Ice

It poured all morning, but as the sky cleared the trees were left coated in a thick sheath of ice. The tiny branches look so fragile, and somehow also highlighted, more precise. Here are a few photographs.

I probably won't be posting again until after the holidays; it's time to relax and spend some time with my family.

Commission, continued

I just finished that 10 card commission. It turned into a 15 card commission by the end! I shipped the set off to Canada this afternoon (kudos to UPS for friendly and helpful service) and I hope the recipients are happy with the results. I continue to be very pleased with what I've made - several new designs and fresh variations on old favorites. There are a few more photos below.

Rich Books

I’d like to share a few books that I find provocative and richly inspiring.

The Art of Looking Sideways
Alan Fletcher
Phaidon Press

This is an enormous book, full of whimsical and thought-provoking illustrations, quotations, and musings. Fletcher makes delightfully unlikely pairings of word, idea, and drawing. There’s something fresh in here every time I open it.

The Book as Art: Artists’ Books from the National Museum of Women in the Arts
Krystyna Wasserman
Princeton Architectural Press

A beautiful collection of striking artists’ books.

Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence
Nick Bantock
Raincoast Books

This book and its sequels chronicle the correspondence of two artists from opposite sides of the world who can see visions of each others work. The illustrations are richly layered, and the story is mystical and mysterious. Lots to look at and think about!

Commission

I received a commission to make a set of ten cards with any design(s) I want. What fun! I love that freedom. I'm including a few Under the Ice cards in the set. Here are a few photographs of the other pieces I'm making:

Under the Ice

I’ve been sick, and as is usual for me in that circumstance, I haven’t been feeling inspired. But I made myself sit down to work, and at the end of an afternoon I tried something new: I layered pieces of different off-white papers pressed with leaves, threads, and speckles underneath a large piece of bright white paper laced with white thread. Over the off-white and under the bright, I placed a strip of origami paper laced with large purple flowers.

I like asking my partner, Jordan, to help me name my designs; he has a knack for it. He named this one “Under the Ice”, and it’s perfect! The name inspired me to keep working with the design, tinkering with the two bottom layers to really capture the essence of leaves caught under a film of ice. I’m really pleased with the results. Here are a few cards from the developing series:

Coasters

A few detail shots of a set of coasters I made for my aunt and uncle.

Hawk & Whippoorwill

This summer I created 50 limited edition covers for the literary journal Hawk & Whippoorwill. H & W, "poems of man and nature", is a lovely little journal being resurrected by Pen & Anvil Press in Boston. There are still a few copies of my art-cover editions left, only $10 each. See this page for more information:

http://bostonpoetry.com/hw/currentnews.html

Dinner Party Invitations, 2008

Silver Sky Moutains, 2008

Brown and Blue Mountains, 2008

Red Samurai, 2008

Energy Fields Four, July 2008

All rights to all images posted on this blog are held by Bell Buoy Press.

Why I like to play with paper.

I can’t draw. Really, I’m remarkably bad at it. I tried painting in high school, and basically ended up smearing color around in vaguely interesting ways without regard to form or composition - I love color. But painting, without that drawing foundation, didn’t stick. I seem to have found my medium now, though: playing with paper lets me experiment with color, texture, pattern, and space in a way that’s incredibly satisfying and yields strong results.

Despite the swirling world of developing communication technologies, I feel paper in all contexts is inextricably tied to the richness of books, the power of the written word. On a different level, my pleasure in paper has much to do with the aesthetic beauty of a blank page. A piece of paper promises everything – anything – to me in a way that a blank canvas never did. And now that I’ve stopped trying to draw on it, the paper and I have much more interesting conversations.

I make collages, cards, stationery, invitations, coasters, and sometimes books. I also really love turning gift wrapping into an art form. A couple of old examples of my wrapping, from Christmas ’06, are included with this post. I am happy to take commissions for artwork or gift presentation, and to field inquiries of all kinds. Please feel free to contact me via a comment here; Bell Buoy’s email: bellbuoypress@gmail.com; or via my Etsy site: bellbuoypress.etsy.com.

A fair warning: Musings on dance and choreography will creep their way into this blog. Since I am also – and perhaps primarily – a performance artist, thoughts on my artistic process will definitely include input from that genre.