Books in Progress 2

Here are some images of my book series so far. The work you see here was done in a pretty short time span, but I hope to take my time on finishing them.

From the book on being uninspired - typewriters, coffee cups, and letraset.



From the book on being misanthropic - familiar ground for me.

A self portrait - I haven't done one in a long, long time.

Rubber stamps and one of my favourite chiyogami paper patterns.



The first finished book - two more beautiful chiyogami prints and linen

The folded paper folios along with the work that's done so far all packed up in a little paper bag for transport.

Books in Progress

I've started work on my book project. I'm getting excited to see the final product (I have a loose idea of how it will turn out, but you never know) And I'm excited to have a one week deadline to get all six books completed by. For some reason I seem to lack initiative until there's a deadline looming.

Here are the pages for the six small book all folded and ready to be filled, covered, and stitched. I'm currently in the process of "storyboarding" how each will go, but it's a pretty loose process. I tend to believe I'm at my creative best when I fly by the seat of my pants...

I'll get into what the books will actually be in greater detail since I was a little vague in my last post. Each of the six books will be a little snapshot of some aspect of my personality or current circumstances. As I mentioned, the project is autobiographical (which is very new ground for me) but as per usual in my work reality will be a little embellished.
Each book will begin with "portrait of the artist" on the cover with the first inner page revealing what aspect of my life will be portrayed in the book. I also have a feeling there will be more text than illustration though, of course, there will be images in each book.

When I have one or more finished, I'll post. And they'll all be done and ready to go by next Wednesday morning.

Book Ideas!

I always come up with ideas at the most inopportune time. Today, I finally got the idea I've been waiting for for my book project while I was on my bike, heading down Bay St. I pulled onto a sidewalk to jot down the idea when I found I didn't have a pen or paper in my knapsack. I am one of those people that needs to write down everything, and I have cursed myself many a time for forgetting to bring a notebook and/or pen with me. And I always seem to get my big ideas when I'm out walking, biking, or at the gym. I think that the raised heart rate or blood flow gets me thinking better, but those are also the times when I usually don't have a pen or paper handy.

Anyway, onto my idea.

Since it's been a long, long time since I've done anything really autobiographical I've decided to do something about myself. The work I do is often highly personal and intimate, dealing with interpersonal or romantic relationships of between people, or just thoughts of one person - but it's always just made up.

I also want it to have something to do with the act of making art, or rather the process including the fictionalization of emotions (in my other work) and lack of inspiration/concept that are usually my downfall.

I plan on doing a small series, maybe about six, with each small book acting as a different piece of the "portrait" I'm creating of myself as an artist (and even coming to terms with using the word artist). Now that I've got a concept to match the aesthetics that are always the easiest part for me I'm ready to get started. Progress images and sketches soon to follow.