Wednesday, December 19, 2007

That Which I Believe
& a Miscellany of Self

This was for English Senior Seminar. The class that was based on gambling/chance in literature and life but somewhat more about "What do you really know about life?" A class about truth, what is truth, what is true, chance in believing my truths over your truths over his truths. This book (enshrined in its own box ) was a response to the questions above - a book of my truths.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Artist Trading Cards

These cards (one for each letter of the alphabet) were inspired by my affinity for travel. Two nearly exact sets were made - one I kept, the other was traded for cards of others in my Image/Text class. Each card has a map background, a handwritten letter and a travel related word typed onto wire-laid paper all glued to a set of playing cards. This project was entirely fun to do and one of my favorite things that I have done.

Ships Sail Away

This journal was made for a close friend and was used as a travel journal. It is leather bound, hand stitched with ribbon tie. The inlay image is a ship from an old map and an ink and gold leaf pen doodle.

Monday, December 17, 2007

Tea Time

Earl Grey is brewing quickly like the words on my tongue
when it drips dreamily through my veins
it sustains me like our warm and easy conversation

This limited edition accordion fold, butterfly book (May '06) was inspired by my love of the small luxury of tea. I made eight of them for Mother's Day for special women in my family. Included in the book: a brewing tea how-to, tea facts, the poem above and an additional poem. All photos are ones I took of my mother's tea pots and cups. Also included is a pull-out sheet of "tea" in six different languages and in the back another pocket containing a tea bag. The cover is solid wood blocks covered in fabric with a ribbon closure.

A side note: I drank some glorious tea one winter afternoon in Bath, England. It just so happens that the tea is available through their website for those interested. My favorite - winter blend. http://www.gillards.co.uk/

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

My Imagination Come to Life...

This mural is my most recent artistic endeavor. I was hired to paint a mural for a girl’s bedroom, something enchanted. The end result is a mélange of the stories and visions of my childhood, quaint forests of my journeys abroad, and of course that green tree-lined avenue of my mind. You might meet glowing faeries or perhaps a unicorn on your way down the shaded pathway to the castle. The mural is done in acrylic paint and is approximately 14 x 8 feet. The windows in the tree are about the size of a half dollar and the castle is smaller than a quarter.

Sunday, October 7, 2007

Envelope Journals

I loved making these journals - they are inspired by my passion for letter writing and the excitement of receiving a thick, meaty envelope.

Post Voyage Box

After we traveled to London together, I made this box for a good friend. I used some elements from the trip including some photos taken by her as well as a British map, a tube map, a poem by Wordsworth from a vintage book, some coins, stamps, and inspiration from the voyage like the gothic arch frame on the front. The journal she used on the trip fits nicely in the box. Ephemera from the trip can feel at home in this cigar box turned shrine.

Travel Journal in a Box

This box is designed to be a travel companion. Record memories, mental snapshots, or sketches in the journal. Glue in ticket stubs, maps, or other ephemera in the journal or on the box. Or, use the box to keep ephemera. Take it with you where ever you go. Complete with journal, pencils, sharpener, and glue.

Box cover images from 1926 Illustrated Guide to Bath and vintage map of Paris. Journal is hand bound and covered using images from a map of Bath, England from a 1926 Illustrated Guide to Bath. 50 pages

Sunday, August 19, 2007

A Room of One's Own

Virginia Woolf expressed that "a woman must have money and a room of her own if she is to write fiction." Money for the "the power to contemplate." A room with a lock on the door to "think for oneself" and to utterly be oneself. She wrote: "By hook or by crook, I hope that you will possess yourselves of money enough to travel and to idle, to contemplate the future or the past of the world, to dream over books and loiter at street corners and let the line of thought dip deep into the stream." Woolf's ideas transcend many creative realms - fiction, poetry, melodies, art. This is my room (on a very clean day). I paint in this room. I read and write. I forge books and stitch their spines. And on occasion I turn off all the lights save an amber one and I develop film and photos. This is my room...

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Sprucing up Snapshots

Recovered Photo Albums - fill with journeys and destinations; inspire wanderlust.

Folios for a Friend

This is a travel journal I made for a friend for her semester abroad in France: handmade with a distressed green/black leather and toile fabric.


Addressing a Passion:
Handmade Address Books

If you love the art of writing letters, you should have an address book as brilliant as the greetings you send. I hand forged these address books combining my passions of bookmaking and correspondence. The covers are genuine leather. All letter dividers are hand painted or hand written. The books are hand constructed down to the binding.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

Pulp to Paper

The smaller frame is called a deckle and holds the pulp to a size and shape. After water drains from screen, the deckle is removed and then the paper is transferred onto a damp, absorbent felt and put in a press.

Watermarks

Watermarks are made using 28-32 gauge wire shaped into desired design and attached to wire frame or screen with string. Fibers settle around shape and design is imprinted onto paper. After paper has been pressed, the watermark leaves no indentation but it visible when held up to light. Traditionally, watermarks were used to distinguish paper types as well as paper makers.