A Taste For Texture IV: HAPTIC

A Taste For Texture IV: HAPTIC

I have a passion for texture…don’t you?  Ideally texture you can actually touch and feel, but visual texture too. Texture, the quality of the tactile, “HAPTIC“…these inspired this body of work.

Working with the “HAPTIC“…hungry for texture, and working in layers, in Book Form.

This post is the companion piece to this one…and focuses completely on the use, meaning and essence of the term “HAPTIC“.

So enraptured by “HAPTIC“…that I was compelled to stitch it over and over, creating more HAPTIC on the pages of these conTEXTual Flag Books.

HAPTIC 1

HAPTIC 2

HAPTIC 3

Do we ever have enough HAPTIC in our lives?

The feeling of feeling. We so need to feel, I think.

I mean, I feel.

A Taste For Texture III

A Taste For Texture III

I have a passion for texture…don’t you?  Ideally texture you can actually touch and feel, but visual texture too. Texture, the quality of the tactile, “HAPTIC“…these inspired this body of work.

Working with the “Haptic“…hungry for texture, and working in layers, in Book Form.

The messaging, or text on these Flag Books was added later, and will be featured in another post.

In this flag book, the covers surfaced with soft, crumpled paper (rice paper? Don’t know- the paper was given to me-) and adhesive. Hemp cord was sewn through awl-prepared holes, then knotted to create another layer of texture over the initial resurfacing. The back  and inside covers are stitched with no knotting, creating a flatter layer of texture over the surface.

The flags are textile remnants glued onto the accordion spine embellished with raffia,  a bead, a tiny ribbon and stitching with linen thread and hemp cord. The spine is an accordion-folded piece of heavy drawing paper designed for pastels.

Crumpled tissue paper fragments were adhered to these covers, which then painted and varnished. Sewing thread was used to create the stitching through holes punched with an awl, creating the pattern and texture layered over the surface. The single strip of cloth and button were sewn on with the same thread.

The accordion spine, made from folded tagboard, was textures with tissue and adhesive like the covers, and the fabric remnant flags were adhered with adhesive.

These cover boards were textured with crumpled brown paper, and adhesive, then primed, painted and varnished to achieve a sense of solidity. The repurposed envelopes were added before the painting process, their flaps punctured with a sewing needle, with hemp cord tied through each flap. Stitched and tied bands of texture were created through stitching and  knotting hemp cord through holes prepared with an awl.

The reverse side of the knotted stitching, and an a pieces of ribbon add layers of texture to the inside covers. Flags are textile fragments that look like sample swatches, and are stitched to the accordion spine with linen thread and hemp cord at stress points.

These books become “standing” sculptures. Small in scale, but emanating meaning, feeling, and the “Haptic“…I hope. The feeling of feeling. We so need to feel, I think.

I mean, I feel.

“A Book of Ours”: Stan VanDerBeek at Black Mountain Collage

“A Book of Ours”: Stan VanDerBeek at Black Mountain Collage

Stan VanDerBeek at Black Mountain College…at The Hammer Museum‘s “Leap Before You Look” show.  Wordplay…humble materials, engaging imagery…”A Book of Ours” is a must-see…as is the whole show.

“We do not always create ‘works of art,’ but rather experiments; it is not our intention to fill museums: we are gathering experience.”  –Josef Albers

Check it out.

  

 

 

 

We Wrote The Book: Notes From the Field1

We Wrote The Book: Notes From the Field1

I am always amazed at the hunger people of all ages seem to have for not only making a book, but filling it. Often immediately. What they, You, fill it with, is called content. If you engage in this process,  you may find that the content of your book begins to resemble, uncannily, the content of your life. Or, it may just start out that way.

Whatever they, you,  fill it with, whether it be words, images, text, poetry, collage, drawings, painting, stitching, lace (!), the content created and the method, media and materials they, you, choose to use, inevitably expresses, and becomes part of, their, your, story.

I encourage a method of “Found Writing“, which may be similar to “Found Poetry”, as the process often yields up poetic self-awareness.

Makers simply respond to words, phrases and text they are drawn to, adding it to their book without self censure or judgment. The results are nothing short of remarkable: expressive, moving, and often a signpost as to the direction the maker is moving, or wants to move in their lives.

The “Flag Book” structure, invented by book artist Hedi Kyle, provides the perfect place for poetic text…

and images…cut up and reassembled in a new way through the book’s flag pages. Some content seems to be a message in a bottle, yielding up meaning as it is created and  contemplates, while some

speaks for itself, in a very direct way. No second guessing  the message here, it would seem!

Above, students busily create envelope books, which will contain an invitation to their parents to attend our end of class bookmaking event…

Some brave souls share theirs.

Sticker letters are a hit,

and translate into the family activity, which employs the humble (OK- this is a fancy one I lucked upon in our local 99 cents store) file folder. You can use the manilla ones.

I usually insist on no tape,wanting the students to learn how to glue (UHU Glue Stics are a favorite- acid-free too) and sew, but do make an exception for the joys of washi tape!

In bookmaking, as in life, you can use just about anything to tell your story. It is all grist for the storymaking mill, whether you are conscious of it or not, so, why not get started???!!! You ARE the StoryMaker!

Pushing the Envelope

Pushing the Envelope

Using the form of the envelope to create an artist’s book can be evocative, provocative,  crafty, conceptual, fun, somber, expressive, “artistic”, creative, engaging, and baffling. As with many artists’ books, the question can be raised, “What are these for? What is their purpose? Are they meant to be read, observed and perused, handled, shown behind glass?”  And in the case of the envelope book “…sent through the mail?”

I don’t presume to answer these questions, and can imagine another post which delves more deeply into them.  In this one, my  intent is to share a few of my own envelop books, the materials used in them, some of the motivation, thinking and feeling behind them, and let the observer draw their own conclusions, and perhaps becoming inpsired to explore, and even create one of their own.

Note: in this post,  we see books created in the form of an envelope…as opposed to books created from existing envelopes, which is a whole other story. Also, hemp cord was used to bind the sewn books, and acid-free UHU glue sticks were used as the adhesive for anything glued on all the books depicted.

Cutting, Folding, Stamping, Sewing…

In this book, the basic form is cut and folded, and a single signature is sewn into the last fold with a pamphlet stitch.  A single rubber stamp image stamped in varying ways is used to develop and adorn the piece, and delicate handmade paper containing plant material adds a finishing touch to the pages.

Lone Stories Connect…Discover “I Think I Can”…It’s Everything

In the piece above, the basic structure is cut and folded from a sketchbook cover, and the pages created by a concertina/accordion folded paper strip glued into its next to last section.. The collaged elements, ranging from printed material cut from magazines,  personal writing, repurposed corrugated paper, ribbon scrap and copied illustration images, tell a story of pain and isolation with the potential of redemption through connection and story.

Painfully Animal

This mini book opens on four sides, with pages sewn in a single signature into one fold. Soft handmade paper is used both for adornment and  pages, attached with a running stitch which is threaded back into the sewing holes so that the two ends can be tied together. The single message greets the viewer right in the center. What does it mean? Well, ponder it for awhile, and notice your associations with the phrase, “Painfully Animal”. What does the term evoke for You?

Mixed Media Envelope Book: Work in Progress

This mixed media message piece has been underway, along with a number of bookish siblings, for over two years.  It’s structure is cut and folded, like the first envelope book depicted in this post, and it’s graph paper pages stacked into a single signature, and sewn into the end fold with a running stitch as described above. The  painstaking, step-by-step process of developing the book’s content requires time and focused attention.

Every bit of image and text must feel ‘right’ in how it looks, what it evokes and where it is placed in the book. The ‘story’ that emerges, however non-linear, is discovered in the doing as much by the artist, as it may be later by the observer. Time itself is one of the most significant materials used, as such a piece can’t be rushed.

In these works, many aspects of the creative process come into play: patience and impulse, technique and tension, methods and materials, effort and evocation.

The medium of the envelope book may be on  a mission to become a missive to the outside world from the maker’s heart and soul, hands and head. If it gets a little heady, or crafty in-between, well, that might be just another aspect of this long strange trip we’re on.

Material Girl 3: Many Parts Create The Whole

Material Girl 3: Many Parts Create The Whole…FLAG BOOKS!

The fun and innovative Flag Book  structure can be a powerful  form to express thought, feeling and idea through word and image.

Within the flag book…there can be a

We all know that…

Above are Flag Book front and back covers..with a “found writing” title..which employs  text,  color, the font/typeface, the design, composition, and space between the words for cognitive and emotional impact.

A single word or phrase can pack the proverbial punch, when paired with color and placement.

Putting together “found” words and phrases can yield unexpected poetry…the poetic power of  Found Writing.

Found Writing can help us define our vision (or one of them…)

and give us a hitherto unknown directive of sorts.  We  find that we can advise ourselves…

within the context of numerous ideas.

The layering of words, colors, shapes and text

creates new meanings,

and may tell us something important…

about something we want,

or need

to know…

or experience…

or try….

You may find that you make a promise…to yourself…

That must be kept.

Something new…has been born.

Wave those flags!!!!

 

Material Girl 2: Many Parts Create The Whole

 

Material Girl 2: Many Parts Create The Whole

Preparing for bookmaking programs at the West Hollywood Library, the Diamond Bar Library, the Fairview Library, and the Montana Avenue Library isn’t just a labor of love…it can be pure joy.

The spread of papers of just the right thickness, ready to be folded into the versatile accordion/concertina spine.

Pages are attached to each fold of the spine. More folds = more page possibilities!

A rainbow of front and back covers cut to the same height as the spines.

“Mottled” book pages.

High contrast, and “grey on grey” spine-cover color designs. The effect can be elegant!

The glory of your basic colored construction paper…not just for kids.

Assorted papers…Japanese patterns, parchment, and ‘plain brown wrapper” card stock. Variety is the spice of life…and bookmaking!

Let’s take a closer look at those papers!  Now…what can we do with them?

Front cover design…

Use of paper heart found at “Trash for Teaching” in Los Angeles, on inside front cover.

“Fan” page designs! The pages will be attached to each fold of the spine, and will “fan” out when the book is opened by pulling the back and front covers away from each other.  The “fan” book can also be opened ‘traditionally”,by turning the cover, and moving through the pages by turning them consecutively.

Putting it all together….a family theme.

“Doors” and Windows” can be cut in pages and covers, to reveal the unexpected beneath and behind!

“Fan” pages are attached to the accordion /concertina spine, seen here in a variety of colors.

“Heart” openings on the “fan” pages  (“Windows/Doors”) reveal surprises behind and beneath…which can deepen and expand the theme of the book.

Cardboard shapes, another treasure found at Trash for Teaching, create a slight three-dimensional (“relief“) effect, and can be used to create visual frames for photos or other treasures added to the book.

Don’t we all?!!

To the Letter

To the Letter

When we think of lettering, fonts, text, and color, we don’t always think about marketing, or poetry, or decorative painting.  But the truth is, all of these things can and do work together to tell a story, communicate a brand, and create a mood.  For all of these things are more inter-related then we may think.

Cathedral School for Boys, an independent Episcopal school Founded in 1957 ,  located on the grounds of Grace Cathedral in  San Francisco  enrolls approximately 267 boys in kindergarten through eighth grade.  When their Development Director engaged me to hand paint the school’s motto and other signage, we had to think about the size and style of lettering, font, and color that would best reflect its essence.

The Development Director wanted to identify “Alumni Hall”, which holds commemorative plaques listing the names of the student body dating back to the 19560’s.  The lettering of the words had to command the wall on which they were placed, and the dates, to clearly identify each decade of  pictured. A deep, rich custom blue was designed, reflected in the existing visual identity of the School, and the font “Perpetua” was chosen, appropriately enough. (Was that a fluke? A “meant to be”…?  A so-called, “Freudian slip” ?)

The school’s motto, “Minds  Hearts  Hands  Voices” was lettered across the front of the architectural detail directly facing the front glass window, creating a potent and effective message.  Key was planning the spacing between the words, as the Headmaster wanted the look to be clean, simple and streamlined, and thus elegant. No muss, no fuss.   It was just to be those four words, after all.   Let the words do the talking, supported by their size, spacing, color and font.  The space between each word serves as a visual and aural “beat”, or resting point of space and silence, which becomes part of the motto’s overall rhythm and poetry.  Aural, because the words “speak” to us the viewer.  As we read them, we hear them inside our heads, and as we are moved to speak, recite, or chant them.  This process again supports and enhances the messaging of The School, and perhaps, the adjacent related Grace Cathedral as well.

Without being overpowering, the power of the words which embody the intent, spirit and brand, of The School communicate, while integrating perfectly into its presentation, its lobby, its front office, and its formal signage.

The architecture of the building, its purpose, where it is situated geographically, its urban and natural surroundings, and its spiritual identity and associations are also an inspiration for the aesthetic choices relating to it.

Seeking grace and maybe sometimes  finding it.  The elements of visual and literary art, architecture, design, urban planning, education, the natural world, our creative, quirky and infinitely original  imagination, these gifts are always at our disposal to feed our hungry souls, and those around us.  Here’s wishing you grace, and the ability to offer it to others, through the powers of  our own perception.

Have YOU found a moment of grace through the powers of Your own perception?

If You feel so inclined, please share about it with us here.

We love to hear from You.

Remember, we are all  finding our own manner of grace in this thing called Life, together.