Baltimore Sonnets

Your dreams are never silly; depend on them to guide you. Lucky color: mustard yellow Lucky numbers: 10, 15, 25, 27, 40, 50

Pages from a few handmade books by Suzanne Coley  Pages from several one-of-a-kind handmade books

Madness need not be all breakdown. It may also be break-through.   ~Ronald David Laing, Scottish psychiatrist Existential Thoughts in a Time When Everything is Green, by Suzanne Coley

Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it. Beauty , acrylic on canvas, 2006 Beauty's Shadow , acrylic on canvas, 2006  Lucky color: Red

Paralyzing chill brought snow squalls  straight into her soul.  Sounds, foreign, page from handmade book by Suzanne Coley  and unspeakable, formed cyan symphonies in places she couldn't see. Vibrating memories, an emotional blizzard.  Deep, low pitched screams.  Defrosted time. Pressure waves of the soul. *Poetry & image from handmade C-Book by Suzanne Coley, February 18, 2015

Some days it's about taming the chaos. . .   Taming Chaos by Suzanne Coley Deep fear Blue fear Shards (linocut on handmade paper)

These are some of my tools I use when making books. Curved needle, awl, linen thread, paper awl, curved needle, linen thread by Suzanne Coley Linen threads for bookbinding

Love is the adhesive that glues all the broken  pieces of your life into a beautiful form. by Suzanne Coley silkscreen and linocut on paper, 2014 *I am reposting my image and quote with warm wishes on this special Love Day.  sc

Opportunities surround you if you know where to look. Page from original C-Book, Mother Bitch (A story about Cancer)   by Suzanne Coley Cover of  Mother Bitch (A story about Cancer)  by Suzanne Coley created in 2002, completed in 2008 Lucky Numbers: 2, 13, 15, 25, 38, 50

Reaching the Top I t took 72 years to reach the top.  She never thought she could climb it.  Living on the bottom taught her not to look that far up. linocut on handmade paper Sunny and mild for a winter day, the sky was clear.   The weatherman predicted snow storms.   She put on her new wool gloves.   She had been admiring them for a few months.   Yesterday when she walked by the boutique and saw that they were no longer in the window, she went inside and inquired.   One pair left and they would never go on sale.   She bought them.   Her new gloves went past her thin wrists, to her forearms.   Once on, she lifted them to her nose and took a deep breath.   The walk to the top would take 60 minutes.   That’s all she needed to reflect on her simple life.   No big goals achieved, no big dreams chased, no celebration for her birthday.   Simple and quiet she lived in a small town. From that hei...

Overcoming the technical challenges of making art paper from newspaper: handmade paper from New York Times, cotton, postage stamps  I am currently working on a project that requires using recycled newspapers. detail of a sheet of paper made from New York Times and cotton (black ink from the paper gives the new paper various shades of grey)  I really like the detail of paper made from printed material, detail of news paper with added text  however, newspaper isn't archival, quickly becomes muddy in texture, handful of cotton before combining it with torn newspaper to make pulp and turns various shades of grey. detail of handmade paper from New York Times (yes to recycling newspapers!) After adding 100% cotton to the newspaper pulp, I am pleased with the results.  Calcium carbonate was also added to the pulp to further balance the pH and archival  quality.

One should not forget the language of gratitude. journal page with handmade paper and inks, created January 2015 Lucky Numbers: 1, 2, 6, 27, 33, 56 May you have a happy and blessed Friday!

Tell Me What We Need . . . Page from handmade book, Stolen Breath, 2007 When I moved to Baltimore, I removed many boxes from two storage units in Brooklyn. Last week I opened a few of these boxes and discovered handprinted lithographs for a book I never completed. Title: Stolen Breath -- an inside view of domestic violence.  This year I hope to remove these prints permanently from these boxes.

Our memories are card-indexes consulted, and then put back in disorder by authorities whom we do not control.  ~ Cyril Connolly Page from handmade,  one of a kind book - 31 January 2015

page from daily journal, Super Bowl XLIX, by Suzanne Coley Enjoy!