process

I was standing in a wet marsh and I was with a medium brown dog. It was revealed that the dog's true name was Horus. When he heard his real name, the dog grew in size and became immensely strong. I remember holding him around the neck and chest trying to calm his shaking fear.

Mushrooms growing in peach pits. A primordial toothed and legged serpent guarding them, silhouette recessed in the mud.

This one is tied with the left hand.

Alum Aleut.




:: 




Iceland: Part 6

Afternoon walk today, the wind picked up and made my ears hurt. It's now whistling all around, the clouds are moving unbelievably fast. Looking, listening, picking up things. Painting bones. Making little scratches. Happy. 

 :: treasure! I hid it and am coming back for it ::

 :: "orange peel fungus," or Aleuria aurantia ::
 
:: tangled threads and nets ::

 :: seaweed ::

 :: collecting ::

:: little messages ::

I Dreamt

"In my dream, I see these fantastic paintings that were done by
somebody else. And I wish that I had painted them. And I wake up, and
after a while the impression wears off. I say, wait a minute, those
are my paintings. I dreamt them; they're mine. Then I can't remember
what they were." - David Lynch



I've started working on a new artist's book that's been in my head for a long time. A book of dreams. Dreams I've told to other people or written down in notebooks. Some of these dreams are from my childhood, some very recent. 

I set a sample of text yesterday in 8 pt Garamond Italic from my type collection and printed it on Japanese style paper. Tiny and delicate. I like that. It's just the beginning. We'll see how it all turns out.

:: 8 pt Garamond Italic ::

 :: I dreamt... ::


Things

A friend asked me recently what I'm currently inspired by and I replied "things that look like other things." Not the most eloquent response, I'll work on that, but it's true. I've been looking at these images, as well as others, a great deal, photographs that exhibit the phenomenon of the repetition of forms in the manmade and natural world.



Here I am.

:: little scraps ::

I feel like I've been holed up for weeks, there's so much to do. Making things, looking for things, watching things...

Many new books, and other projects in various stages.

:: hardcover books in progress ::

I was very happy to look in the mailbox a the other day to find some mail from my friend Beth, including an erratum to add to my collection. Thank you, Beth!

:: Oh Beth, you know me well, greenland, erratum, and birds... ::

:: studio ::

Basically, spending a great deal of time working in the studio and at home. Already starting to miss the cozy feeling of winter.

Linen

A few weeks ago, I found out that my favorite bookcloth, a chocolate brown buckram, had been discontinued by its maker, which made me so sad because it had become my go-to color, the one that seemed to work with everything.

On the bright side, it was motivation to start making my own.


I'm using the instructions from Japanese Bookbinding: Instructions from a Master Craftsman, which are the traditional method of making bookcloth using kozo paper and wheat paste. This book is fantastic! My other favorite is Books, Boxes and Portfolios.

I'm excited to have a new palette of colors to work with, and to be able to use actual linen as a covering material for my books. It's such a wonderful material. So wonderful that Benoit Millot made a film about it.

BE LINEN MOVIE from Benoit MILLOT on Vimeo.






Wilson Jones!

Check out this bad boy. It's the Wilson Jones "Hummer" and it's my new three hole punch that I picked up at the thrift store on Wednesday. You can adjust the distance between holes, and it punches cleanly through book board. I love it.

I also love this children's encyclopedia which has the loveliest end pages. I think I'm going to use them for book covers.

I've been working on a whole bunch of new leather and hardcover books. I'm pretty excited about them, especially the hardcovers. I'm trying something new with those...

I'm making all these new books for the holidays, I'll be selling them at Crafty Balboa on December 4th. More info here, and I'll post about it again when the date is nearer.

thinking.


:: Anselm Kiefer ::

Thinking about drawing and ideas for a book. Lines and shapes. Grey palettes. The feeling of winter.

:: Anselm Kiefer ::

:: Thea Djordjadze ::

:: Sofia Arnold ::


:: Anette Blaesbjerg Orom ::

:: Anselm Kiefer ::

:: Anni Albers ::

Pizzaz!


Three books in the oven! Almost done, and when they are I'll post plenty of new pictures. I've been working hard this week on a set of custom journals for a friend...
And what is fueling these endeavors? Pizzaz! Let me tell you a little bit about pizzaz...
Pizzaz is a pizza native to South Philadelphia without sauce and topped with...wait for it...american cheese slices, tomatoes and banana peppers and it is so freaking good and cheap making it the perfect lunch to bring to the studio.

Maybe I should go get a slice.

Nice Day.

I had a nice day in the studio. I cleaned the press more, now that it's upright, I can reach spots I couldn't get to before. I tore down paper for some journals I am going to make, and thought about ordering bookcloth.


This is my paper tearing knife, it was a hand-me-down, I really like it.

I unpacked a bit more.

these will be the studio coffee cups

All the while, I was watching this, and cracking up.


Then my friends came by and we sat out on the roof and talked and had a beer. It was a nice day.