Nude as wallpaper - Sample Book from 2011

Goodness! Where did January go?
I was going to post images of the book I was making for the Linden Postcard Show...but time became very tight.  I started sewing the book at 2pm on the day it had to be delivered (across the other side of the city) by 5pm.  Fortunately it was a small book, coptic bound with only 12 or so signatures.  It didn;t take too long, although I had trouble getting the second cover on firmly.  It was a little looser than it should have been...but otherwise, I was very happy with the book.  If I had been thinking I could have taken a couple of pictures when I arrived...before I handed it over...I had about 30minutes to spare, as it turned out. Oh well! Hopefully I can put something up later.
But as I don't have any images of the book (called Counting Crows...or Magpies), I'll share some images of a book from a few months ago, Nude as Wallpaper - Sample Book. Nudes from Art History (some more recognizable than others) are simplified (some more than others) and printed over text from Kenneth Clark's opening paragraph from his book, The Nude.  It's side-bound with a hinged cover - like a wallpaper sample book!

Happy New Year!...and new book projects for 2012

Happy New Year to all!  I hope that 2012 will be a happy and productive one.  I've started the year very excited about being involved in Edition Four of Book Art Object. More than fifty artists have signed up to make an edition on ten books inspired by one of the 100 short story titles from Sarah Bodman's project- An Exercise for Kurt Johannessen.You can find information about it here. Artists have been allocated to groups of eight and each will take one of the titles to create an edition of artists book that will then be exchanged with other members of the group.  The title I'll be working with is A girl waiting.  No idea what I'm going to  do yet, but it suggests lots of possiblities, I think. 

I've had a couple of days off this week and so I've been able to make a start on an artist's book for the Linden postcard show.  It's to be called Counting Crows...or Magpies, and is based on the counting rhyme...One for sorrow, two for joy.  There are a number of variations... still have to decide which I'm going with.  These are gelatin prints I've been making as a first layer.  Hand-cut stamps of birds and text, as well as  collaged elements to come.  Here is a positive and the negative print of the same stencils.

When making the gelatin plate I lined the scone-tray with clingwrap so that the gelatin would be easy to remove and love the printed effect of the wrinkled surface.  





Layering is always an experiment.  Never really know whether it will work or ruin what you already have!