Sunday, September 22, 2019

Joy, Joy, Joy of Autumn

I recently skimmed through my old blog posts, 
from the beginning...May, 2012.

And I skimmed through my photo collection 
of my drawings.
I don't think this little image is posted.
It was a mini card for someone.

Tomorrow is officially the first day of autumn.
And this is truly how I feel about it! Joy! 

Notice the printing on this older image.
I have just started practicing 
an italic calligraphy alphabet. 
It's like practicing scales on the piano.
I'm looking forward to continued refinement.
The repetitive practice is soothing...
...perhaps addictive. In a good way...

Thursday, September 5, 2019

I Finished my Book!!

This is a continuation from my previous post.

 Stopping to face my situation of the too many ideas 
& projects that had started to form,
& asking for help did the trick! 
Beth wrote to Just choose one project & finish it.
Not rocket science, but it helped to hear it from outside 
my own brain which was turning somersaults! 
Organizing my space & hiding the other projects was key. 

And accepting that my finished book would not be perfect...
All along there were decisions to be made.
What to do with the wildflower cutouts that I had drawn & painted 
from photos that I had taken for my project?
I had to abandon my original idea of 
making the flowers pop up from the page, 
(something I love to do in my little handmade cards),
because I had a cover that I'd bound that I'd wanted to use.
A new stiff white paper replaced the green Mi Teintes. 
(Thanks, Fiddlehead Artisan Supply for being right in town!!)

From there on, the book seemed to make itself.
Book Arts prof. Rebecca Goodale says that there's nothing
like the feeling of you & the paper working together "as one."   
(I'm paraphrasing...)
The beginning.
It's an accordion book, but can be view one spread at a time.
The middle.
The end. 
 One of my favorite parts was writing text,
inspired by my original thoughts on my subject. 
Lots & lots of editing to keep it focused & brief.
I had written in the previous post that "there was 
so little left to do" on this book. 
Haha!...Little did I know!!!
 
The cover came last. 
I wanted to decorate it more, but I had a deadline.
The handmade books, the final projects 
from our Book Arts Class will be on view at USM 
during September with a lecture & reception on September 9.

The book was delivered yesterday, & I am exhilarated!

What joy to start with vague thoughts & ideas 
& to work with them 
as they evolve into concrete words & images~
Bound into a book!
I got to experience what my young art students
used to experience!

And, I finished it!!

Thank you to USM & Rebecca Goodale's 
Summer Book Arts Course!