A New Book Artist is Born

Yesterday I showed my mom how to make book covers and signatures, then bind it all together with coptic binding. Below are photos of her first book. I think it is fabulous!

the front cover

side view of the coptic binding

detail of the binding and signatures

Shadow Play

This photo was taken in our rock garden, and I love the sharp shadows of the grasses on the rocks!

Travel Journal

Once again this book's pages are made from brown paper bags. The cover is 3 different layers of hand painted cloth. This is the little journal that I made to hold my notes and photos from my recent art spree in Missouri and Kansas. Much more fun than a store-bought photo album!

Fun Accident

I started this painting of a tulip bloom, and before I got very far, I managed to spill India ink in the center of the bloom. It's been sitting off to the side of my work table for a while, as I hated to throw it away, and I didn't really know what to do with it. The other day I got out a can of black spray paint and started spraying on it. I actually love this look and plan to work on trying to duplicate it!

Coptic Stitch

I have had these signatures made for some time, but I didn't want to bind them into a book until I figured out exactly what I wanted. The pages are made from recycled brown paper bags, and the cover is mat board covered with handmade paper.

Recently I read about coptic binding, and inspiration struck. The thing that intrigued me the most about coptic binding is that the book opens flat when it is used. I also liked that the edges of the signatures showed.

Here is the book opened out, so you can see how the pages look. I love the texture and irregularities in the paper bag pages!

Watercolor Shell Fragments

SOLD

Another watercolor painting --- this one is of some shell fragments that were on the beach at Asilomar. I enjoy painting close ups of objects, rather than entire scenes. It is amazing to me that I enjoy realistic watercolor painting, when most of my other art is very abstract. I guess this is the medium that provides my balance.

New Collage Series

Vestiges #5

I have been working on a new series of 18 collages titled "Vestiges". It is a series that incorporates my photos from the Old Market district in Omaha, the Plaza district in Kansas City, and the shoreline in Monterey. It is turning out to be quite an interesting series, and I am enjoying the juxtaposition of the hard architectural lines with the soft lines of the shore. Above is one of the finished collages from this series.