Friday 15 March 2024

In This Grey Wind second edition

I have sold out of my book 'In this Grey Wind', so I decided to print a second edition. Fortunately I had a few sheets of Diana Wilbraham's paper 'blue' left for the covers and I was able to make an new edition of ten.


My book uses extracted text from 'Birds of the Grey Wind' by E A Armstrong, published in 1940. Armstrong wrote a beautiful account of his life spent bird watching in his native Northern Ireland. He describes the landscapes he visits, the knowledge he gleans from his hobby starting as a child, as well as wonderful descriptions of the birds he sees and their habitats. 


As I read the book, I picked out certain words or part sentences to form phrases or poems of my own. I wanted to create a series of poems that, when read as a whole, would form a narrative. Armstrong's writing was so beautifully written that I felt compelled to write a love story; one that would perhaps leave the reader thinking about both the relationships between humans and those between birds.


At times it was hard to focus on extracting the text because the book was so absorbing. However, I did finish it and then set about selecting and ordering my poems before printing them out, folding, cutting and binding them.


I hope to make more extracted text narratives from non-fiction and fictional books. 



'In this Grey Wind' Second edition of 10 books. 
2024



                              
                                I

                                sought out
                                the nightingale

                                the sweet air of

                                the
                                night
                                content

                                to know and love

                                attaining communion and
                                trusting implicitly

                                everything you have and are


             
  Excerpt of a page from 'In this Grey Wind'
2024


Wednesday 7 February 2024

Walking Away

I really enjoyed designing and making 'Craving', which has now sold out, so I wanted to make another similar book using the same concertina style.


I love making the drips of ink on the paper and watching them roll down to form the streaks of colour.


Also like 'Craving', the text is quite powerful. It's always interesting to see viewers responses to the texts I write. (I have had two people cry openly.) I like to share some insights into my inspiration and processes, but sometimes when people connect so readily, the text speaks for itself.



'Walking Away' Front cover
Concertina book
6 x 54cm




'Walking Away' 




'Walking Away' Inside





Sunday 4 February 2024

the birds

'the birds' is a poem of extracted text from Christie Lefteri's novel 'Songbirds'.


The story centres on two people who are connected by the fragility of life. It's a beautiful story of love and hope, and partly focusses on the illegal trapping, killing and trade of songbirds. It was the sadness and thought provoking descriptions of trapping birds that inspired me to write the poem.


The postcard began with a black and white tinted photograph looking up into a winter tree canopy. This, and the poem was inkjet printed onto 270gsm paper. I then used India ink, pen and gold leaf to create the feathers. 


The choice of gold leaf is a metaphor for the beauty of songbirds both in appearance and song, with the darkening feathers representing their fate in the mist nets. The bare, faded grey branches allude to the birds' loss of freedom and life and suggest a sense of entrapment. 


'the birds' is an edition of nine, with the first postcard belonging to the 'In Praise of Birds' World Book Night 2024 Postcard Project.


'the birds' Postcard by Clare Rogers 2024

Extracted text from
Lefteri, Christy. Songbirds. (London: Manilla Press, 2022)

Thursday 19 October 2023

Wild Bird of the Ink

Wild Bird of the Ink is a new title that I'll now be using on my blog and at book fairs.


The name came about from a prompt on social media, suggesting to use predictive text to complete the title 'My autobiography will be called....' 


I loved the choices the predictive text offered of  'wild bird of the ink' as it summed up my love of printmaking and my interest in birds! Many of my handmade artist books feature themes around birds, so it fits perfectly.


I've printed some more of my Wild Bird book marks, which will be available for free at next years book fairs.


'Wild Bird of the Ink' bookmarks
7x6cm




 

Monday 18 September 2023

Slipping through the Net

'Slipping through the Net' is a small concertina book with a poem inspired by a failed attempt to get an appointment at an NHS GP surgery.


I wrote the text to illustrate the sense many people feel of being forgotten or disregarded, as the UK struggles with the decline in NHS services.


One side of the book was made by monoprinting a piece of scrim (loosely woven net) on cartridge paper. The other side was a monoprint of textures from Anaglypta wallpaper. The ink is a mix of Prussian Blue and Bone Black.


The text is Avenir 10pt and was inkjet printed on newsprint paper, then cut and glued into the pages. 

The book measures 6 x 48cm.



'Slipping through the Net' title page



'Slipping through the Net' inside



The poem inside reads:

when did it start
this slipping

a shift
quiet in its carelessness

a lapse
a miscalculation

an oversight
of my own omission
or theirs

and anonymity named me

as the net gently
tracelessly

let me through




Tuesday 28 March 2023

World Book Night 2023

I'm delighted to be a contributor to World Book Night this year, held at UWE, Bower Ashton, Bristol. 


The theme is 'We Remember'; a collection of shared memories, building a whole new mood of collective remembering.


My two handmade artist books 'Shadow Locations I' and 'Shadow Locations II' have been added to the collection and, after the exhibitions, will be in the permanent library archive at Bower Ashton.


Each book briefly describes a memory I have of a place I visited as a child, but the memory is vague, with sketchy details. There is no-one alive who is able to confirm the accuracy of my memory. I find this fragility of mind an interesting concept.


There have been 112 entries from twenty five different countries.


The exhibition opens on Friday 21st April, in time for World Book Night on Sunday 23rd April, and will run until Friday 30th June. It will then transfer to the Hong Kong Design Institute from July 30th - 30th September.


The books can be viewed via Instagram or UWE:

https://www.instagram.com/lsp_books/

https://www.bookarts.uwe.ac.uk/news/#WBN2023


'Shadow Locations I & II'


Inside 'Shadow Locations I & II'







Monday 20 February 2023

The Museum of Loss: The Life Story of Winifred Fifield

I've had another browse through all the files, scrolls and paperwork that my mother produced through her family history research and I came across this story about Winifred Fifield who was born in 1891.


It's an interesting story, not least because Winifred was a 'Bernardo's Child' and was sent to Canada to begin a new life. The reason's behind her departure, at the age of five, and the continuing story of her life are fascinating.


The story makes a fifth addition to the series 'The Museum of Loss', which is all about my family history.




The Life Story of Winifred Fifield
A 'Bernardo's' Child
2023
Cover: A6 inkjet printed on 175gsm Artcard in Real Grey




Inside: Inkjet printed on newsprint