Baltimore Sonnets

Printmaking and Embroidery In addition to printing and painting on textiles, I have come to love hand embroidery.  I use cotton and wool threads, which allow for a very textured feel when turning the pages. *The above is a detail image of a page: Hand embroidered number on painted linen.

Experiments, Experiments, Experiments:  One of the biggest lessons I learned while working on this year-long project was not to be afraid to experiment.  A month into this project, I realized there was no template, no book, no workshop, no Youtube video for the type of books I wanted to create.  This was liberating in many ways, because I realized that whatever I did represented my vision for the project. All I had to do was remain true to my aesthetics and keep pushing myself for the next 365 days. The above photos are two different versions of a book page for the final book of the series: Cygnets.  Stay tuned to see which one made it into the book.

Center for Book Arts,  New York City I visited New York City last week, and stopped by the Center for Book Arts . It's one of my  favorite places to experiment, learn, and discuss book arts and printmaking techniques. They also have an exhibition space that showcases traditional and non-traditional artist's books from around the world.   So interesting!

Final handmade books for 2017 I've been busy in the studio working on my final handmade textile book.  Volume 12 - Cygnets. Looking forward to finishing and taking time to post more images.

Printing Text on Fabric I've been experimenting with different ways of applying text to the pages of my books.  When I don't have a lot of text, I like to carve linoleum blocks.  When I have a lot of text, I like to use silkscreens. These photos are from my textile book All I Have .  I used a silkscreen to add text to the "raw" textile pages.

Torn But Not Broken:  I love using the leftover textiles and experimenting with them. Lately, I've been ripping, tearing, cutting, and creating textures with the leftovers.  Sewing these pieces together and then printing on them has allowed for interesting themes such as Torn But Not Broken.

Ursula Rani Sarma is a wonderful writer, and I am honored to have one of my paintings on the cover of her book Touched/Blue.  Ursula recently adapted Khaled Hosseini's novel A Thousand Splendid Suns for the stage.  So great!