Journeys End

Another concertina book!

The idea for a piece of work based on the shipping forecast has been brewing in my mind for a few years! Sometimes the actual format and design takes a while to work out and I was keen to make sure that I didn't go down a route that was too obvious, with waves and shades of blue.

I wrote a short descriptive piece about my memories of listening to the shipping forecast as a child. Then I spent quite a long time figuring out the book design! 

I decided to work on a large drawing using a linear process that when repeated, offers an image of gradient lines. I kept this to my usual black ink on white paper. I washed the reverse of the paper with a blue/grey ink and then, using another favoured process, I repeatedly wrote out the shipping forecast, creating undulating pencil lines of text over the wash.

Finally, I cut up the drawing to make 12 books and glued strips of the text onto the concertina folded books.

Finished drawing of cover

A1 270g paper

Journeys End 2019

5 x 7.8cm

Inside Journeys End 2019

5 x 7.8cm, inkjet on newsprint

Delighted to say that I will be having a table at the Bristol Arts Book Event (BABE) at the Arnolfini Gallery on 30 - 31st March this year!

It's a great book arts event, drawing in many visitors and displaying a huge variety in styles of handmade artist books.

So my life at the moment is all MAKE, MAKE, MAKE!

Hope to see you there!

BABE 2017

www.arnolfini.org.uk

Gifts from the Crows

Another concertina book! The current wave of ideas that I have seem to be lending themselves well to the concertina style.

I read a news article about a child in Seattle who fed crows with crumbs she accidentally dropped outside her house. When she realised that the crows were coming for the crumbs, she began feeding them regularly and enjoyed watching their behaviour. She started to realise that the crows were leaving odd items near the feeding tray; something she interpreted as grateful gifts.

The relationship between the girl and the crows continued and the girl kept the 'gifts',(lego, buttons, clips, silver etc)and amassed a collection of interesting objects.

I extracted text from the article by Katy Sewall ('The girl who gets gifts from the crows' www.bbc.co.uk)and formed seven short poems/phrases which gives a sense of a relationship between the girl and the crows. There is also a feeling of deeper understanding of the crows behaviour.

I drew and ink washed a large sheet of 270gsm printing paper with feathers for the cover of the books. The drawing looked very effective by itself, but I had to cut it up, making 9 books in total. 

The ink wash drawing before cutting up to make the covers.

'Gifts from the Crows' 2019

6 x 9.5cm 

Ink wash on 270gsm paper and inkjet on newsprint