Baltimore Sonnets

Artistic Research Residencies In Sequent Toil, 2024, handmade book by Suzanne Coley Some residencies are life changing and put you on a path you never imagined for yourself. They inspire creativity and offer opportunities to meet and work with scholars you have only read about in textbooks. These scholars love what they do and their approach is joyfully rigorous! They enjoy talking about challenging literary works and explore complex themes and characters. They patiently listen and review your art based on these readings and offer you insightful feedback. They introduce you to more books and scholarship. Your mind spins and your hands get to working, producing art and books you never imagined possible. I am forever thankful for my wonderful residency at Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies and my continued work with their scholars.

 ART, NATURE, AND SCIENCE The name Alte (Old) Pinakothek symbolizes the time period of the museums' art collection.  All of the artworks (several thousand pieces) are from the 14th century to the 18th century. This museum, along with Neue Pinakothek and Pinakothek Der Moderne are part of the Bavarian State Painting Collections. It was great to experience, in the same space, scientific study with some of the most beautiful and compelling artistic creations.   Wonderful museum!

Researching printmaking and painting techniques in Germany. This is the beginning of a new chapter in my artistic process and I am excited about my upcoming projects. I truly appreciated the technical details of the aquatints and woodcuts by scientist Hans-Peter Elsasser.   It was great to be able to touch and study the actual printmaking plates. And, then be able to analyze the printmaking plates next to the actual prints on paper.    

2024 was a productive year.  I created several different book series of embroidered and embellished books during my 1.5 years as a Folger Institute Fellow.   These three flower books are in response to Shakespeare's Sonnet 54.  During my artist talk at the Folger on 16 November 2024, I mentioned the power of flowers.   "The act of giving flowers is a timeless gesture of deep appreciation, love, or praise. Beyond their symbolic value, flowers serve as visually striking design elements, drawing the eye and creating inviting focal points. Even after a fresh bouquet fades, the memory of the gesture endures, lending a poignant resonance to these artistic choices." /Suzanne Coley, 'Coded Threads,' November 2024  

This month I celebrated my 23rd year creating original imagery and art for theaters by taking my mom and husband to a local production of Eric Overmyer's play On The Verge or The Geography of Yearning . On The Verge was the first play that I created illustrations and art for the production's posters and the theater's exhibition gallery.  It was great to see this play more than two decades later. A bit of trivia: On The Verge premiered in Baltimore in 1985 at Baltimore Center Stage Theater. Working on this play and Aristophanes Clouds in Italy, are two of my all time favorites. Photo: Fells Point Corner Theatre Production, Baltimore, MD 2024

 Coded Threads: Translating Shakespeare Through Art The following is a page from Flowers For Mistress Overdone , the first of two books that I presented at the Folger Shakespeare Library on Nov 16. The pages for the books are created with textiles from 5 continents (Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and North America).  The textiles were collaged and sewn into various designs. The fabric on the left is a collage of American and Tanzanian fabrics that I combined with one of my linocuts.  The fabric on the right was an original mid century modern English quilt top I purchased at London's Antique Quilt Company during my summer in the UK researching Shakespeare's texts.  The owner, Christopher, sources the highest quality textiles and it was truly a joy to transform this quilt into pages of my books inspired by Shakespeare's Measure For Measure. It was wonderful to present a few of my original artworks and embroidered books during my talk at the Folger Shakespeare Library....