2/28/08 Artist Book
I just begun an exciting new project - an artist book in the shape of a tabletop 6-panel screen. This piece is inspired by The Tall Grass Marsh (technically the back waters of Crooked Lake located in the Allegan State Game area.
I have been spending a lot of time in this marsh these past five year and have been wanting to make a special artists book to honor it.
This is a very unique marsh, the kind that has no inlet nor outlet with the only ground water and snow and rain water feeding it. It is very suspectible to the weather conditions. As a result the water table varies dramatically. Some visits I can walk across the marsh to the island of tamaracks, leatherleaf shrubs and low bush bueberry an sit and eat a sandwich. Other times there is to much water to enter the marsh itself.
The screen is made of stained wood, with 6 horizontal panels and two smaller panel inserts. The 12" X 17" openings will hold my handmade paper that be attached to the frame using grommets, eye hooks and waxed linen string. The six paper panels will have images on them similar to the canvas's I have been working on the past three years.
Today I made two handmade paper panels, testing to see if the leather leaf leaves will bleed. Using botanicals collected from the marsh last fall I made thick paper panels of various grasses.
I also created a "mock up" of the six individual panels with outlines of shapes to start. I won't actually be creating the finals panels until the paper mix is perfected and the connective system is perfected. Eventually I will play around with ferns stems or Michigan Holly twigs to outline parts of the design.
The next challenge is to find the right grommets to attach the paper sheet to the wood frame. I have a gold grommet but they are too bright for my tatste. I think I may try to paint or stain the grommet to tone them down. I understand that grommets come in either gold or aluminum, neither of which I prefer. Copper would be the prettiest and would blend with the paper but they are produced in that color. No matter what colors I end up with, I want the grommets, eye hooks and linen to be secondary to the design and form and not stand out.
I have been spending a lot of time in this marsh these past five year and have been wanting to make a special artists book to honor it.
This is a very unique marsh, the kind that has no inlet nor outlet with the only ground water and snow and rain water feeding it. It is very suspectible to the weather conditions. As a result the water table varies dramatically. Some visits I can walk across the marsh to the island of tamaracks, leatherleaf shrubs and low bush bueberry an sit and eat a sandwich. Other times there is to much water to enter the marsh itself.
The screen is made of stained wood, with 6 horizontal panels and two smaller panel inserts. The 12" X 17" openings will hold my handmade paper that be attached to the frame using grommets, eye hooks and waxed linen string. The six paper panels will have images on them similar to the canvas's I have been working on the past three years.
Today I made two handmade paper panels, testing to see if the leather leaf leaves will bleed. Using botanicals collected from the marsh last fall I made thick paper panels of various grasses.
I also created a "mock up" of the six individual panels with outlines of shapes to start. I won't actually be creating the finals panels until the paper mix is perfected and the connective system is perfected. Eventually I will play around with ferns stems or Michigan Holly twigs to outline parts of the design.
The next challenge is to find the right grommets to attach the paper sheet to the wood frame. I have a gold grommet but they are too bright for my tatste. I think I may try to paint or stain the grommet to tone them down. I understand that grommets come in either gold or aluminum, neither of which I prefer. Copper would be the prettiest and would blend with the paper but they are produced in that color. No matter what colors I end up with, I want the grommets, eye hooks and linen to be secondary to the design and form and not stand out.
