2013 book arts and text-based art

‘Yggdrasil’ 15cm x 11cm x 2cm. Tan linen accordion-fold book with handpainted leaf and vine backgrounds in pale green. Abstract, swirling tree drawings in acrylic ink on ecru cheesecloth panels glued and stitched to front. Circles, trees, and abstract geometrics on back panels form background for the hand-inked text of W.B. Yeats’ ‘The Two Trees’. Accented with tan waxed polyester strings and glass beads.

Two interior spreads feature 19th Century illustrations of Yggdrasil (reprinted on cotton), hand-inked tree drawings, and cotton scrap shadow applique on spun polyester interleaving. Theme: the ‘World Tree’ seen in Norse, Siberian, Indo-Aryan, and some pre-Islamic folktales. Made as part of the ‘Elegy of Trees’ book swap for Cheryl Penn’s ‘The Encyclopedia of Everything’ exhibit in South Africa. Shell Zodiak 3.5” x 2” x 2” Redheart wood, abalone shell, water buffalo horn, leather, cotton, mother-of-pearl, cotton embroidery thread, waxed polyester thread, acrylic paint.

Leather and woodburned Redheart back cover, leather and abalone/buffalo shell front cover, waxed polyester tassels with shell and glass bead accents. Modified coptic binding, 12 fabric pages accented with machine applique, shell accent discs and triangles, and carved mother-of-pearl plaques. Colorways: rust, dark gold, orange, iridescent white & blue.

Topic: embroidered pages listing the Zodiac constellations, plus Zodiac symbols hand-carved into shell plaques. Private collection.

H2O 1.25” x 1.25” x 1.25” Carved glass tiles, cotton fabrics, acrylic paint, nylon metallic thread, glass beads, waxed polyester thread. 12 painted and embroidered marbled-cotton pages in modified coptic binding showcase multi-ethnic symbols for water. Glass front cover hand-carved with ‘H2O’, back with ‘MC 2013’. Colorways: clear crystal, dark blue, multicolor, metallic blue-purple. Private collection. 

Tempe Spring 2013 Awards Ribbons  (17) 4”x 16”, (1) 5”x 20” pieced linen, cotton batik, cotton duck, polyester thread, glass beads. Abstract pale and cobalt blue skies ramp from dark at base to light at top, foreground abstracted yellow and orange Arizona wildflowers. 

Guiding Angels approximately 4” x 6” x 2”  (10) loose cotton-rag paper pages made from recycled etchings (courtesy of Phoenix Art Group) with angel themes, paper collage, spun-polyester interleaving, acrylic paint and varnish, US postage stamps in science and exploration themes, glass, shell, waxed polyester thread, and  repurposed commercial photo box.

Topic: original text contrasting angelic/Revelations etching themes with an agnostic/scientific worldview: ‘I have no guardian angels. My guiding angels are not domestic spirits or jealous seraphim. They are weak forces, strong forces, gravity, the foundation of broken symmetry, and the longing of the universe to know itself.’ Decorative techniques include monoprinting, watercolor with thinned acrylic, paper collage, sewn beadwork. Available through Vamp & Tramp Booksellers. 

Tempe Fall 2013 Awards Ribbons  (16) 4”x 16”, (1) 5”x 20” pieced linen, cotton batik, cotton duck, digitally printed labels and map fabric, polyester thread, glass beads. Horizontally striped blue evening sky applique, bronze/red cliff midground, seafoam green linen palo verde applique in foreground to match Featured Artist’s serigraph.