more on 'ode to fallen angels' ....

I have had lots of time in the studio this week ..... unproductive time mostly.  I have been re thinking Fiona's and my next collaboration, trying to find a realistic outlook for my book making, waiting for energy and inspiration to grip me and send me hungrily to larger work.  Very little of this has actually happened, though today I think I have found a way forward on my 'ode to fallen angels' book.

This work started its life as three engravings - too personal for anyone but myself!  I decided last week to cut the prints down into book pages (thank you to all of you who left lovely comments on that posting) and they have been lying there waiting for me to fill in the story.  It needed to be dark and heart felt, secret and unrevealing ...... full of buried emotion.  I think I am resolving this piece now.  Will post again when the book is finished.

fourth date .....

You cannot imagine the excitement this morning when Fiona brought over her book for the 'date'.  This was our fourth bookmeet and we both feel totally thrilled with the result of these two books.

I am just including a few pics of the books together as tomorrow I will post on my book, as will Fiona on hers. I need to say this though - these books both really need to be handled to experience them properly.  The complete delight I had in Fiona's finished book cannot really be appreciated - though I am sure she will do her best to share with you photographically - unless you are able to view the book and see how the cutouts in the concertina spine reflect the light in star shaped patterns and then the wonderful surprise when the book is open up and around ....... I will leave that for Fiona to share.  I can say without reserve that of all the books she has made, I like this one best.

I am not going to say too much about mine or the collaborative experience until I post tomorrow as it will be the last post from my studio for some weeks.  Hope you drop in tomorrow!

Starry Starry Night x 2

the two books sit well together

nice play between the books

shadow play

front covers and Fiona's Book wrap on top - interesting to see her blue black book on my brown black one.

artist's book exhibition and bookplates unbound .....

Yesterday I spent a wonderful afternoon down in Brisbane - a double exhibition.  Book Plates Unbound and a marvellous Artist's Book Exhibition.  You will see the invitation that was sent out by Wim and Adele at the end of this post and if you have the chance to visit this exhibition in the next week, take it.  There is some really amazing work there - very beautiful, very varied, often surprising and definitely worth a visit.

I have the privilege of knowing a number of the artists represented in the exhibition but there were some I did not not know and wow, I will certainly be watching for their work down the track.  More of that later.

Firstly, Book Plates Unbound.  This was a project conceived by Gael Phillips and Wim de Vos in which 31 Queensland artists took part.  We were each asked to produce a book plate, print 40 of them and submit them with an Artist's Statement.  These book plates were then tipped on mount paper and boxed with separate statements and translucent paper interleaves.  The resulting boxed set is stunning - beautiful to handle and presented very professionally in Solander boxes which have been stamp printed.  I will actually post on my copy of this edition during the week.

Below you can see the book plates hanging so we could all have a good look.  A lovely variety of images and each image very indicative of the type of work each artist makes.  I am honoured to have contributed to the project and will always cherish my edition.  

This is a display of the plates which were used to print the book plates and they are very beautiful in their own right.

The entertainment was marvellous - pity their was no room to dance!

Here is a glimpse of just some of the work in the exhibition - I didn't photograph many details of pieces because  I don't think it is my right to do so, but just to whet your appetite and hopefully send you scurrying along to see the work in detail - here are a few peeks.

books by Adele Outerridge

book by Grahame Bligh

tunnel books by Wim de Vos

books to be opened and enjoyed

Fiona Medhurst - Silhouettes 

two books by Glenda Orr

a couple of my books and others

two photos with details of Philomena Drakes'  Old Stuff and New Stuff

Wim's Chrysler Building book

another of Philomena's books

There were so very many books here that completely captured my imagination.  I am only going to mention a few and one of those must be about my absolute favourite book - Silhouettes by Fiona Medhurst. I often talk about keeping it simple - not over working images.  Not that I manage this all the time and I am sure some of my work looks quite laboured.  This book by Fiona is the very essence of simplicity.  Linocut images in black and white printed on a page of semi transparent printing paper, the same forms used again in a different arrangement on the page below and so on.  Some of the pages have one form picked out in red and in varying degrees, images from the pages below show through forming a gorgeous poetic dance of fluid form.  To me it is the essence of simplicity and beauty combined.

Another work which captured my imagination was Mena's (Philomena Drake) work Old Stuff  New Stuff  is another such simple book - simple in concept I would say but very intricate in the binding which she said  Adele helped her work out  - a  very old fashioned form of coptic binding which was necessary to get through the pieces of cedar wood.  I guess I was drawn to this piece initially because of the rusty bolts and wood, but the more time I spent with it, the more I noticed.

An artist whose work I did not know and now will watch out for is that of Glenda Orr.  Initially I was drawn to her folded book Log Forest - a very strong piece folded down from a single print. However, next to that was her boxed, unbound book the title of which I am ashamed to say I don't remember.  I remember her prints and embossings within however and these just need to be seen.  Exquisite, detailed use of aquatint and such perfect embossing that I am completely envious. I would dearly loved to have photographed some of these to share with you but as I said earlier, I didn't  feel I have the right.

Though I have on written about a few, there were many, many wonderful pieces both in the artist's book exhibition and in the Book Plates Unbound.

A few of the books were chosen to be bought for the State Library Collection of Artist's Book by Helen Cole, and I feel honoured that one of my books was amongst those chosen.  A good day for me all in all.

________________________________________________________________________________

Hello Everyone,

You are invited to our exhibition opening at 2.00pm, Saturday 24^th November 2012 (see attachment for details).

Bookplates Unbound, a project initiated by Gael Phillips and Wim de Vos will be opened by Anne Jolly from Novel Lines bookshop, Paddington

Artists’ Books, work from the Studio West End ‘family’ will be opened by Helen Cole, Senior Librarian, Coordinator, Australian Library of Art, State Library of Queensland

Both exhibitions will be open daily for viewing daily 10.00am to 4.00pm until Sunday 2^nd December

Also attached is the brochure for our 2013 Summer Workshop in Printmaking, Book arts, Drawing and Painting which starts on Monday 7^th January.

You may enrol for one, two or three weeks starting whichever week suits.

It will be an exciting three weeks of learning and creativity...............and fun too............

Enrolments are open now. We look forward to hearing from you.

Regards

Adele and Wim

If you wish to unsubscribe please let me know.

Adele Outteridge Wim de Vos

Studio West End

35 Mollison St, West End, Qld, 4101, Australia.

Phone/fax 07 3844 8469 (+61 7 3844 8469)

J = 60

My friend Julia is turning 60 shortly - a big party being organised by her children with friends dating back forever!  Julia is one of those incredibly special people who makes friends with everyone, finds time to enjoy and help them all and never seems to lose touch with those who have become her friends. She is beautiful.

am planning to add this envelope and embossing to the top of the solander box

a selection of scrumptious papers

two tags - one with a J and one with the magic 60 - which just dangle on the book

I have had a few weeks of making rather than creating - though there is plenty of that waiting in the wings.  It has been good to have this time to tick a number of 'to do's' off the list.  My contribution to the 'talent' section of this day, is to create this book which I hope everyone who is there at the party will manage to write in for J. It is housed in a solander box which will have room to store cards and mementos as well as the book.  I have used a gorgeous piece of marbled paper, amidst others, to make this book.  It was made by Steph McLennan and was purchased by me at her Open Studio this time last year.  She is one of the many who will be opening her studio doors to the public during the Open Studios programme here on the Range through to the first weekend in October. Her studio is really worth the visit, hidden as it is down a looong drive and nestled in a wonderful garden. Her work is delightful and the Studio warmly welcoming.

marking (making) time .......

I have been unwell - a rotten winter for it really and it seems to have gone on for ages.  This last week the worst and hopefully soon will turn the corner.  I mention this because I am not doing my usual posting, nor have I been feeling like anything creative.  I think this happens to us all when we are unwell and creativity slips out the door.

I have actually kept busy and distracted though and caught up on the 'making' of a couple of  promised bits and pieces that I hadn't made time for previously.  Steve's daughter Karly married Doug, a Scotsman, a few months ago and I have been wanting to make a special wedding book of their day ... something intimate and personal.  This was finally completed - after about eight long days of work beginning with looking through 1300 professional photographs of the wedding and deciding which ones to use.  I also had said, months and months ago that I would make Karly a perspex box for her shells .... something that could sit on the coffee table as an art piece ..... something with room enough to collect more.  The box is lidded rather than sealed as this way more shells can be added.

Both these projects are finished and can be crossed off the 'to do' list.  Some times being ill can be a good thing!

I used a heavyweight Magnani cotton paper - 350 gsm for the pages which have either been embossed or cut into to frame the photos.  I left the pages open until after the book was sewn and then each doubled folio was stuck down.  This meant I used both sides of the paper and it meant a huge amount of measuring and cutting to make sure all the photos were properly framed.  The book is coptic bound with perspex covers and then I also made a perspex slip case which gives a lovely contemporary feel to the book.  Gosh I hope they like it.  They will be up over the weekend staying with us so I will pass it on then.

Hopefully next week will see me more creative in the studio but it has been marvellous to get some of the 'making' completed.

my stash from fiona .....

I should be washing and ironing, preparing for my trip to Sydney tomorrow morning but I have just come home from Fiona's where me met briefly to hand over the papers we had prepared for the other to turn into our next collaborative book.  I have been completely distracted from the 'must do's' (not sure about the punctuation there!) and absorbed by thinking about our next project.  A gorgeous distraction indeed.

This is the stash I brought home.  Some very subtle almost marbled papers in soft grey inks.  Beautiful patterns emerging on these papers.  A large sheet of Arches and a slightly smaller sheet of transparent paper over which Fiona has written - in some instances very loosely with thick graphite sticks and then also in her fine script.  And there's more ........... some metallic ink, thread and a couple of metallic pens should I choose to work with these as well.

Once again there are few rules.  We have swapped papers, given each other a starting point for the next books.  We can choose the structure and the content of the books - we need not use all the paper we have been given.  My first thought is that I want to work with everything Fiona has given me as that is part of the challenge, and the fun.

Driving home, I remembered the metal book covers I have been holding onto for a number of years and was able to lay my hands on them in the studio which in itself is a miracle.  Using one of these may work well I think.  I also have joss paper lying around and love the silver in that too ..... it may find a place in the book.  I also found some gorgeous thread which works in very well with this bundle and it too may find its way into the book.

This time we have given our pages to each other a couple of weeks before we spend the day together working into the pages.  I am glad as it means we have a chance to give more thought to various options in both structure and content.

Fiona has given me words to play with.  Of course.  They are beautiful.  She has chosen words that reflect our working together - gifts, wonder, kindred spirit.  Whether I choose to work with those words or leave them as a visual subtlety I have no idea yet.  Plenty of time to wonder about that ......

Our next day working together, this time in my studio in Montville, will be on the 6th July and I am sure we will both be posting all the details of the day. I can't wait!

road trip book - journal

I was able to revisit a little journal I made a couple of years ago when I visited Wim and Del in their studio last week.  Sitting up high and dusty on a shelf, I was able to bring it down and take a few photos.  I should absolutely be more diligent about taking photos of my work.  I think blogging will help as I take photos now of both the making of a book or artwork, and then photograph the final piece.  This has not always been my practice though....

I made this book as a journal - titled 'road trip' hoping that some one would take it on one of their trips and write in it, thus adding to its character. White ink on the black and visa versa.  As it is, it works quite well in its perspex box as a little sculpture.  Maybe one day it will have a story to tell inside.

The partial partitions in the perspex box I made, allow the hinged ends to fan out.

Lots of threads left dangling .

Not how it is meant to sit but this is the way Wim has it standing up on a shelf in the studio.

The Studio - brisbane ....

Yesterday I had the chance to slip down to Brisbane and catch up with dear friends Adele and Wim.  It should have been last Friday - we usually go out and celebrate their birthdays in May as they are two weeks apart, but mum ended up in emergency ..... and thus plans change!  We all know about that.

This is Wim de Vos, the man who taught me to be a printmaker way back in 1998 in The Studio , and I still spend time there occasionally for masterclasses.  Adele Outteridge shares this studio space and teaches book arts.  It was Del who started my passion for bookmaking and artist's books.  Quite a change from the drawing and painting that had previously been my focus.

Wim has just come back from months travelling overseas and with a mind and heart full of incredible experiences and visual memories and he is now bringing some of those into a creative reality in the form of books. The one seen here is a tunnel book of the Ghetto in Venice.  I took a number of photos but decided that when Wim is ready, he will be showing off his marvellous book and I did not want to preempt that unveiling.  Suffice to say, it is quite brilliant, as his work is - please take time out to see some of their work in The Studio link provided above.

This colourful array is the beginning of another book of Wim's to do with the Red Light District in Amsterdam.  Can't wait to see it finished.  Once he is exhibiting these works I am sure he will be happy for me to photograph and post the images.

In previous posts I have talked about the DaD project initiated by Adele in 1998 - and I am pretty sure that as a comparison to my poor attempts to draw each day of the year since then, I mentioned Wim and 

Del and their dedication to the project.  Here is a photo of the bookcase holding the many, many volumes of Wim's drawing a day journals. Oh, I am so envious of his discipline.  His journals are not only a reflection of what is happening in his life each day, but a reflection on what is happening currently in the world of politics and shenanigans in public life.  He often draws from things that are happening globally or locally for his daily drawings.  Many of the bits and pieces in front of his drawings were brought back from his last trip.

Now I could have taken hundreds of photos of Adele and here beautiful books, but would not do so without her being present, or without her permission.  She was off during the day doing a book binding week at the State Library with Keith Smith and Scott McCarney who are out here from America.  I did ask her for permission to use a few photos I took of 'stuff' in the studio.  These books are just some of the 'stuff' piled into cubicles - certainly not Del's masterpieces which are beautifully displayed and housed around The Studio.  Not mine to show you though .... maybe one day.  You will have a glimpse of her talent looking at their website.

And this is for Jennifer who reads my blog whenever I post and is usually the very first to comment - this is their  'stuff' wall.  Wim and Del are masters of 'stuff' and ever since I have known them, have been collecting and filling perspex boxes (which Wim makes) and creating this wall between their personal space and the teaching area.  Each box would make a photo in its own right - full of the comical and the whimsical, the interesting and the memory collections.  Talk about lust and envy.

Just everywhere in The Studio is something to look at ......... and enjoy.

And here, up on the shelf, is one of my books that Wim bought from one of my Open Studio Days.  The black and white book on the left, in its perspex box.  The book is titled 'Road Trip' and as I had shamefully not done so before its sale, I took the opportunity to photograph it yesterday while in The Studio.  I will write about it at a later date.

 Well, some days lately have been sad or stressed, but yesterday was a day full of colour, fun and friendship.  We dined last night on a Japanese Banquet which was delicious and then though I drove back up to Montville (an hour and a half north of Brisbane) - it felt as if I rolled!