Traffic flag book

Anyone who has lived near Baton Rouge since Katrina knows the traffic flow problems on the interstates there. One big wreck can shut the interstate system down for the afternoon, so I began carrying food and water in my car in case we were ever stranded. It happened with alarming frequency while I was living there. In true Louisiana fashion, I decided to poke fun at the situation with this book. One of the things that I really miss about LA is the sense of humor.

The covers of this book are painted museum boards.

And when you open it, the flags open up and point out in two directions. I drew cartoons of people stuck in traffic, with dogs barking and drivers taking a nap. There were times you just had to turn the engine off, and wait, and it could be for hours if it was a large wreck.

I know there are commissions studying the situation right now. The interstate there was simply not designed to handle the traffic patterns that have developed post-Katrina.  I hope they can find a solution.

A Very, very small book!

A long time ago I wrote that I had made a very small book. Sometimes, it is fun to just play, and see what you can do. I wanted to see how small a hard cover could be, so I made this accordion book with a G. M. Hopkins quote.

This little book is 1" by 1 1/2". It falls into the corners of my box of finished books, and gets lost. I love foundational calligraphy, so I used that in a single line on both sides of the paper, with illustrations of wild roses. The paper is luscious Arches Text wove, and the covers are museum boards covered with Thai Uruyu paper. This is one of my favorite books!

I will be posting more of my book art over the next few weeks. It's the original reason I started to blog, so I want to get back to sharing it. The more I write, the more I love book art. Book art, I think, also uses both sides of the brain- the left to measure and plan, the right to accommodate whimsy and illustrate. I think it also brings me back to childhood, and the joy I felt making books on greenbar computer paper. Joy is something we should celebrate... we do not have enough of it in this world.

Regina Caeli book

Here is an artist's book I made a few years ago. At the time, I was grappling with the concept of home. I had watched my family go through Katrina, and I had moved away from homes that I had loved. I came to the conclusion that it really is true that our home is in Heaven. Everything else is temporary.

This is a joyful book, though. The realization that we have a home that will not be lost or changed is a joyful one. The prayer is for the time of the year after Easter, and so it reflects that deep joy. The book form is one I learned in Alisa Golden's Painted Paper. She mentions other artists who sent her books with this form, and calls it a Woven Accordion Book. I thought the prayer fit beautifully into the form.

The ties are iridescent and silver ribbons, and the background is painted with interference and pearl acrylics. These types of specialty paints just don't seem to photograph well. Their effects are striking, especially with a subject matter like this. I painted it on Arches watercolor paper, so it is a very solid form. I tried to alternate lighter pages with darker ones for contrast.

It is one of my favorite books.

It is funny how I can look at artwork I've created, and remember exactly what I was thinking at the time.

Origami folder

I'm working on a Cosmos Ball origami project, from Meenakshi Mukerji's book, Marvelous Modular Origami. This project requires folding thirty small units of paper to make a beautiful ball. I have previously made the Poinsettia Ball from this book, and enjoy seeing it on top of my bookshelf. It is beautiful.

I needed a way to corral all those little pieces of paper, so I decided to make a folder. I found a heavy decorative paper in my stash, collaged on some end-piece offcuts of wrapping paper that I am using for the origami, and used washi tape as a way to decoratively secure it all. After that, I added a bit of cheerful calligraphy. Here is what I came up with!

You can see that I just folded the paper in half, and then folded the sides in a bit. Then I folded up a pocket on the bottom. The sides were then secured with the tape.

I really like this folder! I can use it to bring my origami with me if I have to go somewhere I know I will have to wait.  Thirty pieces of paper is a lot to fold. I can't do it all in one sitting. And I really want to try the 90 unit dodecahedron she has in the book... that's quite a lot of folding! Folding is relaxing for me, and I like to take my time and enjoy it.

The little offcuts are from a wrapping paper that I found the other day. It's a roll of Hallmark paper, and the back is printed in a 1" grid. Many of the models I have been making use rectangles instead of squares. This is a big time saver.

I hope to post a few more projects in the coming days. Hope this week is a beautiful one for you!

Around the Corner

Open any book of quotations, and you will find a lot of G. K. Chesterton. He was a master of wit, and there are so many quotable sayings in his writings. Most of them are long, though, and difficult for a quick calligraphy project. This quote spoke to me at this particular stage of my life, and I decided to try to do something with it, even though my paper was only 9x12.

It says, "There is one thing that gives radiance to everything. It is the idea of something around the corner."

Chesterton was an inherent optimist. I think it shows in this quote, and it is a sentiment I share.

The quote is lettered in a very chunky Italic. It really is too chunky for my taste, but again, I was limited by the size of my paper, and by the size of the pen. I used a Parallel Pen on Strathmore multimedia paper. You can see the hint of shine in the gold acrylic paint I swirled around it, and the center is a graphite rub. The Parallel Pen is wonderful for a spontaneous project, since there is no setup or cleanup involved. I keep one filled with Higgins Eternal ink for quick projects like this.

I also wanted to try a new calligraphy style, something more modern. Since I was already working with Chesterton quotes, I chose another one, and again lettered it with the same parallel pen. The script is (very!) loosely based on John Stevens's Latina. My practice paper was thin, and not conducive to the gymnastics required to do this script justice. I would like to try it again on better paper. It was fun to play around with.

These were fun to do, if not serious attempts at refined calligraphy. What a wonderful way to spend an icy afternoon! If I get around to redoing these, I will post it here.