a peep at 'branching out' ......

Tracemarks began as a way of keeping a record of what was happening in my studio - in a sense it replaced my 'drawing a day' books which were becoming harder and harder to maintain.  As such I am able to look back through my blog and see what I have been working on over the last few years and it can be such fun.  I also like the fact that because one includes photos in the posts, it has made me mindful to photograph my work.

Over the years I have been remiss and work has sold and I have no record of it at all.  Now I take oodles of photographs from all angles (I guess because books are like that) and have a memory track of the work I make.  This book below, 'Branching Out' is one that sold at the exhibition.  I have chosen a few of the many photos I took.  The book is smaller than my 'Standing on Fishes' book but still quite large as far as artist's books go.  Once again I have used film for the drawings, pen and ink and graphite, and layers of soft tengujo papers in between layers.

The sense I hoped to capture here was that of wandering through the forest and being entranced by the debris of the forest floor - the broken branches and their beautiful markings as they decay.  In fact I often spend my time in the forest/bush looking down rather than upwards!

These last few images are again of my 'Standing on Fishes' - still my favourite - which I finished in time for the exhibition.  I have used graphite and graphite pencils to draw some very simple lines and markings which seemed to tie the pen and ink drawings together.

When I posted on this book I had not in fact sewn it.  I chose a simple Japanese stab binding as it suited the aesthetic of these books and the front cover simply has a few lines embossed into it.  The book has a slip case of perspex and I also made covers for the books under which they sit for display.