a few of my favourite things .....

I have been making artist's books since 1998 on and off and collecting them since then too.  I only have collected about twenty in that time and am going to make the collecting of these treasures my vice over the next few years.

Here are some of my favourites - just a quick glimpse.

a few from my 'Fiona'  collection

love this photo of Fiona's 'Subversive Stitch'

and this one ....

This is the first artist's book I ever owned.  It was given to me by Wim de Vos and Adele Outteridge for my birthday in 1999 and it is a collaborative piece they made with Madonna Staunton.

The book photographs well on my hot plate.

This piece is by Deslie Wain and below is a detail.

a couple more of Fiona's and a book by Alice Fox.

many of you will already be familiar with Alice's sublime work.

a couple of recent purchases on the left, a concertina book by Sandra Pearce and a quaint little book by Linda Douglas with snippets of maps and birds, sewn threads and marks.  On the right are a couple of the single folded page books by Patti at Missouri Bend.

Of course there are more but I will save those for another time.

tea bags .....

a post for Jennifer .....

This gorgeous little tea bag book was given to me by Adele Outteridge for my birthday in 1998 and began my love of tea bag art.  This was the very first artist's book I owned and for me it defined what an artist's book is ...... something that has covers, pages and content.  For Adele that content has always been the space between the pages, the music formed in her work when perspex, thread and paper are orchestrated into one of her books.

Adele has taught me many different bookmaking techniques over the years.  Having been my teacher, it
felt taboo for me to work with tea bags, or with thread.  And from then until now, I have actually resisted playing with materials that have intrigued and entranced me for over a decade.  Of course thousands of artists work with thread and tea bags but out of respect for Adele, I left that area of exploration untouched.  Until recently.  You will see later in this blog my tea bag book with which I have had such fun playing.   Thread ....... well, you will see in my next blog what I have been doing with thread!  Addictive.

Here are a couple of totally delicious tea bag art pieces that I am lucky enough to own.  These are a couple of Patti Roberts-Pizzuto's daily drawings, from April this year.  I don't think I have ever seen anyone work so delicately and evocatively on tea bags.  Such simple markings yet absolutely exquisite when placed as she does over tea bags ....... I love these daily drawings of Patti's.

And here in one of my many desk clutters is a pile of tea bags awaiting the completion of my little book - part of the body of work I am working on at present called 'A Sense of Place'.  I have posted on this book before but in light of Jennifer's call to see who is doing what with tea bags, I thought I would pop it in again.  No further towards completion but something I still love to pick up ( it is so squashy and tactile) and photograph.