpful.  I am still looking at ways to incorporate transparent or translucent paper, but it won't be on the pages.

I have started to plan the covers and am beginning to play with the title page. I think I have chosen the thread for stitching, but am yet to decide on a container. Still plenty to go on with - and of course I still have to write the words!! I did do a trial of each of the pages and the size of lettering that would fit, so that is something. I thought I had lost it, but found it under a pile of paper today so at least I don't have to repeat it.

And just for a break from thinking about the book, I did some more swing tags for Barry.

 

Thursday Thoughts...

“What I am trying to get across is that material is a means of communication” 

Anni Albers

As a novice artists' book maker  I had never heard of the word materiality. Now, it is absolutely key to every book I make.

I like my Thursday Thoughts quotes as I often go looking for the person they are attributed to and discover some fabulous people. Clearly Anna Albers was a legend and at the forefront of art and making and the bit in between when it came to textiles in particular.

I wholeheartedly agree with her here, that materials ARE a means of communication. When I think about what the book might feel like - rough, soft, feather-light, hard or heavy; I know that the material choice is sending messages to the reader. It is communicating, and they are experiencing the book in a particular way because of it.

Aside from artists' book; I think about the use of warm and fluffy materials compared to jagged or rough ones; the sharpness of shattered glass alongside the layering of feathers; the use of torn cardboard versus diamonds encrusted objects. 

Materiality matters. In my mind, it references many things and alludes to many things. Materials speak.

Fragile gains - the fragility of vintage, burnt pages with the sturdiness of a metal cover...

Pebble jewellery galore

 In what has turned out to be a very unexpected plot twist, I now have an exclusive supplier of my silver pebble earrings and pendants. When I did my first lessons with Lindsey in Scotland I had no idea it would gradually lead me to here. Along the way I had the pebbles exhibition which was the impetus for me to make the pebble form jewellery that had been in my mind's eyes for ages. And what as stroke of luck that was!

I sold lots of jewellery at the exhibition, such that I had to make extra to ensure there was pieces available for sale throughout the show. It was rewarding and satisfying to see how people responded to it. I really enjoy making it, experimenting with the forms, the texture and the finishes. 

So here I am now, splitting time between the studio (artists' books and traditional letterpress printing) and the workshop where I make the pebble forms, and home where I do the finishes and put the jewellery together.

I brought a bunch of forms back from the workshop to work out the finishes. I love the oxidation of the silver and the dark moody grey it creates, so a number of them were dipped in the mix.

I also oxidised a number of the sterling silver findings and jump rings I use for joining pieces.

And then it's time for mix and match and does this go with that?

And then working out whether they would be posts or ear wires...

And once they are all together, time for packaging.

And here are a few details. Some plain sterling silver with texture.

Textured sterling silver with oxidised silver and oxidised textured jump ring.

A pendant with a mix of oxidising and plain and texture.

Textured silver and oxidised silver but plain jump rings.

Oxidised plus oxidised plus oxidised plus plain jump ring!

I think there are 3 pendants and 11 pairs of earrings now available for sale at Maleny Additions on Maple St here in Maleny. 

Thursday Thoughts...

"Books should go where they will be most appreciated, and not sit unread, gathering dust on a forgotten shelf, don't you agree?" 

 Christopher Paolini

I have never read of M. Paolini's books but at least I know he is a rather famous author of fantasy!

That said I do think I agree with his suggestion here.

Books play so many roles in our lives. For me some of them have been constant companions since I was a child - they sit upon my bookshelf and haven't been read in a while; but they are treasured and every time my eye runs over them I am reminded of childhood reading time and the joys of discovery.

On the other hand I am truly quite ruthless about moving books along when we have finished with them. I do really agree that books should be shared, that they should be where they are most appreciated and not neglected or forgotten. After I read something, then Barry reads it, then maybe we send it to my Dad to read, it heads off out into the wider world for enjoyment by somebody else.

We do keep a few special ones - some of the ones I have given away or loaned and not had returned that I scour secondhand book shops for to get  my own copy again. Some that really really moved me and some that I know I will be re-read.

Art and craft books are the hardest to toss! I just never know when I might want to dip back in or get inspired by something that didn't have meaning for me earlier. It's tough, but necessary at times to move them along and honestly, they are some of the most joyfully received of passed on books when they land in the right place.

I think his use of the word appreciated is important - some of my books are sitting there, perhaps suspended in time, unread for a while, but they are truly truly appreciated for the role they have played; or the role they may yet play...

Bookshelf at the beautiful Brooklyn Art Library, 2013, before the fire destroyed so much.

Red Card

 We are on the mend and even tho I love not feeling physically sick with aches and pains and grunge; I think I love having my brain back more!  I have really noticed how my brain is getting back to normal - seeing connections and getting enthused, wondering about new techniques and ideas. It feels good.

So I managed to finish my book Red Card.

I made my first artists' book about Australian women being killed by their partners or ex-partners back in 2014. Ten years later, after much hand-wringing, promises, plans and consultations, very little has changed. 

 

In this book I give red cards to governments, lawmakers and law enforcers who need to do so much more to stop women being killed. I give a red card to those men who quite simply, need to stop killing women. I also give a red card to the media who continue to blame women and describe him as a good bloke. 

In many sports a red card sees you sent off the field or court, no longer able to participate in the game or match. 

 

I am weary and tired that so little action is taken against this domestic terrorism. I repeat and repeat and repeat STOP. JUST STOP.

 I like the combination of black and stitched running stitch and the red machine stitching. When the book cover is open fully and laid flat and face down; the red machine stitching takes on the form of a cross. With the cover closed, the horizontal stitching flatlines...

As ever, I do love a random, dangling thread. The horizontal stitching is nice and clean, but the spine sewing leaves these threads. Domestic terrorism is tangled and messy for those stuck within it.

A lot of stamping of the word STOP took place. The inside cover and the central pages and pocket.

The seven cards inside the pocket read: STOP killing women; STOP blaming women; STOP saying he's a good bloke; STOP finding excuses for him; STOP pretending it's normal; STOP making women responsible; and JUST STOP.

STOP women being killed.

STOP killing women.

STOP saying he's a good bloke.

JUST STOP.

Still trying, but now with some words

 So after making shapes and blobs and drawing some lines, I began to try to work out how the words might work with the imagery. 

After I had fiddled and played and tried and tested things, these are the notes I wrote on the back of each page.

The black pen is too harsh. Writing over the shapes and lines feels the opposite of the words. The writing style feels complicated.

Wet on wet doesn't work for. The lettering across the top still looks too complicated. Pencil is better than black ink.

Nice layout. Nice colours. Caps work well. Not sure the image and the words feel connected.

I like the way the words appear to bust up the complexity and create a little oasis. Pencil yes. Caps yes. I don't think the extra colouring works. I don't think the white elements work.

Barry's Washi tape worked beautifully. I like the oasis of lettering. Caps tick. Pencil tick. Simple/elegant.

Love the colours. The Japanese card is smooth. Pencil tick. Caps tick. Washi tape tick. ?My favourite?

A compilation of my three favourites at the end of the day.

After an overnight test, I came back and tried to add some extra interest in to a couple of favourites, adding layers to some of the shapes formed in the stones to see if it made them more interesting. Using lead pencil, and then watercolour.

The jury is still out for me on that!

I remain somewhat unsure aa to how I might bring transparency into the mix but I'm hopeful that it might linger at the outside edges of my thinking and work itself out and let me know!

Generally speaking I think I have got some good guide posts - the smooth Japanese card, the washi tape for masking out, the masking out itself as part of the design, the pencil, the capital letters, and the white pen. All good to keep going with. I think also the cooler greys. Maybe adding some extra dimension to the shapes? Still not sure!!!

Next question to ponder - is each page done in the same colour way and tones? Or does each page have its own colour? There are seven so...???

Thursday Thoughts...

“Never look back – unless you’re planning on going that way.” 

Henry Thoreau

At first glance this quote seemed self-evidential; correct; positive and all of that.  Of course to move forward we have to look to the future, think about where we are headed, look for a fresh start, be enthusiastic and so on. Don't get stuck in the past keep moving forward seems to be the thrust of it.

But I am not sure about never looking back.

I think it depends so much on why you are looking back. If you are looking back with longing, with regret, with deep heartfelt wishes to go back, and for life to be as it was back then, it's probably not all that healthy or helpful. In part it's understandable that one might want to return to a time before some catastrophic incident, to turn back time so that something horribles doesn't happen or isn't said. That is understandable, but not helpful because it isn't going to happen.

If you are looking back with fondness, to memories which make you smile; or to gain strength from knowing you have handled tough things in the past; to recall lessons learned in order to be able to apply them again; that sort of checking back in with the past can be put to good use I think.

Perhaps this quote is just another reminder to me of how much I worry about absolutes. About complete and utter certainty. About firm and unequivocal positions. I find life has far too much grey to be certain about anything...

Trying something out

 As mentioned previously, I am really hoping to make a book sometime using my seven sets of words that began with walk... and look slowly

In fact, I went to Julie Chen's Artist Book Ideation cards and captured some goals and guides for making the book. I thought if I took away the structure and techniques issue and just worked to a set of guidelines I might get myself closer to just making the book, given that I have the words, rather than face three more years of pondering...

I find the cards a marvellous tool for breaking through road blocks - they are a bit like the Nike tag line and get me going to - just do it.

I don't often work with the accordion structure so that will be a bit of a challenge. (You can see some testing of ideas and counting of pages coming through the page from the other side!). Mixed media I think I can work with, the translucent/transparent paper is yet to be worked through, but I was happy I got to work with my favourite colours! I have to design an enclosure or box as well. So,  these are my parameters.

This was all done a few weeks ago, but on the weekend I collected some watercolours and cards from the studio and brought them home just in case the mood or moment arrived where I felt up to doing something with them. Mindless blobs of watercolour seemed perfect for my brain fog.

And then I began drawing onto them a bit. Not quite sure where they are going but... maybe somewhere.

Not much to show for it yet, but this is further than I have gotten before with getting these words turned into a book, so it's progress. All very slow at the moment, but going gently is the thing.