woodbooks .........

I have been having fun down in the studio.

Years of experience in making both artists books and journals and this is the first time I have made a woodbook.   While frivoling in a local wood shop I came across two delicious pieces of Conkerberry wood   - gorgeous for book covers. Moreover, the pieces were shape perfect, narrow and elongated - 7cm x 58cm.  The narrow rectangle and the square are my favourites.

I am not at all sure about the archival integrity of the wood but I have combined it with creamy Hannamuhle torn paper and grey linen thread which suit the wood colours.  Some of the pages have been embossed with a knotty design and now that it is complete, I think it looks interesting.

I love the rich orange in the Conkerberry (Carissa lancelot) wood - apparently quite unusual in Australian timbers.  It grows in small patches in North West Queensland and in the Northern Territory where it is protected. The holes in the wood make it quite difficult to work but I think they add something  beautiful to the timber pieces.

Looking back to move forward

I have a series of photos taken a few years ago that I have not known what to do with yet think they are quite beautiful.  It was of those serendipitous moments when something magic appears and you try to capture it the best you can with your camera.  Sometimes those moments just slip by with only a visual capture and they are stored in your memory bank.  Other times you are thankful to have a camera close by.

These gorgeous images are of ice - frozen water in a jug left in a too cold fridge.  I was about to leave home and took the photos way too quickly thinking that the moment would be lost.  A friend later asked me why I had not simply put the jug back in the fridge where it would stay frozen, and photograph with care and attention when time allowed.

I think the sheer delight in seeing these images swept all powers of reason away...........

They will make a beautiful set of images in an artist's book.  Still thinking about that, but I am glad to have brought them out of hiding and hope to do something creative with them soon.

A beginning...

Sitting here with my friend Fiona from Paperponderings, learning how to set up a blog.

This book is on its way to the New York Art Show in April with Galleria Bacchus.