26/52 'my little black and white book' and 27/52 'tis not always black and white' ....

The two books are simple - no artistic content but are lovely playthings.  Both are small as they are part of the collection which will fit the perspex compartment box I have.  This one, pictured above and below, has a greybeard cover and I have used a zercal bookmaking paper with beautiful tengujo paper which I have printed with engraved plates.  The paper is so soft and delicious but very slippery to sew.

As is often the case, the photographs of objects can become a thing of beauty themselves and sometimes the photographs are way more beautiful than the object one is photographing.

This book is way more graphic than the first and is made up of remnants of etching proofs and rusted and then white ink printed papers.  I have also included some splattered papers and so the whole effect is more sculptural and graphic.

A digital play - just because I can!  The shadow reminds me of a butterfly.

20/52 'posted' .....

About five years ago my children visited Japan together, skiing I think, and Tim actually  came home with  a  number  of  perspex  boxes for me  which  he  had  purchased.   One of  them was/is  a  4 x 4 compartment box allowing for sixteen books to be displayed.  I have been waiting since then to come up  with  an idea  to  fill those spaces  and now that I am at week 20 of my 52  week  project,  I  have decided that sixteen of my books can be housed in this perspex framework.  

This is the first of those 16 to be housed (in fact it may be more as I may add multiples of books at a time) in this way.  I am anticipating that most of these books will be sculptural, or at the very least photograph worthy and not necessarily have artistic content inside the book.  This is quite rare for me as I have always used the 'book' as a vehicle for my artwork.

The book was made using cut down postcards with a simple coptic binding.  It is quite lovely to handle as it is small and fluid in the hand though I think that the photographs do it more justice than it deserves.

15/52 'deep connections' .....

When thinking about the making of this book about connections I was thinking about threads and the Chinese thought that those who are destined to meet are connected by a red thread.  For me though, I feel like deep connections are more like bundles - concepts with more substance and weight.  

I think those bundles are filled with stories or our lives, those things that are most important to us or impact on us, a bundle full of emotions that are revealed over time, often just fragments of tales rather than the whole.  A complex weighty mix that connects two people.

I am sure I could work with greater depth on this subject but once again, time has been short this week and so though a book is made  an idea is created for exploration at a later date.  Maybe.

This book reads in both directions - I drew it in one way, and then when I stuck the ends down into the fold back covers from the accordion below, I embossed my mark on the end page before realising that I had the work upside down.  I actually like it both ways so have embossed my mark on both ends.  Simple solution.

Some books are just fun to play with and to photograph.  This is one of those where shadows and light play powerfully with the negative space.  I decided against sewing the two concertina layers together which means when the book is upright, you can 'read' the back of the page as well.  The background is an engraving print which I often use in this manner - as a layer upon which to build.  The artwork as such was done with French Conte crayon which is deliciously creamy and can be worked from rich darks to translucent.

The soft creamy yellow is from the lighting and not part of my work but it reminds me very much of Rosemary Gascoyne's pallet and is inspiring me to intentionally introduce some of this soft yellow to my work.

shag point boulders .....

Surprisingly, not many people seem to find their way to the Shag Point boulders - in fact Steph and I had been to Shag Point already and had a lovely though incredibly windy explore and did not know they were there.  One of the locals who knew we were visiting artists, asked if we had discovered them and told us how to find them when we said we had not.  Even then a local lady had to help us find the entry point down to these treasures.

You will see from the photos these boulders and the colours here on the rock platform where they are to be found, are quite different and though they lack the symmetry of their more famous brothers they are quite beautiful.  The complete thrill was having a numbers of hours alone along this stretch of coast - not a soul to be seen.  You would think that was the same with the last set of photos you saw, but they were carefully taken amidst numbers of other visitors, or by being the almost first on the beach before sunrise and then late in the evening on other nights.  Certainly there are less people at Moeraki early and late in the day, but we were never there alone and somehow, that makes a difference.

Here at Shag Point you see fossil markings which are quite beautiful.

And because it was still early in the day and the tide was just receding, there were beautiful patterns of light on the rims of channels.

The boulders here seem to be rising up out of the bedrock.  Though on later photos you can clearly see small ones being birthed out of the cliff wall.

Glorious, and quite different colourings.

The birthing of smaller boulders.

I love the colours in this heart shaped puddle and the rock wall behind .... more like clay wall really.

Babies birthing - about 50 cms or thereabouts across.

You can still see how the water is on the rock platform creating these magnificent patterns in a myriad of colours.

I love this row of boulders .... baby boulders.  They were only about 50 to 70 cms high.

I had in mind to walk as far as those boulders at the end of this view but had already been away from Steph for quite some time and thought she may be worried.  Why, you may ask?  As I said the tide was going out but groups of very large waves still seemed be crashing through around this point and many a time I had to scurry onto higher ground .... usually one of the boulders, while watching the water well around me.  Quite beautiful and just a little scary. I do hasten to add I would not have been out there in the first place had it been an incoming tide ..... just in case you are thinking I am completely irresponsible. 

At this point, seeing those all too large washes pouring over the boulders, I tucked away my adventurous spirit in favour of a more sensible minded, long over due, grown up caution!

And headed back to where I had left an hour previously as the waters subsided giving me an exit path...

 One of many inspiring pieces of seaweed thrown up along the shore - still catching that early light.

And I returned back to my adventure starting point where I had left Steph who I had envisaged painting and blissfully unaware of the time, to find she had found this poor little baby yellow eyed penguin, whose arm on the other side seemed quite damaged, and had been trying to phone and organise his rescue.  She had also managed to do some painting but had been distracted by the plight of this terrified little fellow who was far from home.

This isn't yet the end of my photographs, but is enough for now.  I am keeping some of those 'arty' shots for the next post and then hopefully will be posting on studio activity.

It was blissful coming home and realising that the manic busyness of the last six months was over and that I could now settle down and work towards the Exhibition later this year.  There are many things I am wanting to work on and explore and I hope after this restful and creative break, the ideas in my head will be retrievable.

moeraki boulders .....

home again last night ...

there are no words for this post

my soul connects deeply to this sacred place

moeraki's boulders

at all times of tide and day

my favourites are near and at the end

more tomorrow on the shag point boulders - a completely different feel.

(the colours are true to life)