Kansas

July 31, 2017

Every year, I cross the country via different highways depending on visits to friends and family. The goal of this eastward trip was a visit to my friend, Dana in Nashville, Tennessee, a conference Michael was taking part in Washington, and visiting artists.

As we crossed Kansas, un séjour in Dodge City was in order. In Dodge City, like most tourists, I followed the Trail of Fame that leads you through the downtown? Twenty-nine bronze medallions and markers are found and comprise citizens who believe in the community. My collection of manhole covers came to mind. What could I do with my series, my collection? How do I continue the project, or do I?

The images below resurrected my project City Shields for a day.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Trail of Fame, Dodge City, Kansas

The action of collecting becomes an obsession for artists. Often the attraction to particular items grows parallel to our work. I found another artist who has a compulsion to remember and to be remembered by way of collecting.

Monica Holtsclaw is a book artist, quilter, and sewer of many things. Monica spends most days in her studio in San Rafael, CA, and also teaches at the San Francisco Center for the Book. Find out the dates of Monica's workshops by visiting her calendar page.

Monica’s artists’ book Memory Palace was insightful. The patience to wait and collect to create a book many years later is admirable.

The pages of Memory Palace are a storage place for a range of tokens representing experiences I saved over the last twenty years. In this way it is a vessel, holding objects I can retrieve at any time to awaken memories temporarily forgotten. Codified by color and arranged chronologically, each item signifies a particular time and place. The structure was chosen because of its resemblance to a series of rooms. A memory palace is a mnemonic device which helps a person to catalog and retrieve information. The creation of Memory Palace has allowed me to transform this mnemonic device into physical reality.

© 2015 Monica Holtsclaw, Memory Palace, 8 x 8 x 1.5 inches (closed) — © 2015 Monica Holtsclaw, Memory Palace, 8 x 8 x 1.5 inches (closed)

© 2015 Monica Holtsclaw, Memory Palace, digital prints on 90lb watercolour paper, Iris book-cloth over binder’s board, foil stamped title

Another edition in the same genre is Monica’s Moving Forward created for the 2015 Hello Hedi Exhibition at 23 Sandy Gallery in Portland.

I watched an interview with Hedi Kyle, in which she spoke about her background and gave a tour of her studio. It was a delight to see the objects and structures that influence her, and I saw many of my own interests reflected in what she shared. I found that Hedi is an inspiring collector. I have saved ephemera for years and have been reflecting on what I have saved and have been making work around the theme of these tokens of my past. For this book, I focused on my collection of ground transportation tickets, acquired from 2002 to 2014. I chose Hedi’s Crown Book structure because of the movement of the binding as it opens and its resemblance to spokes of a wheel.

© 2015 Monica Holtsclaw, Moving Forward, 6.125 x 6.25 x .5 inches — © 2015 Monica Holtsclaw, Moving Forward, 6.125 x 6.25 x .5 inches

© 2015 Monica Holtsclaw, Moving Forward, digital prints on 90lb watercolor paper, Yupo watercolor paper, Fabriano Tiziano paper — © 2015 Monica Holtsclaw, Moving Forward, digital prints on 90lb watercolor paper, Yupo watercolor paper, Fabriano Tiziano paper

© 2015 Monica Holtsclaw, Moving Forward — © 2015 Monica Holtsclaw, Moving Forward

Read what Monica has to say in her own blog posts.

Next stop Tulsa, Oklahoma, what will I find? What will inspire my traveling studio?

Colorado

July 24, 2017

This week, I’m taking you back to where we began our trip.

The first artist studio visit planned was Helen Hiebert in Colorado. After reaching Eagle-Vail, Colorado, we had issues with trailer brakes. We had to postpone our visit to Helen's Red Cliff Studio since it is high in the Rockies and one needs working brakes for that kind of terrain.

After a phone call to Helen, we all decided that it was best to take care of the situation and meet later on in the year. Helen was nice enough to let me into her studio via photos. Here is what I missed!

Helen is In the photo below, we see Helen in the—what she calls messy and full—dry area of her studio. Karen Kunc visited Helen’s studio to discuss and contemplate the book project in progress they were collaborating on.

One of my favourite artists’ books of Helen's is Pop-Up Hand Shadow Book published in 2012, as an edition of 50. This book features four illustrated animal hand shadows in a theatrical book structure. The animals are brought to life by the viewer playing with a mini flashlight (packaged with the book), casting shadows onto panels behind the pop-ups in the book. A verse about each animal, by poet Nora Robertson, appears on each page.

Every September, (the weekend after Labor Day), Helen hosts a retreat in her studio. Last year’s group, poses at the entrance to Helen’s studio, which is in the old Red Cliff School House. The theme for the 2017 retreat is Sculptural Books. The focus will be on creating pages, panels, and unusual book structures before, during, and after making paper.

© 2016 Helen Hiebert, a group photo from last year’s retreat watching Helen give a papermaking demo.

Helen also has a papermaking area in her studio where she creates her own paper.

© 2017 Helen Hiebert, a drying system is on the left and a press is in the back.

Helen teaches a fair amount. Here we can view Helen’s set-up for filming her next online class—Paper Lanterns. For anyone interested in this online class registration details will be on Helen’s site by August 1, 2017.

© 2017 Helen Hiebert, filming set-up — © 2017 Helen Hiebert, filming set-up

© 2017 Helen Hiebert, this pamphlet shows different parts of Helen’s business.

Interested in pop-ups? Read Helen’s book Playing With Pop-Ups and enjoy creating 20 projects to play with ranging from cards and books to buildings, graphic design pieces, and more.

Playing With Pop-Ups features a high-end gallery of artists, whose beautiful work will inspire you to make your own amazing paper art.

Having a peak in Helen’s studio was fun even in a virtual manner.

Let’s see who else I can visit.

Environmental Scientist and Artist

July 16, 2017

We started our new lifestyle 19 days ago and I’m still trying to pull my shit together. These first few posts on visiting studios will be out of sequence since I—me—didn’t get going fast enough.

I’m organizing my life, my art, and our travel trailer. Every day is a trip in more ways than one.

Nashville, Tennessee, was the seventh stop along my journey. I visited a great friend and artist Dana Ryan Perez, an Environmental Scientist by degree. Dana focused on slime molds (algae) for her master’s. She is also a certified Master Gardener. As for her art, it came much later, but science is always part of Dana’s creative process.

© 2017 Dana Ryan Perez, Sustainable Botanical Prints is the title of Dana’s three-year adventure. This piece is a Japanese Maple print from her Salt Lake home garden. It is steam and pressure printed to extract the natural pigments in the leave… — © 2017 Dana Ryan Perez, **Sustainable Botanical Prints** is the title of Dana’s three-year adventure. This piece is a Japanese Maple print from her Salt Lake home garden. It is steam and pressure printed to extract the natural pigments in the leaves, printed on Lettra paper. No chemicals involved.

I am a gardener like my mother before me and her mother before her. We touch the land, nurture the seeds, harvest the fruits and share the bounty. We are caretakers of the earth. I am a printer like my father before me and my son after me. I set the type and crank the press. There is heritage in this link between nature and technique. There is a love for the land and a love for rendering it into art. This has been a three-year adventure in mixing science and craft with the unpredictability of Mother Nature.

I have moved from the pressroom to the city farm, printing my way through the garden with the ink from pigments in the leaves and stems. Drawing them out with steam, pressure and time. Some give willingly, others prefer not to let go of their precious color. Using this sustainable process to transfer the pigments onto paper and fabric has become more predictable with time, but each unveiling reveals the unexpected. The prints are vibrant and ethereal, leaving behind only water and debris for compost.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Dana's studio is quiet for the moment while Dana's settling in Nashville after living in Texas—home for her soul for 46 years and 17 years in Utah developing her art work.

And you know—I love insects, rocks, plants, books, printing, textiles and generally making a mess!!

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Dana's cabinet of tools certainly not a mess!

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Dana's wonderful, colourful weights are one of many surprises in her studio

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Dana's  collection of acorns — © 2017 Louise Levergneux, Dana's collection of acorns

Dana introduced me to many species of trees while walking around the campus of Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, biggest Southern Magnolia on the Vanderbilt campus

I photographed the Common Bald Cypress’ amazing cones—round balls which split open along the lines producing rounded scales something like thumbtacks. It is an important swamp tree along the Mississippi River as far north as Illinois and along the southern coast. It is one of the few trees that can grow in standing water.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Bald Cypress cones

What caught my eye was the Southern Magnolias with their unmistakable large creamy, white flowers and shiny evergreen leaves. Many of them planted on the main campus since they are not native to Tennessee.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Southern Magnolia fruit

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Southern Magnolia opened flower

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Southern Magnolia flower detail

It was a colourful visit and has inspired ideas.

Next will be Manassas, Virginia, but I will take you back to Colorado with Helen Hiebert first.

Farewell Boise!

July 11, 2017

A bittersweet farewell to our two-year stint in Boise, Idaho.

I’m glad to be on my next phase of life and artwork; but I will miss our home in Avimor—the best and probably the last brick and mortar home we will own.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, home in Avimor/Boise, Idaho

I regret leaving my best friend Dale Rogers, who supported me in dark times.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Kenzie Rogers, my Sheltie fix for the last seven months — © 2017 Louise Levergneux, Kenzie Rogers, my Sheltie fix for the last seven months

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, a little tribute to Kenzie who passed away a week before my departure, she will be missed

I loved hiking in the foothills of Avimor when wildflowers covered the hills.

It was a struggle in the last two years to fit all my equipment in this small space—paper, binding cloth, cutters, glue... and my Topaz after having such a large space in Utah. I made it work. I got to love my small studio with its large window bringing in the brightest light from the north. It was a cozy creative place.

I need to figure out how to create in a much smaller space—in a 90 square feet of home—well I should say no space! How will I approach creating on the road with the suggestions I received after my last blog post? I will blog later on the subject.

I’m looking forward to the French welcoming ritual my family and friends have back home. See what I mean! C'est la bise après tout!

I’m hoping to visit artists studios on the road, and my first stop was to be Helen Hiebert in Colorado. With unforeseen difficulties, I did not get to meet Helen in person. Maybe the next time! Next, Dana Ryan Perez's studio, a fiber and artists’ bookmaker in Nashville, Tennessee.

Idaho Flowers

June 20, 2017

As you might realize, I’m late with my blog post this week. The studio and house are almost empty, no more equipment lying around. My Epson printer is back on the floor waiting to jump into its box. The only thing to play with is my new GoPro Hero 5 camera to record videos on our journey.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, my empty studio

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, what you can do with a closet dooe and four crates!

Dilemmas, dilemmas—how to create while traveling. Please share any ideas on how to produce while on the road. I would be glad to experiment with your suggestions and let you know how it goes.

Communication with other artists in the past few weeks has been scarce. No work completed reflecting my studio life. Another reason to ask “Where do I belong?”

Hiking in the foothills of Boise last week, I shot photos of Idaho wildflowers. I would like to share these photographs with you by giving permission to use them in your work if you desire. Use them for an artists’ book, a collage or anything else you may need. All I ask is that you share the finished work with me and my readers as part of a blog post.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, wild flowers of Idaho

For this post, these photos were saved for the web. If you need a larger size file, email me and I will send you the original file through a large file transfer service.

Happy creations! See you on the road.

New Endeavor

June 11, 2017

Launching into a new creative endeavor or new lifestyle is often marked by fear, uncertainty, and self-doubt. All these states of being have traversed my mind in the last 4 months as we prepare to hit the road.

Analyzing a new beginning is recognizing that one is ready to embark on a new journey. So, this voyage is fast approaching, and the photo below is what my studio looked like most of the week. I was trying to make sense of the 90 square feet of available living space in our T@B trailer and our Kia Sorento.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, our T@B trailer with all amenities in 90 square feet

I sold books this year, but I'm left with too many copies of each edition created throughout the years. A friend once told me to publish one to three copies only at a time. Another told me that when her artists’ bookshelf fills up she donates or gifts books to make room for newer publications.

I find it difficult to make notes good enough to publish a book at a later date, so I create the whole edition at the same time. This situation creates lots of inventory, nice with a studio, but not good to fit in a trailer for a year.

Sarah Bryant from Big Jump Press, she calls herself a genius and I don’t blame her—she’s correct—she’s excellent at creating notes on her publications giving her the capability to finish an edition later on. You can read Sarah's blog post “Ok, where was I?” published in February 2016—see how she developed a way to finish her project at a later date. Great reading and informative.

© 2016 Sarah Bryant, Sarah's prep bags of gigs and information

I packed and re-packed all my artists’ books. It’s strange to leave your creations somewhere for so long without access to them for exhibitions or sales.

I had to resolve my MacBook Pro problem throughout my packing sessions. My battery is failing, and the issue was never resolved by Simply Mac or Apple. I wish Apple would make batteries that last longer. This is my second experience with a dysfunctional computer battery. My last MacBook Pro battery exploded while I was typing on the keyboard. Literally, it made my computer three times thicker and my hands went flying. What a surprise! This time the battery will die as it will no longer charge even plugged in. How much fun can one take!

Here is what Simply Mac agreed on their Service Summary, but after many back-and-forth phone calls between Simply Mac and Apple, neither could agree on the terms of the problem. On the Simply Mac Service Summary, it was clear that if I waited until September of 2017 the battery would be FREE; Apple does not agree. This situation is difficult when the technology is needed, and the technology and the services are certainly not dependable.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Simply Mac's Service Summary I signed to agree on repairs. I squared in red the important parts.

The next phase is on my mind. I feel nervous and excited about my new adventure and hope to see you on the road and or visit your studio.

Smaller footprint, bigger ideas!

A Day of Photography

May 28, 2017

I’m well rested after a short trip to Salt Lake City to take my mind off reality.

My husband and I spent a day in Park City to visit photography galleries. I love to stop at Fatali, The Light Hunter as he calls himself. He photographs nature’s perfect moments.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Fatali Gallery sign

Every year, new photographers show up in Park City. They come and they go. This year two accomplished and award-winning photographers, Jared & Trish McMillen have joined the many galleries in Park City. Their goal is to document photographic landscapes in a way that captures each genuinely magnificent detail in all of nature's chaotic glory. The Horse Collection portrayed the West in all its beauty with its contrast, solitude, and simplicity.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, view of the inside of the McMillen Gallery from sidewalk

I was unable to visit the Kimball Art Center since it is being rebuilt.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, demolished Kimball Art center

One has to stop at High West Distillery and do a bit of “this” when in Park City. Great atmosphere and the rosé was delicious!

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, "A Bit of This"

I stopped by Simply Mac to verify the capacity and requirements for upgrading my operating system. To use my different software without spending more money than necessary, El Capitan is my limit. Great news, till I learned my computer’s battery is ready to explode!

Technical difficulties are on the way, and I will try using Unbound’s services in Meridian for the next blog post. If that does not work, I will write in the next couple of weeks or so. In the mean time create and enjoy.

Travel

May 21, 2017

I re-named my studio 1/2 Measure Studio after leaving a large studio space in Utah in June 2015 for a smaller studio in the best house ever. I now, enjoy its size and comfort, but, I never settled in Boise, Idaho.

The onerous fees of owning a house and all it entails is stopping my husband and me from seeing the world. So, we chose traveling instead of a brick and mortar house, we will be on the road for the next year. I might need to re-name my studio again, but will I have one?

We travel to foreign places, we travel in and around our hometown, we also journey in our mind’s eye, during the long hours in our studios as we create our imaginary worlds. In my mind, I often wander across the nation back home. We all find different ways to express our voyages.

To celebrate a new way of thinking of “home” which I long for, I have found artists who have touched upon the subject of “Travel”.

Artist Natalie McGrorty created Traveling Light back in 2008. This artists' book is about home and the memories we carry with us. Threads traverse house-shaped pages, enclosed within a miniature vanity case. These threads represent memories contained within 'time-frames' of experience. Words running from A-Z describe ideas of what 'home' is.

Natalie’s book Traveling Light is part of the Emory University in Atlanta’s collection if you would like to view it in person.

Marlene MacCallum created Nine Elevated Views, this experimental work grew out of research into artists’ publishing and was inspired by the culminating group workshop held at Columbia College Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts. The prototype for this piece was a collaboration incorporating a group letterpress text project led by Clifton Meador and folded structures introduced by Scott McCarney.

Upon returning home from this workshop, I reworked the piece, printing the image with a base layer of inkjet and then four subsequent photolithographic printings. The text is printed in handset letterpress. The image is constructed by using photographs of the view from each of the nine station stops of the elevated train in Chicago’s Loop. At each stop, I stepped out and made a photograph. I then took these photos and layered them together. This new image is reminiscent of the visual experience of looking out the window as we moved along the tracks. Two brief statements wind their way down the image, intersect and exit into the image. The folded structure references the skyscrapers that dominate the landscape and the unfolding structure is an impossible guide to this portion of the city.

© 2014 Marlene MacCallum, Nine Elevated Views, case bound folded paper book work, 17.3 cm x 7.7 cm x 1.5 cm — © 2014 Marlene MacCallum, Nine Elevated Views, case bound folded paper book work, 17.3 cm x 7.7 cm x 1.5 cm

© 2014 Marlene MacCallum, Nine Elevated Views, view of first opening, inkjet, lithography and letterpress, 17.3 cm x 14.65 cm — © 2014 Marlene MacCallum, Nine Elevated Views, view of first opening, inkjet, lithography and letterpress, 17.3 cm x 14.65 cm

© 2014 Marlene MacCallum, Nine Elevated Views, view of center opening of book, inkjet, lithography and letterpress, 17.3 cm x 16.5 cm

© 2014 Marlene MacCallum, Nine Elevated Views, view of book block extended sideways, 17.3 cm x 29.3 cm — © 2014 Marlene MacCallum, Nine Elevated Views, view of book block extended sideways, 17.3 cm x 29.3 cm

© 2014 Marlene MacCallum, Nine Elevated Views, view of book block extended sideways and opened up partially — © 2014 Marlene MacCallum, Nine Elevated Views, view of book block extended sideways and opened up partially

© 2014 Marlene MacCallum, Nine Elevated Views, view of book block fully extended, 40.8 cm x 29.3 cm

Sharon Sharp remained captivated by Kentucky’s remarkable cave system and its complex history after her trip to Mammoth Cave National Park. Sharon served as Mammoth Cave National Park’s Artist-in-Residence in 2009 and created a set of artist’s books for donation to the park after her residency experience. Her artists’ book Depth Perception: Mapmaking Legacies at Mammoth Cave is a one-of-a-kind artist’s book created in 2011.

Virtually every week, my mind wanders back to that setting, its environmental richness, and the people whose lives have been shaped by experiences there.

Depth Perception: Mapmaking Legacies at Mammoth Cave is a sculptural, multi-part book that celebrates two early mappers of Mammoth Cave's labyrinthine passages: Stephen Bishop, an enslaved African American guide who, in the mid-1800s, gained international fame; and Max Kämper, a German civil engineer who, with the guide Ed Bishop (Stephen’s nephew), explored further and devised new mapping approaches in the early 1900s. These explorers are still honored at today's National Park, which encompasses the world's longest cave. Historic map portions and my cave-interior photographs accent text on the central section’s interior and exterior. Details about Stephen Bishop and Max Kämper appear in small fold-out books on each end of the large structure, which represents the cave system’s majestic realms.

© 2011, photo by Tommy White; Depth Perception: Mapmaking Legacies at Mammoth Cave by Sharon Sharp is 8.75 inches H x 6.5 inches W, 42 inches when fully opened — © 2011, photo by Tommy White; Depth Perception: Mapmaking Legacies at Mammoth Cave by Sharon Sharp is 8.75 inches H x 6.5 inches W, 42 inches when fully opened

© 2011, photo by Tommy White; Depth Perception: Mapmaking Legacies at Mammoth Cave by Sharon Sharp is spired accordions sewn back-to-back, with fold-down end sections and pop-up features — © 2011, photo by Tommy White; Depth Perception: Mapmaking Legacies at Mammoth Cave by Sharon Sharp is spired accordions sewn back-to-back, with fold-down end sections and pop-up features

© 2011, photo by Tommy White; Depth Perception: Mapmaking Legacies at Mammoth Cave by Sharon Sharp is created using Canson Mi-Teintes, metallic-flecked unryu, textured Strathmore, kozo with mango leaves, and Southworth papers — © 2011, photo by Tommy White; Depth Perception: Mapmaking Legacies at Mammoth Cave by Sharon Sharp is created using Canson Mi-Teintes, metallic-flecked unryu, textured Strathmore, kozo with mango leaves, and Southworth papers

© 2011, photo by Tommy White; Depth Perception: Mapmaking Legacies at Mammoth Cave by Sharon Sharp, archival inkjet prints for text, map portions, and original photos; colored-pencil highlights on photos; Irish linen thread; binder’s board and … — © 2011, photo by Tommy White; Depth Perception: Mapmaking Legacies at Mammoth Cave by Sharon Sharp, archival inkjet prints for text, map portions, and original photos; colored-pencil highlights on photos; Irish linen thread; binder’s board and magnets

Join me in celebrating. Go travel and explore your experiences!

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Hello, my name is Louise Levergneux, I’m a book maker. This blog is where I share and reflect on the approaches and structures used in my creative process, artists' books, photography. and more...

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