Lark Books has recently come out with a new book called Eco Books: Inventive Projects from the Recycling Bin put together by Terry Taylor.  It’s totally great, simple as that.  Each project is by a different book artist, many of which are local to Western North Carolina (I happen to be one of them, but I prooooomise I’m not saying any of this because I’m biased in any way).  You’ll find projects made of everything from egg cartons to cassette tapes.

Here are a few images of the book I made for Eco Books:

I took two hand embroidered pieces I had found in a thrift store (I had to peel them away from the backing that held them in their tacky wooden frames) and hand-stitched with black thread around the bunches of lemons and oranges to make the images “pop” more.  Then I made  book board for my covers by laminating layers of recycled cereal boxes that I then encased with my altered, vintage fabrics.

I decided to make the book a dos-a-dos (two books that share the same back cover) because I had two fabric pieces.  I used 100% recycled Classic Laid text paper, stained the edges with walnut dye I made myself and bound the book with multi-needle Coptic Binding.

I made twine (with two contrasting colors so that it would look striped) to be wrapped around a vintage button each to create closures for the front and back of the book.

Check it out at your local independent bookstore (that would be good ol’  Malaprops here in Asheville).

Here’s a little taste of my new set of miniature journals.   I made them for my first time exhibiting at the Craft Fair for the Southern Highland Craft Guild.  I had stocking-stuffers in mind, though using walnut dye to stain the covers tones them down a bit.  They don’t necessarily have a  cheery holiday “look,”  but hey, just like any gift, it just needs to be matched with the right person.  Right? Right!  They’ll be available one by one over the next week in my etsy shop.

I recently went to the Fine Arts Theater to see the new film Seraphine based on the true story of the life of a French house keeper and painter. (Click on images below to make them larger)

Though it wasn’t a high-action drama or heartbreaking love story I was totally sucked in.   I think I was most inspired by how she absolutely could not ignore her passion for painting.  Even in really hard times she chose to spend her money on supplies for her art rather than food or coal.   I agree that it’s a little extreme, but the result was truly amazing. (Keep in mind that these paintings were pretty large, almost as tall as her.)

She was discovered in 1912 by Wilhelm Uhde, a German art critic and collector (first buyer of Picasso and Rousseau!).  She was working for him as his maid at the time.  You’ll have to see the movie to find out the rest, of course.

To learn more about her go to: http://serdar-hizli-art.com/modern_painting/seraphine.htm

To watch the trailer for the movie go to: http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2926541/seraphine_movie_trailer/

I’m not sure I ever met Jenny officially, but I saw her from afar during one of my stints at Penland School of Crafts.  I remember loving her work and I just ran into her shop on etsy.  The following are examples of what she has for sale in her shop; “limited edition archival giclee prints of the original terra sigillata painting on a clay tile.” To see more of her work go to: www.jennymendes.com

Valerie Hammond’s work is so incredibly moving and inspiring.  She makes me want to dive deeper and deeper into my imagination.  Here are some pieces from various shows, one of which was curated by  Kiki Smith. (Click on each image to make it larger…the detail is amazing.)

“For thirty-six weeks, a sketchbook was sent in random order between four artists: two in Brooklyn, two in Belfast.

Every Wednesday, one participant would receive book. In order to maintain schedule, it was sent out the following Monday, giving each artist five days to complete a spread in response to the one that preceded it.

A small portion of each entry extends on to the following page. Beyond this, there was no communication between the artists concerning the content of book during its making.

book’s first trip across the Atlantic was on 2 June, 2003. Its final trip was on 2 February, 2004. By the time it was completed, book had travelled over sixty thousand miles.”

Here are some of the individual pages:

Each participating artist does work besides “book held” art, as Mac Premo calls the book page art.  They all have snazzy websites too.

Mac Premo

Duke Riley

Oliver Jeffers

Rory Jeffers