Hand Painted Book Covers, Quilts, Plates and Other Projects
Sunday, January 8, 2012
3rd Edition of my Reader/Zine
I always appreciated the readers my professors put together, a compilation of the "best of" their subjects of expertise. I also love the DIY quality of zines, the "do-able" being most important for me. My version is a selection of favorite poems, stories, recipes, pictures and art from my library.
I paint book jackets for a range of subjects, specific artists, cultural topics, photographers and authors. The selected books are a reference to art history and the art of literature and libraries. I choose an image to paint for a cover illustration based on qualities such as poignancy and visual graphics. If the book is not illustrated, I find an image that is complimentary to its contents. I may also choose to paint my version of the original illustration. The cover text is included in the painting (title, author and publisher) on a hand-cut paper jacket, using a heavy weight glossy paper and acrylic paints. This process gives the book a new essence, and restores it to better shape (I try to find used books). It also makes it a functional sculpture/painting.
Hand Stitched Quilts
Totally inspired by the quilters of Gee's Bend, Alabama, I began my first quilt while staying in my family's ranch house. My grandmother has saved some of everything from the past century, including all of her worn-in work aprons, clothes and fabrics. I started using these fabrics (and a few others I have found here and there) to make intuitive patterns for my quilts, sewing the pieces together on my old Bernina sewing machine, then stitching the layers together by hand, taking about two months to top-stitch the entire quilt. Though I live in California and come from a different history, I feel connected to the Gee's Bend quilters through this beautiful process.
Hand Painted Decorative Plates
I am making a collection of hand painted bird plates, working from 17th and 18th century bird illustrations This idea was kind-of inspired by an exhibit at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History.
I make my ceramic plates using a hand-building technique with slabs and molds. After the plates are bisque-fired, I paint them using mason stains and a clear glaze. Along with birds, the images I choose are often inspired by nature and poetry.
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