Booked!

As this goes to air as they say, I am in Cairns in Far North Queensland, with the hint of a cyclone off the coast, but nothing dramatic.

Barry and I have made the trip north to attend the opening of the fabulous exhibition "Booked!" run by the KnockKnock Contemporary Artists and held at KickArts gallery in Cairns.

The KnockKnock women are amazing.  Each year they organise and co-ordinate a bunch of activities celebrating women in the arts, around International Women's Day.

I was thrilled, honoured and excited to be asked to join in this exhibition - 12 women book artists from around the country and overseas.  The works look sublime together and tell gentle and powerful stories all at once.

A bit like many women I know really.

I am showing my Copper-Perspex book "Peace Mends the World"

Copper is a universal metal, found on nearly every continent on earth, and shared by many peoples. 

Metal books speak to me of tenacity, resilience and steadfastness; that their message will last and last. 

Mending, patching, putting back together; step by step peace can mend the world. 

The contrast between masculine (metal) and feminine (stitching) works - it seems to me we need both to build lasting peace. 

Women’s work matters and is often what ties us all together. 

There are still gaps as the work is never finished, yet each page is a treasure, contained and protected. 

Every effort we make towards peace is precious. 

Fragile, strong. Peace can mend the world.

The other fabulous artists include:

Raewyn Biggs (QLD), Louisa Boyd (UK), Barbara Dover (QLD), Louisa Ennis-Thomas (QLD), Vide Freiberg (QLD), Ania Gilmore (US), Mandy Gunn (VIC), Kyoko Imazu (VIC), Liz Jeneid (NSW), Susan Porteous (US) and Rose Rigley (QLD).

It is worth hopping off to their sites to see their work- stunning and amazing.

Rose also curated the show and helped keeps the likes of me on track- she has done a marvellous job.

Thursday Thoughts...

"In the Universe, there are things that are known, and things that are unknown, and in between, there are doors" 

 William Blake

It's a simple statement with oh so much in it.

There are many things unknown, to me and to others; and also things that are known.  I like that there is mystery out there, and there is always so much more to learn, discover, and know.

I like too that we find ways to make sense of things and to know them.

Ahhhhh but doors…so often the portal thru which we glimpse or enter places previously unknown to us.  Its funny to think about how often we approach doors with confidence - because we know who or what lies behind them; and funny to observe those moments of uncertainty when we approach a door; not sure show to deal with it, wondering how loud to knock, or whether to simply turn the handle - or press the buzzer?

The uncertainty and unknowns that lie behind those doors change our behaviour. But it remains the door which allows us entry, which guides us through the point of access. Some doors seem friendlier than others; some tell stories of humble abodes; others of fortresses. They can say so much without saying a thing!

Whilst this one appears fortress-like, it is the door into the Talas paper and bookbinding supplies store in Brooklyn NY.  I love its stainless steel patchwork and patina. It was heavy and weighty, but didn't seem all that unfriendly, and may I say it opened into an Aladdin's cave. Maybe that's why they like to make it look protected...

A door is such a simple concept and often just a plank of word, some hinges and a handle.  It does however symbolise the transition between inside and outside, private and public; known and unknown. No wonder so many use doors in their artwork and photograph them wherever they go.

Work in progress

I have no idea if other folk end up doing as many variations on a theme as I do when I am trying to work my way through a project, but this one has taken me left right, centre, up down and around!

As part of my year of women's work, I came across this poem and got permission to use it (only fragments of it appear below).  I like how it celebrates woman as they grow older.

But how best to express the ideas dancing in my head?

I was hoping to make this an edition of books, and reproduce it digitally.  I don't know if that is going to be possible; but I am still exploring options.

And more options. And then some more.

To date I have been here and there as evidenced below by these drafts and roughs…

 
I think I've landed on this idea - but am yet to finalise and finesse it…

And then in direct and radical contrast, I thought I would show you where my beautiful Fragile Gains began. It was one of those books that almost came fully formed into the world - I didn't have to fiddle and faddle with design ideas; only the mechanics of the making.

This image shows a to-do list written in New York over Christmas, reminding me of things to sort and settle when we got back home.

Up there in the top right hand corner is the notion of Fragile Gains - and it went pretty much from there to the real deal without much design angst at all. So lovely to be reminded that not every book is full of testing and trying and trying again…

Of feathers, nests, birds and eggs

Susan and I spent the day on Wednesday working towards our next collaborative book. We had set ourselves a joint theme - Birds, feathers, nests and eggs and agreed that we would mostly work into these books ourselves; that the collaboration would be in terms of mentoring each other and critiquing each other's work as we went along.  We also thought we would see if it was possible to ask the other to contribute something to the book.

After what seems like a thousand detours and trips into side-lanes, and rabbit burrows, I found my way into the theme through words - initially I fought it, but then accepted it is who I am, and have begun this book around some words.

We spent a lovely time telling each other what e were planning, how we were hoping it would work; what we were hoping to achieve etc.  We each sat down and did some work as well and it felt good to sit alongside each other as we beavered away on what we each do.

Susan is making some amazing prints, whilst I am trying to use imagery to represent the essence of the words. Not something I have tried too much of so it is challenging me a bit.  Not as much as drawing birds or nests would have may I add, so I still 'piked' on the really challenging stuff.

Here are some snippets of my day's play - which was really work!

I wanted to cut some lino and see if it would work for an embossing.

I wanted to cut some paper…

I wanted to test if stitching feathers onto paper could work

And wrote myself copious notes!

And then I came home and cut more paper to see just how soft I could go.  Must admit this seems dreamy to me, I really love what it its doing.

So I feel as if I have begun.  We are meeting again once more to work together - that being part of our collaboration this time around, and we will hopefully also have our bits for the other done by then as well. The books will get to meet properly on World Book Day 23 April 2014. That will mark the second anniversary of this beautiful and delightful collaboration that began on a whim and has given us both so much joy.  

Thursday Thoughts...

“Every budding dictatorship begins by muzzling the artists, because they’re a mouthy lot and they don’t line up and salute very easily.” 

Margaret Atwood

For an author who uses words so beautifully, I loved how Margaret Atwood went for "they're a mouthy lot". It seems such a simple and accurate description of many artists - people who are trying to say something that might be challenging; people who are expressing concerns, thoughts, fears and desires in ways that require engagement and  exploration.

Not all artists do this of course - many times artists are expressing beauty, dreams and hopes; or reflecting their surroundings, the quiet corners of their homes, their live and their landscapes.

With regard to this quote, my mind does turn to the political cartoonists who so often tell us the truth with biting and aching simplicity. They can ruthlessly strip away the rhetoric and show us the real sentiments or outcomes that lie behind or below the obfuscation.

My mind also turns to the graffiti artists and the slogans that get written in protest. These public acts of defiance are what I guess she is getting to here.

I wonder what sort of protest art I would participate in, and I expect I am likely a quiet protester - making small works that say something; but which don't shout.

I think artists can also try to tell us of a better, brighter more beautiful future. They can remind us of the good in the world and can encourage us to seek out the best in ourselves.

Some lane way art in Melbourne.

In just one little lane way...

Firstly I wanted to say thank you to everybody who left me comments on my book "Fragile Gains". I love this book and it was so nice to discover that it talks to others as well - so thank you very much for your kind words.

We have been on the road work-working in Melbourne and then onto Tasmania on a buying trip where we sought out metal for Barry to use in some of his commissions.

One Sunday we were wandering in Melbourne and cut through this lane way. This is the first sign I noticed and it made me stop and photograph it of course. I loved that somebody wrote a sign like this! I kept thinking of all the nuisance that folk were planning on committing until they saw this...

But as we made our way up the lane, a whole new world emerged. Unexpectedly, quietly and almost in an incognito manner.

There were industrial building with warnings about voltage, and lots of City Council signs about No Standing and so on.

But in amongst them we discovered these…

Made to look like any other City sign reminding us to not do this or only do that for a short time, the artist had reproduced signs and placed them along the walls.

It took us ages to walk the 50m (150 feet) of the lane way - we kept discovering more signs in amongst the regular urban messages. Such a delight.

So thank you Evangelos Sakaris and Melbourne City Council for such a wonderful chance encounter. If you want to find your way to these signs, (and there are many more than I have shown) they are in Heffernan Lane, between Lonsdale St and Little Bourke St, between the Greek quarter and Chinatown.

And in the same lane way, this book shop was closed on Sunday - but what a treat for the eyes their poster was!

 I love when unexpected art moments happen!

Fragile gains

I have finished my book! After the many steps and stages of pages and covers and possible bindings, I have managed to finish it and it all comes together.

But to go back a step or two...

Last year I chose to work around the theme of peace, and I used peace to guide me when I was making prints, books, doing calligraphy or whatever. It became the main focus of my body of work for 2013 and formed the basis of my work for Barry's and my joint exhibition.

Towards the end of last year I came across an article in Bound and Lettered Vol. 10 No. 4 by Carol DuBosch, where she shared work her students had undertaken as part of her assignment to them to be "activist scribes". I was awe-struck, stunned, dumfounded and inspired by this work and thought I would work towards something like that in 2014.

It soon became clear that women's rights and issues would be my theme for 2014.  It may be old-fashioned to be a feminist, but a feminist I am and there are so many stories where women are considered lesser, crimes against them are held as nothing, they still get paid less than men for doing similar work in many places and so on. I have a minor outrage button that gets pushed often as I read the newspaper or watch the news…

So this book is my first foray into that realm of work for the year.

It is called Fragile Gains - in my mind, many of the gains we have made remain fragile, and require vigilance to ensure that they are not lost.  In many places, the gains really are fragile and can be lost through a change in government or through less than democratic processes.

And so I worked with book I had bought in Portland (at Powell's, one of THE great bookshops of the world) - Nora Ephron's Crazy Salad. It was all about women's issues and had been written back in 1975. I read it, enjoyed it and then realised it would offer me something in terms of an art-book as well. It also kept the link to Carol and her students beautifully - I met Carol when we visited Portland on our last visit!

The words I found and kept were:

Equality
Choices
Liberation
Education
Safety
Leadership
Feminism

I ended up creating the binding and was pleased with how it worked. The pages are so fragile I needed to ensure they didn't rip, and that there was support for them when they are turned.

An awful lot of planning and thinking and problem-solving went into this book, and in the end…it says what I want to say.

Thursday Thoughts...

Books are the bees which carry the quickening pollen from one to another mind.
 

 James Russell Lowell

What a lovely image this conjures up - as bees move between the blossoms, touching lightly here, gathering pollen, moving over here, depositing and sharing…

Books do a similar dance I think - the writer writing things down, the reader picking the book up and gathering from it what is most important or that which matters most to them; sharing thoughts from the book or even the book itself with others.

Cross-pollination of thought, ideas and minds…

Beautiful!

Close up of a poppy at our place - a happy hunting ground for bees!  This gorgeous orange comes to you courtesy of Jennifer and Julie's ongoing quest to find Roy G. Biv aka the rainbow! Head on over to their blogs to see other orangeness or simply join in and let them know you're playing...

A Letter A Week - still on track

So far so good, altho I feel as if I may be tempting fate by celebrating that I am managing keep up with my own project this year! I am possibly a bit in front, but when I did the calculation I realised that four letters a month only gives you 48 letters, not 52, so I need to stay on top of it and publish some a bit early.

I am still enjoying playing with the coloured pencils that Hiro gave me when we visited Japan last year.  and I am learning lots about how sand compacts - it is quite incredible.

E got me started again - with an Emerald theme

Here is F - with a theme of Fuchsia

Then G got hard. It has a Green theme, but my it was tough work poking the pencils into the sand as you can see!  After G I had to empty all the sand all and start all over again.

And so we made it to H - with a Hot Pink theme and the pencils were behaving again…

The things you learn. Pop on over to A Letter a Week to see some incredible and imaginative alphabets appearing!