It has taken me awhile to get these edited and posted and then to work up enough energy to write a post!

The four collages above remind me somehow of the subject of Biology, hence the title of the pieces. Mostly I imagine things that can be seen under a microscope-cells, organisms wiggling about, that sort of stuff. And I think to add to that I always have an idea about old fashioned, old school sort of textbooks. I can't say these are direct translations but just what I am thinking about.

The big news though with these collages is the addition of home made stamps. (No pictures-that would be extra work!) I love looking at children's crafts and craft projects. Kids just make the best stuff seemingly without the angst an adult might have. I have been making stamps with cardboard and string. To begin, several pieces of cardboard are glued together. You can then wrap it with string, apply acrylic paint to it and then stamp away. You can also punch holes in the cardboard and create a pattern with string using the holes. Same deal. Apply acrylic paint and stamp away.  Think of that as embroidery stitches in a way since that is where some inspiration came from. A good example is in the second row above, left side. The brown piece with light blue stitching is one of the "embroidered" stamps. Same thing in the piece next to that with the brown piece with white printing. I have also stamped with ric-rac, toilet paper rolls, cardboard that has been rolled up, and the bases of many bottles and other objects. Even three pencils rubber banded together! It's a big experiment of course because the acrylic paint behaves differently on different surfaces. I don't know how things will turn  out. 

It isn't really the method here but it is more of whether or not the prints have enough variety when compared with one another. I grapple with repetition and variation constantly: line thinness or thickness, size of each shape, placement, direction, color, and scale. And as I mentioned, you don't really know until you start comparing. You may have a bunch of great ideas but when the prints are done, they may all look similar. So, you really want to think in advance about things. For me, enough variety of variables is important. The pieces aren't perfect but I am happy looking at them and feel I am learning.

These days I work on my art more sporadically than I would like. I question each day what I am paying attention to and why I may not be getting done the things that I would like to do. Part of the issue now is that I added strength training and balance exercises to my daily routine. With anything new, I tend to go all in and sometimes do this to the exclusion of my primary goals (art, cat, husband, etc.). I feel more settled about things now and think I have a better schedule for exercising that will still be as effective. I should qualify this issue with the fact that I had that bike accident in April, recovered, and was then diagnosed with severe osteoporosis (nothing to do with the accident). The new exercises (since July) are meant to help my new situation. So, they need to get done but done in a realistic way. It's a long winded paragraph about why my concentration on art gets derailed.

Hey, how about some books? Once I put down my Kindle and phone, I have managed to read some books. Here they are:

The Comfort of Crows by Margaret Renkl: This is a lovely but bittersweet book, wistful and sad in many spots. Hopeful too though. The author is 10 years older than me, so close to home. She chronicles the life coming and going in her suburban backyard through the seasons. It's really a call to pay attention to the wonders right outside your door, perhaps before they are gone.

The Songs of Trees and The Forest Unseen, two separate books by David George Haskell: I recommend both these books. This guy has got to be the most sensitive biologist ever! Very eloquent and beautifully crafted language. The first book talks about the connections among living organisms, trees in particular, and how humans are connected to every living thing. I sat up dumbfounded when I realized that the so called "walls of nature" are a figment of our imagination and much more permeable than we imagine them to be. The second book is great too. The author spends a year observing a one meter patch of Tennessee forest. Again, deep sensitivity.

Close To Home: The Wonders of Nature Just Outside Your Door by Thor Hanson: This author has a different, more lively and I-am-just-talking-and-educating kind of style. This book is about him being a citizen scientist in his own backyard and how you can do the very same thing. The urge from the author is to pay attention and see things in a new way. We get tunnel vision with our yards and spaces and forget to look. 

There may be a theme with these books...! I love nature writing I am coming to find and turn to it almost every time now for a good, solid read. Honestly, I did put my Kindle and phone down at the table and it has helped enormously. I read books now while I eat. Time is moving faster now for me it seems. I want to be judicious about where I put my attention.

Alright! If anyone got this far, thanks, you are a peach! Merry Christmas to those celebrating. Be safe and pay attention!
Libby
[email protected]

It has been my experience that I can get derailed. Although, it has happened so often now that I wonder if it is derailment so much as this is simply how my mind works. For the past several months my thoughts have been taken up with my shoulder injury and difficulty walking. The walking is back to normal now and I started PT at the beginning of July. Earlier in May, I also started home exercises to help with balance, vertigo, and to strengthen my muscles and to improve mobility. It's just a lot. I can feel my mind trying to hold onto my creativity but doing battle with this new thing, this need to feel better. Looking in my journal, I can see that I have been sporadically casting about for ideas with my art but not really getting anywhere. It's just how it is right now and this process of supposed derailment is likely also how I do things.

What does it all mean? It amounts to only four pieces to show for the last two months. It's OK though. Let's talk about these pieces. The first two had me thinking about the seasons. I associate green and gold and blue with a California early summer. Greens, blues and deep reds make me think of summer in a different way, maybe a deeply quiet green creek bed with algae and a dense blue sky. The second two are named after the Van Morrison song of the same name. Again, sort of color driven and reminding me of the seasons.

Design wise, I continue to be interested in repetition and variation all governed by proportion: scale of print, color temperature, size of the shapes, amount of white space, density of print, etc. I like trying to manipulate those variables to see what happens. It's tough too because my print space is only an 8" x 10" gel plate. There is only so much you can do. Then, cutting that size paper down to smaller shapes further complicates matters. It's just a challenge for me. I like puzzles.

Not shown is a series of small collages that I made using up my paper scraps. I made about 15 total and they are either 5" x 5" or 6" x 6". I always think they will be a great way to test out ideas and when I make one I like, I think that I will make it into a bigger piece. It never works out!

OK, that is it for now. I hope that if you are reading that you are well and enjoying the summertime. Let me know.
Libby
​[email protected]

The images above should be viewable at a larger scale if you click on them.
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It has been a minute since I have shown some work and made an actual post. So, here goes! The above work was made in the first part of this year starting in January up until now. I haven't been super motivated to show much of anything for various reasons. The first part of the year was taken up with actually making some collages, walking and hiking, and I took a small vacation to Half Moon Bay. Then, the wildflowers started popping up and I was busy trying to find them and keep track of them. Lastly, my Dad passed away April 10th and so that was in the mix too. Sometimes, I end up just picking away at each piece over a period of time. Sometimes I make one in a day. Then there is the printing of the papers. It's just a process is all. There are other things happening and because this isn't my livelihood I am not really under any pressure to complete tings. I don't really even feel compelled by a creative pressure anymore so I am constantly looking into the ether for some motivation and inspiration. 

In any case, I always have something on my mind while I am working these collages. All of them have some idea about proportion to them. I have my own thoughts about what works and so I am always trying to see if I can push that or come up with another angle. Size of each piece of paper, scale of print, number of pieces, density of pattern and color combinations are all things that interest me. These pieces are truly puzzles.

​The second set of collages are a good example of me testing out my ideas as mentioned above. I don't really have a theme or "concept" or subject in mind here, just technical variables. I am a big fan of repetition and variation all governed by proportion. Those ideas are at work for me in these pieces. The first set of collages though do have a Picnic Day vibe to them, in my mind. Or maybe a retro, quilty kind of vibe. I was definitely thinking about those ideas while working. If you get a vibe here, let me know, I am interested.

Lastly, I need to say that I fell off of my bike two weeks ago. I had a bad accident. I didn't break anything but it has shaken me up and I am having trouble walking normally without my hiking pole for support. I feel all of the bad things about myself that you might imagine: stupid, foolish, uncoordinated, and unfit to do much of anything, athletically speaking. What was I thinking? I am 55 years old now and who am I to be on a bike? Or to hike or kayak for that matter. A person's safety and security can turn on a dime. Things will get better but this is where I am right now. 

All right! If you made it this far, thank you. Let me know about the work if you want. Thanks for reading and happy May!
Libby
​[email protected]

Happy December to anyone reading. It sounds like a cliche to say this but I can hardly believe that the end of the year is coming. It's absolutely true that time passes more quickly as you get older. All the more reason to make every moment count.

I have several pieces to show. With all of the pieces this year, I have been trying to work with proportion, repetition, and variation. I try to manipulate proportion of scale and color, of the size of the print and text, and of the blocks themselves. Repetition and variation of those elements help to add visual variety. And because I was a painter to begin with (not a great one but somewhat competent), I am always interested in color temperature. Having both warm and cool colors as well as varied chroma and contrast is always something that I am interested in. In trying to manipulate these variables, I always remember something that I read about Georgia O'Keeffe early on when I was struggling to learn how to make art. She had talked about the start of her career when she was taking lessons from Arthur Dove I think. She said that she hated everything she had done to that point. Then, once she learned about some basic design principles, how they could be endlessly manipulated, she realized that she could make whatever she wished in whatever combination of variables that she liked. The possibilities opened up and became endless for her. I would guess it is why, in part, she chose to make those close up paintings of flowers that really became her signature. Anyway, I am not Georgia O'Keeffe but I get what she got. 

To circle back to the end of the year idea, in January I decided that I was going to focus on a theme of Nature and Nurture for all of my collages this year. As it turned out, this was a sort of cart before the horse idea. I never deliberately make art that has to do with anything (not in the past several years). I always have something in my mind when I make the collages though, but these days the collages don't directly represent those ideas. At most, the collages have a feel to them but not a specific meaning. Anyway, that is what happened here. I had that theme of nature and nurture in mind but the collages this year aren't about that specifically. At most, I discovered (again) that I do have color preferences and ideas about shapes and lines and writing but that is kind of it. I don't think those things (the artistic variables) are likely inherent to my genetic being. They are part of who I am because I like them but I don't know that I was born with those preferences. 

Speaking more broadly on this topic, I can say that I always come back to the idea of whether or not we really have free will. (A humanities professor in college posed this question to my classmates and me and at the time I opted for a yes to free will.) My answer today, after acquiring a little more life experience, is always no, that we don't. We think we do but we don't. (I feel the same way about rational thinking and decision making: forget about that.) And I continue to wonder whether or not we really and truly are hard wired to do something. How much do our genes and genetic makeup really affect the decisions that we make? Some things yes, and some things no. I have come to strongly believe in probability and statistics and the utter complexity and contradictory nature of humanity. Anyway, I think that is all too much to ask of some paper and paint and glue!

​The last two things I want to mention for this year are the inclusion in the collages of asemic writing (writing that looks like it should say something but doesn't) and my coptic stitch book making. First, the asemic writing has been a much welcomed addition to the work. It's a great way for me to think something and write it down without actually writing it out so it can be read. It's really therapeutic. Rest assured that all of the scribbles that are present in the work relate to something that I was thinking. I think they are a great design variable too. They add direction and scale and a personal touch. Second thing, I started making collage books using coptic stitching. It's a great looking stitch and making the books is a fun way to use up paper that I have printed and written on. Into the books go small collages that can be used later for reference in larger pieces. The link to the books is right here. Both of these ideas (asemic writing and coptic stitched books) have expanded my art practice in a way that I was not anticipating. 

Well, that's it. Thanks for reading if you got this far. The transition from blogging to other types and formats of social media has been a real challenge for me. I didn't make it in the way that others have. A full on technology based production, podcasts, camera work, and presentation are all things that I simply couldn't invest my time in. That's the truth. I don't want to feel bad about myself (read: OLD!) for not making this transition, so for those of you that read occasionally, I appreciate it. I realize the train has left the station!

Thanks again and happy end of December to everyone. May the New Year bring peace, hope, and the sanity. (There is no point in not wishing for those things though I am a realist. Find them where you can and if you can.)
Libby
​[email protected]

I wanted to share my recent collages from September and October. I am pleased with all of them. They each have a particular vibe for me that I think I would like to continue working with.

The pieces shown at the bottom​ are all standalone pieces, meaning that they are just one offs. For this way of working, I cull through leftover pieces of papers from other projects and see if I can put anything together. I then supplement what I have with pieces of printed paper from  my stash. I try not to agonize too much over these pieces but to pick papers that feel good to me when I look at them. I try and do some thinking about the papers, seeing how they might fit together and what aspects of design that they represent for me. I think this decision making process is really valuable as a skill building tool. For me, making design decisions and saying them out loud is how I learn.

For the Synthesis series, shown at the top, I used another method of working. I start with full sheet collage papers from  my regular stash. I pull out whatever grabs my eye and then try and fit other papers with what I have selected. Sometimes I have a theme in mind or a color idea, but not always. I generally end up with 10-15 pieces of printed paper. I spread the papers all on the ground and look to see how I can fit them together. I definitely talk a lot to myself about what I am seeing and why I like or don't like something. This too is a way that I learn. After some time, I edit down to maybe 10 or 12 papers. I then cut them up into different sizes and start laying them out into 12" x 12" collages, cutting the pieces to fit as I go. It's very much like dumping out puzzle pieces onto the floor and trying to rearrange them into an image. For this series, I ended up with five pieces because I nearly used up all of the papers and just loved working with them. 

I titled this series Synthesis because I wanted a particular feel for these collages that combined some memories and ideas, both past and present. I had been reminiscing about being in grammar school and was remembering my sixth grade teacher, Mr. Bolar. When I think of him he is always wearing a yellow collared short sleeved shirt with brown slacks. This was the 70's right?  So, this is where the brown and yellow colors come in. I was also remembering that somewhere in that school there were aqua colored tiles (maybe a bathroom?) and that there were black and white squares of linoleum on the floors. I think. Also, I remember gray or green chalkboards as well. In any case, the collage papers all seemed to fit together somehow, at least in my mind. As an aside and a bit of history, my grammar school was laid out in a kind of rectilinear "U" shape: one central long area with two long wings on each end. Those wings had two stories. I can remember that there was a lot of hullabaloo about earthquakes and retrofitting. Those upstairs wings were eventually torn down because of this concern. I can recall being at the school with my dad prior to the tear down. And I remember that we were in portables for awhile at another nearby school, I think because of the construction. It was a big controversy at the time. I should say though that I don't have any special love for this time period; it's just really all selective memories. Being a kid was difficult for me. But I do look back with a kind of nostalgia. I can't help it. And this time period, the memories and feels associated with the town I grew up in, has yielded several strong and personal collages. That is worth something. 

Alright, that is it. I am busy working on a new idea. I have gotten into the practice of asemic writing. It's mark making that looks like it should be readable but isn't. It looks like cursive or printing but it's meant to be illegible. (This is a very simplistic explanation. Like everything else art related people can really complicate the shit out of it, making it hard to get into.) I find it both energetic and peaceful in a strange way and I am enjoying looking at different prompts such as alphabets, calligraphy, and other images. I have been slowly incorporating the writing into my prints and I really enjoy the effects. 

Thanks for reading and as alway feel free to email.
Libby
​[email protected] 

Notions # 3 12.5" x 12.5"
Notions #4 12.5" x 12.5"
Sew, Quilt, and Weave #7 10" x 10"

The above are my three pieces for August. More work can be found on the site here.

I thought I would go back through my sketchbook to see what I wanted to work on this month and share that in this blog post. I generally make notes if I have thought of something useful to do or if I did do something and it turned out well (or not). Here goes:

* spent time printing new papers on gelli plate (monoprints with acrylic paint and pens).
* tried to figure out how to organize the space of the gelli plate with regard to size of shapes and lines (design parameters such as density and scale of different forms and lines).
* tried printing out an image on the printer and transferring it to gelli plate via paint. (This works OK but not sure what purpose it would serve at this moment.)
* experimented with handmade cardboard stamps (turned out well).
* Inspired by Pyrex patterns, Marimekko fabrics, images of embroidery at V&A
* trying (this is constantly in process) to get a handle on the chroma and value of the yarn that I have with respect to how that matches up with my hand painted papers.
* learning (in process) about the scale of the embroidery on my collages when compared to the overall size of the finished collage-are these things complimentary?
* realized that what I love about collage so much is the cutting up of papers and the reassembling of those papers into something entirely different and unexpected. This has been the case for awhile now but lately, it has really been obvious.

To expand on that last point, many of my printed papers don't look like they could be much on their own. They aren't spectacular and they are not meant to be landscapes or finished art work in any way. I kind of liken them to different brushstrokes on a larger painted picture. Every paint stroke within a piece of art serves a purpose. Paint marks on their own usually aren't meant to be standalone images. When they are put together though, they generally present a whole idea. The papers for me are the same way. And I like that you can cut up what is essentially a pile of colors, lines and shapes and reassemble all of that into something that hopefully is of interest. 

As I mentioned at the start of the post, I encourage anyone reading to look at the new work for 2024 page. Also, if there is time, look at the collage books. I love looking at other people's work and reading about what they are up to. So, it's why there is a blog post this month!

Looking forward to cooler weather (eventually). Thanks for reading and send an email if you can.
Libby [email protected]

All images 8" x 8" painted papers on watercolor paper 12" x 12"
​ with yarn and machine stitching

In going through my studio journal for June, I came across these questions/ideas:
* Is there a way to use yarn and machine stitching together to kind of "batten down" the collage pieces? (I like what the machine stitching does to organize everything and make it look neat and clean.)
* Amish "Chinese coins" idea. 
" Is there a modern day equivalent of the embroidery sampler concept? (And do women need such a thing anymore, anywhere?)
* Embroidered circles, intertwined yarb/stitching.
* Finished collages need adjustments just like a painting: adjust lights and darks, chroma, point of interest, balance from all sides, hierarchy, direction, etc.
* Soft cover binding versus hard cover binding; coptic stitch difficulties. 
​* Soft paper versus hard paper for coptic bound notebooks.
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 I would say that if you have any interest in keeping track of what you actually do in your studio, journaling would be a good idea. I am sure people do this online or with their phones but I am way old school about this. I have been keeping a sketch book /journal since I started making art. I can't think of a single thing during this whole time that has served me better in terms of keeping track of the trajectory of my art making experience. I can go back (and have done so) to re visit ideas and experiments, to see what influences came to me, and to remember highs and lows that really did help me grow. (The only thing that might be as important is to revisit old art work.) But for sheer helpfulness that is immediate and direct, a journal just can't be beat. And at the end of the day, long after I have tossed work, I still have my sketchbooks to show what I have been thinking and doing.

The one really important idea that came through very loudly this past month is what the machine stitching does for me. The collage itself is not glued in any way. The glue makes the papers buckle which I find tedious and unacceptable. You can flatten things between two heavy objects but, see above-tedious! I use tape on the back of the papers to put the pieces together (no buckling) and to affix the finished piece to the WC paper and board. Tape however, is not the same as glue in terms of being able to organize all of those loose pieces. Glue flattens out paper onto a substrate. Tape really doesn't do that in the same way. In any case, the machine stitching comes to the rescue. It really tamps the final collage down in all of the right spots just like the glue would have done, only without the nonsensical machinations needed to keep the paper flat and wrinkle free.

Incidentally, all of these collages that I have shown this year use what I call a dry process. Glue is a wet process as are things like using matte medium, glue sticks and varnish. When I made collages with strictly solid color paper or printed paper (all varnished with sealant) and glued them to a painted and sealed matboard,  I considered that to be a wet process. Any time moisture is introduced to a collage, I consider that to be a wet process. In using these mono printed papers, I switched over to a dry process to avoid buckling. (Buckling really occurs because there is a disparity in the match up between the paper and the surface it is being glued to. The disparity comes in terms of moisture differences or tension differences or something along those lines.) The papers are still varnished for protection from UV rays but they go together with tape which is dry. 

I guess I have strong feelings about the glue situation. I have spent a very long time testing out what works for me and figuring out what I find acceptable in terms of results. Despite being a bit sloppy in areas of my life, I really appreciate neatness, cleanliness and precision in artmaking. I fall very short of my ideals but am generally satisfied with how things look. I suppose you have to pick and choose where you are going to put your efforts.

Alright! Let me know about these new pieces via email: [email protected] And if you use a journal, I want to know about that too!
Thanks,
​Libby

Sew, Quilt, and Weave 4
8" x 8 " matted to 12" x 12"
Hand printed and painted paper, cotton yarn, machine stitching

​I finished this piece up yesterday. It was kind of a "sideline" piece since I was working on something else already. But I had seen on FB an Amish style coins quilt that my friend had done and I was really taken with the layout. Over the years I have gravitated towards Amish style quilts with their bold colors, graphic elements, and simple layouts. They are complex looking without being complicated, if that makes sense. I felt that the concept of that quilt layout I saw would translate well to a collage.

To get started, I had some "strip pieced" scraps on my work table and I used those to begin the piece. Funny too about that strip pieced bit of papers. It's amazing that collage and working with paper can be very similar to making a quilt. I can apply some concepts from quilt making, such as using a 1/4" seam and strip piecing, to put pieces of paper together. My finished pieces, too, are very much like making a "quilt sandwich" only with paper instead of fabric and batting. I really like that I can take things that I already know and use them in new ways to move my current work forward. 

However, not every inspiration, such as this Amish style quilt, is such a direct transfer. The one thing that I have shied away from in these quilt inspired pieces is any kind of a border. To me, adding a traditional looking border just looks too "quilty". I don't want these pieces to literally be paper quilts. I want the pieces to reference rather than replicate. But, I wanted something to somewhat frame the collage because I knew I was going to add the yarn. I remembered an artist that I used to love following (Laurie Fendrich) and she had lots of paintings which had a kind of "echo border". Very thin lines of color were used in repetition to frame the main figures. I felt that a thin line of color would be a great way to finish the collage and make room for that yarn idea. I think it works well in this case.

Now, the yarn element. I have developed a sort of yarn fetish. It started with binding my collage books. Almost exclusively, the handmade books that I have seen are bound with a waxed or unwaxed linen floss. When I started with my first project I tried to use the floss. I hated it! Ack! I am vert tactile and the floss felt wrong to me. Yarn seemed a good substitute since I am also not super keen on embroidery floss. I took a deep dive into the world of yarn, learning some basic terms and trying to match materials so that yarn, needle and paper could all work together. I am happy to say that I now own some yarn! And some needles. And more yarn. Beautiful, rich colors too. What a wonderful medium. Anyway, I knew I wanted to use yarn in this piece and I envisioned a kind of blanket stitch only without the base. I want to say upfront that it is very scary to punch holes in the finished work. The collage is affixed to the watercolor paper and then affixed to the matboard. I then start punching holes to make the stitches. (I use a piece of graph paper as my hole punching guide.) I am sure that if I make a mistake I could do something to fix it but I also know that the solution might be to start over, which would be upsetting. It's not surgery but still.

I feel that the finished piece looks contained and restrained. I chose a contrasting black and white yarn instead of a color. I think I could experiment with this because I am sure a color would work. I also think some kind of weaving stitch would be good. I just don't want to overwhelm the collage itself with the stitching. I want the stitching to be integrated and to not stand out as a separate element. It can be the focal point but not a separate thing. There are a lot of prints and colors too in the piece but I feel like the machine stitching and yarn stitching brings everything into focus and gives it a kind of control. I like art that seems organized in some way that I can understand. Anything really that has organization to it is a draw for me. I just gravitate to a kind of order in things.

So, onward. I have some small collages in process. They are meant for a little 6" x 6" handmade book. I made the book out of a record album cover. I like the idea of re using materials. We had the record albums on hand (they are from quite another lifetime I would say). I actually made two of the books and they were really meant to help me practice stitching single pages into a book form. I hope to be able to photograph them at some point and add them to the site.
 
​Thanks for reading. Drop a line if possible. [email protected]
Thanks,
Libby

Collage book, 7" x 7" with a sampling of the completed collages 5" x 5"  (14 in all)

I like books. No doubt about that. But until I started making these collage books, I never really gave much thought to the structure of a book; how it was physically made or organized. And I certainly never considered how the book making process might affect my final feelings about reading or looking at pictures or about holding the book in my hands. Books, to me, have always been about ideas or stories or something that the author wanted me to know. They are about discovery and passing the time. Apart from how large the printing was or if there were pictures, I just sort of took things for granted; that the book had been made and it was now mine. Most importantly though, the book was not something I had made or written and so it wasn't personal to me. Making these books has given me quite the opportunity to make something personal and to learn a bit about myself in the process. 

During the making of this collage book, I did pick up a few ideas. I now know that the book is so much more than what I thought. For example, I didn't really consider, until I was finished, that the making of these collage books might tell a kind of story. The finished collages are narratives just like my regular full size collages. When I look at the collages, I consider having made the papers, what I was thinking, and how it felt to put all of the pieces together finally after a month of work. The book really tells the story of how those things felt to me. It also tells a story about my design ideas; a very strong story at that. Mark making, like writing or scribbling or making images with a pen, has never been a comfortable and confident thing for me. But with making this book, I sort of threw that idea out the window. Any kind of mark making became allowable. The collages also became a way for me to try out new color combinations and ideas. It became a way to tell a story about a kind of comfort level with doing things. And of course the book tells a big story about what I learned about the book making process.

A note about the stitching and structure of the book: 
Because I used watercolor paper for the pages, I couldn't really fold them neatly without difficulty. (They certainly would not have laid flat or have a good solid fold.) I decided to use a single page binding style to overcome the folding situation. I selected six holes for the pages which meant six needles threaded with yarn (a kind of unconventional thread choice which affected the look of the book). Each hole or "station" is individually sewn. I didn't properly tighten the covers enough so they are a little loose. Not perilously so but loose nonetheless. The thread had some give to it which adds to that issue. And lastly, I decided to use eyelets to give the holes on the covers some integrity. Using the eyelets was a very steep learning curve! Each book I have done so far has been a learning experience. Like, maybe I learn one or two things each time. But like anything that is undertaken, doing that thing over and over again should get a little better. (I hope.)

What I always hope is that anyone viewing the collages or books can decide for themselves what they like. I am sure they will too. Everyone can put their own story into what they see. And isn't that what a person does with a book anyway? We read (or look at pictures) and then filter those ideas or images through our minds and come to our own conclusions, hopefully. 

Comments?
​[email protected]

5" x 5" paper collages for upcoming handmade collage book

Studio view, new configuration (honestly, I thought it looked better!)

I thought that showing  a view of my new table configuration might be interesting. Maybe not, Who knows? This last weekend it was raining and I was thinking about how to get more organized. Prior to this new table grouping, I had to do my "wet" processes and "dry" processes at one table. It isn't a big deal but I always thought  that I would get paint on something important. These tables are readily available and very inexpensive. I also picked up some table risers at Amazon to raise the height of the tables so that I can work standing up without killing my back. I may add one more lamp for task lighting. (Seeing well as I have gotten older has become harder.) Anyway, it looks kind of sloppy I guess, maybe crowded more likely. It works very well though and that makes me happy. When you get up in the morning and come into your favorite spot it ought to be as you like it. 

I have new work to show (see above). These are small collages that are going to be part of a larger collage book that I am doing. This will be my fourth book. The books are hand bound using the coptic stitch. This stitching is quite the learning curve! Originally the books were a way to use up all of the papers that I have printed (and continue to print) but now I just really like doing them. It has been really important to me lately to put as much of my own tastes and ideas into my art as possible, including these books. I am notorious for seeing someone else's work and thinking that they know better than me; that I need to do what they are doing in order to make better art. In reality, their art is likely better but how does that help me? I sort of see it as wishing that I had someone else's fingerprints, you know? At this point though, I know something too and now is the time for it. I feel like I can see what it is that I like about that person's work and use that idea as a springboard for something very Libby-like.

The papers are all printed on a gelli plate using acrylic paints. The writing and marks are done with an acrylic paint pen or artist grade crayons. These pens are AWESOME! I tried them once before and couldn't deal with them. These Posca pens are really nice though and work well. I am continuing to use the sewing machine to zig zag stitch. It really tamps the various papers down and makes things look neat and clean. I like that plus there is the association with traditional quilting and sewing but in a new kind of way with paper. I like that too. 

I am trying to think of a way to show the books that I am making. A video? Pictures? I don't know. My skill set isn't quite there for the video but I guess I can see about it. Still images are more likely. 

If there are comments please email me: [email protected]
Thanks,
Libby