Kitty Jay

The book Kitty Jay was inspired by the local Dartmoor legend of Kitty Jay.

Orphaned and given the name Jay, Kitty Jay found work in the kitchen and fields on a farm on Dartmoor. Despite being poor, she attracted the attentions of a local man, who, after she became pregnant, abandoned her. Fearing a life in the workhouse, Kitty took her own life and, because of her suicide, was buried at a crossroads on the edge of the moor. Her restless spirit is said to haunt the area and legend states that her grave is never without fresh flowers.

I extracted text from TS 'Legendary Dartmoor' to form short seven short poems. Then I wrote a canticle to sit along side each poem. Having spent a lovely afternoon on the moor photographing the grave, I used the photos to illustrate my text.

The cover is one of those sheets of paper I have had in the drawer for many years, knowing one day it would find a use!

Inside Cover Kitty Jay 2018

10.5 x 15cm

A Pocketful of Ammonites

A Pocketful of Ammonites was inspired by a trip to Charmouth beach on a blustery sunshine & showers day in October a couple of years ago. Words flew around in my mind, along with images of drawings of fossils. It took a while before the idea of a homage to Mary Anning was planted in my mind. 

I initially extracted text from internet resources, with the notion of creating a story about a girl who collected ammonites, but in the end paired the idea back to a simple list of fossils.

When read out loud, there is a beautiful rhythm to the words.

Cover: A Pocketful of Ammonites 2018

8 x 8cm

Blessings of the Birds

Blessings of the Birds

I have a great love of birds and they are a wonderful source of inspiration for my bookmaking.

Blessings of the Birds is a play on the Beatitudes - the eight declarations of blessedness that Jesus spoke in the Sermon on the Mount.

The cover is made from tracing paper and monotype print.

Cover: Blessings of the Birds 2018

14 x 3cm

Inside: Blessings of the Birds 2018

14 x 3cm

Unspoken

Unspoken is just a simple text about a man who cannot find the words to tell the one he loves how he feels.

The cover is tracing paper and the inside sheets are leftover pieces of newsprint that have been used to wipe ink on collagraph plates. The ink used on the collagraph was Prussian Blue - one of my favourite shades of blue.

Unspoken 2018

Cover 13.5 x 4.8cm

Unspoken 2018

Inside 13.5 x 4.8cm

Text Inside:

THE SOUNDS THAT COULD NOT BE DECIPHERED

AND UNSPOKEN WORDS THAT FAILED TO TOUCH THE PAGE

BUT STAINED THEIR INKY INDIGO TRANSLATIONS ON

CRUMPLED PAPER AND WORDLESSLY SEEPED AND FOLDED

THEMSELVES INTO A BURDENED BLACKENED HEART