Book Art / New Versions of the Reproduction System and Open Heart Surgery

With my recent community art project, Out of Context---The Pulse of The Page, finished and installed in the Goodnow Library's permanent collection, I now have an interest in repurposing old books. A stash stares at me whenever I enter my studio and they need to be moved. Some of the books are spineless and a few are still intact.  What now? 

I chose the new edition's design specifically to go with the book title
--- my condensed version of the reproduction cycle.

  On display at a favorite boutique are vintage condensed Readers Digests carved into alphabet letters. With that in mind, I cut a few letters. Very cute. Of course, I had to go a little further and make it my own.  Neither of these books (published in 1961) looked like they were ever cracked open. Hmm, I guess humanity figured it all out without reading the text. 

The expression on the female's face is so telling ---compared to the male in the shower.
The juxtaposition of the carving was spot-on!

Carving love was much more challenging.  (---aint that the truth?)
Not finished with these new editions;  I plan on editing the insides with my own stories.  

Again, the choice of book makes all the difference in the new version's design.
With a fabric scrap looped and glued in the spin. it can now hang ---like mistletoe.

 Much time and effort went into this open heart surgery ... but I have to try everything once (or twice or thrice).

Enough of getting side-tracked.  I gotta finish the book I am reading and then start my book group's latest title. 
I do like listening to books on tape as I work.  It's nice to hear someone else's voice in the studio.

Re-Construction Mode in the Workshop and Studio

If the found object can be carried, disassembled, cross-sectioned, sanded, drilled, wired, glued, screwed, nailed, folded, painted, polished
---it it is mine to re-imagine.

Enough said.

... put down the electronic device.

... leather table runners in the works.

Re-Construction Gives New Function

1" thick, century-old timber salvaged from a farm-cart box was my inspiration. Creative eyes saw the original paint's horizon line with a sun setting over the water. 

 teapot with attitude (SOLD)

Inspirational piece was a vintage shipping crate which carried Funk & Wagnall's
to a farm in Maine. 

Louis Armstrong sings, My Heart

One from my new series: The History of Round

Vintage record song title: Have I Talked To You Lately (SOLD)

The Journey

I've said it once and I'll say it again, using power tools is empowering.  To cut thru the slats of an old shutter ... to drill holes in dense hardwood ... to slice chunks ... to sand flat rough-cut ends ... to make a curve from a straight edge ---physicality and risk are required.
To have an idea is good.  To make it happen is better.

Standing at Attention: Found Objects Assembled

I think we are each entitled to a great fall once in our life.

Parents or masked crusaders might
come a-running.

A little "mental mending" is in order.

The Cabinet

      and

The Eagle Has Landed

---from the Noyes Farm series

Medical advice is at our keyboard fingertips.
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In grammar school, science and I were miles apart, but an interesting textbook cover
could catch my attention for awhile.
These polkadots and tiny numbers were actually from the inside of a nuclear reactor.

Apollo, in the flesh.

Do you remember where your
 feet were planted as our Apollo spacecraft's
astronauts planted the US flag on the moon?

 The vintage painted timbers I used for the bodies of the assemblages were originally farming implements.  The farmer probably did not have this kind of repurposing in mind for them
---as they were stored up and away in barn rafters for decades.  Last winter's heavy snowfall collapsed that barn's roof and they landed in my creative hands.

Pockets Of Heat

Started as one large painting, I soon realized this single view of distinct pockets
should be standing individually.  Each breathing, pulsing, murmuring life hidden within
and radiating outward could truly survive on its own.
In a collection or solitary, each holds strength and a feeling of hope.

detail of One, 8"x6"

detail from Two, 8"x7"

detail from Three, 10"x10"

detail from Four, 5"x10"

detail from Five, 8"x14"

A Closer Look

My Country Tis Of Thee,  20"x13", presently on exhibit in the State House offices of Senator Eldridge

I've been told that my style of painting draws the viewer in to take a closer look.  

This is good.  I strive to share an idea ---a story, of sorts.  I believe art should make people feel something, one way or another ... grab your attention ... yank at your heart and mind  ... see possibilities ... provoke wonder ... amuse or calm.  It is my voice communicating through my hands.

 ---tell-tale signs of our checkered past.

 acrylic paint, vintage photos, board game images, maps, flag scrap ... all fuse nicely under the luster of buffed wax.

The Process In Progress

  Finally got back to the Pillar Project.   A porch pillar from the old farmhouse next door is getting repurposed; it stood in my basement collecting sawdust for awhile.  Eventually it was chopped into thirds, rough sanded and transferred upstairs.  Ideas percolated and visions were sketched; yet other projects moved forward.  From the dismantled Victorian house  hidden in the woods, another pillar was picked and it too, awaits its own metamorphosis.

 In Her Shoes, has an circus-like weather vane apparatus stemming from its top.
History, souls, ghosts, stories ---flying at me from all directions --- I love this assemblage biz.  Designing, searching, gathering, rearranging, popping storylines --- finding objects that satisfy;  it's a gradual transformation process.

 Day after day I uncover this camoflaged cut, turn it, muse over the juxtaposition of color, texture and text.  Too busy--- not enough--- is it cohesive?

I remind myself to STEP BACK and STEP OUT.
It is almost there.  We both are in progress.

Drill, Cut, Rip, Collage, Paint and Then Some

Portrait of Matisse   ---acrylic, scraffito etching

Does anybody really know what time it is?

repurposed drawer, stove burner, game pieces, wainscoting

Flying Fish (SOLD) acrylic and collage---used vintage Japanese prints of birds on blossoming branches ... repurposed into fish and flowers!

Pollyanna Bingo Bowl (SOLD) 

FOREVER YOURS 1

Can you see the bubble wrap?

Sold at auction to benefit Household Goods Recycling of Massachusetts,
 this is my first slipcover project. 

photos by Paige Gilbert Goldfarb

Artists were invited to chose a discarded chair from the HGRM donations and "have at it".

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