the allure of books...

so...
i've been making these book pages every so often when i'm in the mood to paint or draw but don't want to start another big project. i've got too many going as it is. it's really just a way to indulge my romantic fascination with books and book-making and zines (i'm expecting a few more of those little sweeties in the mail this week! YAY!). hopefully, i'll one day end up in a place or mindset when i can really utilize this fascination toward my own aims but right now it's purely for fun and i have no clue what i'll end up doing with them. i'm happy to just watch the portfolio i've got them in get fatter and fatter. here's a few of my favorites:








they're all done on tracing paper that has been folded in half and then glued together. i liked being able to use the transparency of the paper to my advantage and work from every side of the paper, allowing marks made on the back to show through to the surface. gluing them together is what gives them this wrinkled, aged look that i really enjoy. the last one is yet another study for "witch of the bayou". i am such a nerd! :)

but you know, art for art's sake is always a good thing. i've got no real expectations other than using these pieces as a way to explore ideas and learn more about what books can be. so many of my favorite artists are print-makers and book-makers - kiki smith and anselm kiefer to name just two. i think there's such an enormous value in working within this format and i guess i'm currently exploring its limits and potentials. plus, i am completely in love with making little keepsakes and small, precious one-of-a-kind things.

artist books are awesome and one day i'll have enough of these pages to create my own. it seems natural given my complete love for the written word, text-based art, and the influence writers have had on my art practice in general.

poems, painting, and the problem of memory...

i've spent the day so far (up since 4:30 am) alternating between painting and reading the complete poems of anne sexton... which means i have also been alternating between moments of exquisite joy and the torture of reliving old, bad memories. nevertheless, a wonderful day!

the oil paintings are coming along quite nicely and should be finished sometime during the next 2 weeks. i also started a new canvas based on this study:




study for 'the fall'
11" x 7 1/2"
acrylic and graphite on paper
2008

the canvas is 3 feet square (so it'll be a few weeks before i'm done) and so much fun to work on. i've been wrapped up in smaller works on paper for weeks now and it feels wonderful to go big.

this image is largely inspired by another painting i'm working on for rana kelly's 'witch of the bayou'. i'm still so struck by her story that i feel compelled to respond to it visually. the task will be to do the story justice. the paintings need to be thoughtful. they need to mirror how gruesome, how beautiful, and how haunting the story is.

Rana Kelly - Witch of the Bayou - read it!

on one of my all-night, who-knows-how-or-why, coffee fueled internet adventures, i stumbled across an author whom i absolutely adore! Rana Kelly! i found her short story 'witch of the bayou' hidden among the free mini-books (you print them out yourself) at featherproof.com and fell instantly in love. i actually kissed the cover when i finished reading it. nerdy, i know, but absolutely deserved! i won't leak any of the details of the story, but if you're a fan of southern gothic or possess a secret fascination with voodoo, Rana Kelly's story will not merely satisfy, it'll astound. over night, literally, she has become one of my favorite writers. print yourself a copy. seriously. her work is amazing. send fan mail. great art needs to be supported, even if the only support one can offer is a kind word or note of appreciation.

i've always been impressed with writers. it's hard work. i've tried several times to write a short story but after a few weeks of headaches and heartache, i'd re-read what i had written and been tragically disappointed. captivating an audience with printed words is a talent i've not yet been able to hone. maybe one day. but until then, i'm happy to be in the audience. stumbling across great writing, when it happens, is the highlight of my day.