Binding Memories

This past weekend I attended a workshop taught by Leslie Marsh entitled "Binding Memories in Black and White." It was held at Lemoncholy's Studio, Kecia Deveney's wonder of a place on the Jersey shore. As you can see from the following images, Kecia's studio is an inspiration in and of itself.

Leslie Marsh is my bookmaking hero and she was kind enough to bring a sampling of her incredible handmade books to the class. While she is a stellar photographer and her books look quite amazing on her blog, they are even more spectacular in person.

The workshop focused on a bleaching technique to alter black paper using materials from nature - leaves, flowers, and the like.

Our fearless leader...

Our sensational host...

Bleaching in action..

Racking it up...

But that was just the beginning. After we made our pages, Leslie taught the long stitch technique so we were all able to bind our pages into our own books.

Pleasures of Hope, the book I created...

A sampling of my pages...

Thank you Leslie and Kecia and the whole gang. It was a great day!

The Book Guild: Chapter 17

Welcome to the fourth edition of The Pulse -- The State of the Art -- a survey in words and pictures of the online artist community. Nearly 150 artists have answered a list of questions which make up The Pulse. Their responses will be presented as a series of online and print projects. Secret Sunday was the first project and the links to all the secrets can be found on the sidebar of my blog. The Book Guild is the second project and Chapter 17 starts right now!


All artists participating in The Pulse were asked to name their favorite art books. The Book Guild will present this list, along with links, book reviews, giveaways, and interviews with many of your favorite authors. And as members of The Guild, I am hoping YOU will participate by leaving comments related to the books in each post - for example thoughts, book reviews, personal experiences, or a link back to your own blog posts that include artwork based on a project in the listed book.
_______________

GIVEAWAY

Thanks to everybody who entered last week's giveaway for a copy of Angela Cartwright's Mixed Emulsions. The lucky winner of this book is Krista from Krista Glavich Photography. Congratulations! Please contact me via email with your mailing address. And if you didn't win, you can purchase Angela's book here.
_______________
Chapter 17: Melting Pot

Andrea Dixon selected The Art of Rock: Posters from Presley to Punk by Paul D. Grushkin as her favorite.

_______________

The book Calligraphie by Claude Médiavilla was chosen by Angela Negro as one of her favorites.
_______________

Grrl writes that "Maria Kalman’s naive and retro style of portraying everyday events never fails to draw me in."

_______________

Both Yaz (aka JaPRA) and Jacky Williams chose Hundertwasser by Harry Rand, published by Taschen (25th Anniversay edition), as a favorite. JaPRA added "Right this minute it's Hundertwasser, which I read about on Lynne Hoppe's blog. What a colourful book! I am hoping it will help me break out of my black phase.

_______________

Jill Zaheer selected Rotella by Germano Celant as a favorite. Jill adds "This is a gorgeous book that presents the work of Mimmo Rotella- in both text and pictures in chronological order (1946 to 2006 when he passed away) with hundreds of reproductions of his detailed art."

_______________

Jonna Barnett selected 17 books as favorites: Spectrum 1 thru 17: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art. She added "I love these books. If I am having an art block I can always pick one up for inspiration. They are the best."

_______________

Kelly Kilmer listed her newest favorite as Camilla Engman Project
_______________

Linda Moran says "I am reading more Photoshop design books these days, as I am moving into digital work. My favorite – Jacob Lawrence American Painter. A Major Retrospective Celebrating the Creative Genius of One of America's Most Important Painters."
_______________

Terry Berg selected Fred Otnes Collage Paintings by Jill Bossert as her favorite.

_______________

Joanna Olson said that she loved the work of Shirley Trevena.

_______________

Marianne Konvalinka selected Digital Art Studio: Techniques for Combining Inkjet Printing with Traditional Art Materials by Karin Schminke, Dorothy Simpson Krause, and Bonny Pierce Lhotka as one of her favorites.

_______________

JeriAnn Geller shared three of her favorites and said "Right now I’m in love with a copy of The Complete Graphic Works of Ben Shahn by Kenneth Wade Prescott I got at a library sale.

A close second might be Japanese Design Through Textile Patterns by Frances Blakemore. The serenity and creativity of the designs are really inspiring.

Also totally cool – Going Farther East by Gerard Lange available as a digital download at Issuu.