Austin, Texas.4

The Ransom Center is a remarkable building, renovated and completed in 2003. When I visit, for me it's the addition of the building’s glass-enclosed atrium on the first floor. The entrance is surrounded by windows featuring etched reproductions of images from the collections. These architectural elements literally take the "inside out" by showcasing materials from the Center's collections and making the images viewable from both the interior and exterior of the building.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. The Ransom Center’s etched glass South windows.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. The Ransom Center’s etched glass windows. Detail of “Horse in Motion” by Eadweard Muybridge, ca. 1886

Enjoy an insider's glimpse into the Ransom Center. This 10-minute video provides a broad overview of collections, scholarship, conservation, exhibitions, and programs. Curators, students, members, and conservators discuss their work and how the Center shares and celebrates the creative process.

Before going up to the 4th floor to meet with Olivia Primanis, I typically sit and enjoy the etchings for a few minutes. The other element that is captivating for me at the Ransom Center is the trees in the gardens surrounding the building. The Quercus Virginiana is everywhere on the University of Texas campus. The Live-Oak as it is commonly called, seems to breath and move! The Live Oak, can also be observed in the Hill Country of Texas.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Quercus virginiana trees on the North side of The Ransom Center.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. The Ransom Center’s Southeast etched glass windows. Details: (middle left) Migrant Mother, Dorothea Lange, 1936, (right) Illustration from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, John Tenniel, 1865, (bottom left) Portrait of Marianne Moore, Robert Stewart Sherriff, 1960s.

Every year, Olivia, an intern from France, and another of Olivia’s colleague and I, get together for (what Olivia calls) a French lunch. It is enjoyable to speak French in Texas! And it is an honor to be asked to join!

Olivia Primanis is the Senior Book Conservator at the Harry Ransom Center. The Conservation Department is charged with the care of the Center's collections. This responsibility poses ongoing and rewarding challenges in the areas of treatment, preventive care, research and education.

Olivia performs conservation treatments and manages the book lab and special projects. She is interested in general conservation and preservation subjects relating to library and museum materials and specific topics such as disaster recovery, the study of minimally invasive book repairs and 19th century photo album history and structure.

After our fantastic French lunch, I took the time to explore the first major exhibition of Edward Ruscha Papers and Art Collection drawn from the Ransom Center's collection.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. American Beautyberry (Callicarpa-Americana) is a Texas native shrub of the Blackland Prairie in Central Texas, also known as French mulberry, sourbush, bunchberry, or purple beauty berry. This bush is also found on campus.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. The Ransom Center’s Southeast etched glass windows.

After our fantastic French lunch, I took the time to explore the first major exhibition of Edward Ruscha Papers and Art Collection drawn from the Ransom Center's collection.

An intrduction to the exhibition “Ed Ruscha: Archaeology and Romance”

The remarkable exhibition Ed Ruscha: Archaeology and Romance, features more than 150 objects. The show presents Ruscha's celebrated books, photographs, drawings, and prints. The best part as an artist was to view his layout sketches and personal notebooks.

It was an excellent opportunity to see so many of Ed Ruscha’s work, like Every Building on the Sunset Strip, Twenty Six Gasoline Stations, Some Los Angeles apartments...

Ed Ruscha's 1966 accordion-fold book "Every Building on the Sunset Strip" stretching more than 20 feet long, being installed for the exhibition "Ed Ruscha: Archaeology and Romance."

Ed Ruscha: Archaeology and Romance was organized by Dr. Jessica S. McDonald, the Nancy Inman and Marlene Nathan Meyerson Curator of Photography, the exhibition examines the stages of conception, design, and production leading to the publication of Ruscha's groundbreaking artist's books and provides audiences with an unprecedented look into his creative process.

The show continues till January 6th, if you have a chance to visit, you should! Looking forward to more French speaking with Olivia and her colleagues.

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Austin, Texas.2

Next, on my tour of artists in Austin was handmade paper maker Yamandu Ploskonka. Yama makes paper under the distinct imprint Papel Texano. He is everything related to paper, but, in addition, a trainer, a fixer, a communicator, an inventor, and an innovator. He loves materials, arts, crafts, creative ideas, design, electronics, mechanics, people, prototypes, and tools.

In late 2017, Yama made a breakthrough regarding an ideal charcoal, pastel paper surface and achieved the Cinque Tooth Paper, Papel Texano’s specialty “finish.” A new/old paper; new because it’s being presently produced and old since it is a reinvention of the textured renaissance papers that the masters drew upon.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Yama demonstrating the pulp used for his handmade paper.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Yama demonstrating home made pulp beater used for his handmade paper.

These deep grooves of Cinquecento paper are ideal for charcoal, chalk and sanguine artists. Typically made by hand with 21st century methods in Austin, this very classic surface on handmade paper is again available to artists and everyone!

Why so much tooth in Renaissance papers?

Would you like to appreciate the history of paper?

Why so much fuss?

How to make paper pulp with a garbage disposal?

Have you ever asked yourself any of these specific questions, the answers are here at Papel Texano.

Visiting with Yama was a valuable experience! I had a delightful afternoon and evening. We talked candidly about paper and more paper. Yama’s humour is to savour as he endeavours to share his knowledge. We were shown around his outside studio with lots of homemade equipment which was fascinating. I naturally enjoyed the elaborate description and the key reasons behind his first artists' book entitled Touch This Art! The Book as Yama explained the intricate details.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Yama’s CNC router at work.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. The finished styrofoam mold.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. The result from the mold to create Touch this Art!

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Another cast paper print using the CNC router. Gorgeous to the touch!

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. The bookbinding design of Touch This Art! The Book is an accordion structure that reminds us of Aztec and Mayan codices. The 100% cotton, handmade cast paper pages in light pink/red hue is from iron oxide. The pages are mounted on a lengthy piece of amate (a type of bark paper) paper.

Yama also explained the machine that made Touch This Art! The Book, a CNC router — Computer Numerical Control machine — a computer-operated carving tool.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Yama joking as he prepares a lovely meal for us.

After much conversation about his studio, paper, and art, Yama made my husband and I a great pasta meal before we left. Yama was amazingly generous with his information and practice. Yama even took the time to gave me the excitement of making handmade paper, elbow deep in pulp. Before leaving, I purchased several sheets of paper to reproduce an image on my Epson Archival Ink Jet printer. I may have found a papermaker for the end sheets of my upcoming book on Live Oak (Quercus Virginiana).

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. My first try at stirring pulp with Yama’s help.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Yama showing me how to drip the water from the mold.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Seeing the results.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Yama’s vat with signatures of visiting artists to his studio. Recognize some of them?

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Yama laughing!

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Adding my signature to the famous vat.

If you ever find yourself in Austin, a stop at Papel Texano is a must!

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Austin, Texas

To begin with, I sincerely wanted to thank all of you who responded positively to my inquiry through the BookListServ on visiting studios while trekking in and around Texas.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Quercus Virginiana in a field in Dripping Springs, Texas

My first tour was to Cloverleaf Studio, a book arts business located in Austin. Jace Graf, owner and operator of Cloverleaf Studio, was approachable and generous with his time. I was given an extensive tour of the studio which was exciting and wonderfully equipped. Jace showed me some of the specific bindings and luxury boxes created by the studio.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Cloverleaf Studio hallway entrance.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Lots of box spacers on a shelf in the hallway. What patience!

His work is held in many private collections, library special collections, and museums across the country. In the past 20 years, Jace has done business with hundreds of commercial and fine art photographers to create portfolios, limited-edition books, and deluxe versions of trade editions.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. One of the rooms of Cloverleaf Studio.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Cloverleaf Studio’s equipment.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. The back room of Cloverleaf Studio. Now that’s a press!

Jace worked for five years at BookLab, which at that time was the premier edition bookbindery in the country. In 1996, Jace started Cloverleaf Studio where he specializes in hand bookbinding, box making, and book design.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Jace Graf’s office at Cloverleaf Studio.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Jace Graf’s office with the many samples of his work.

This was a terrific visit, and I’m glad I had the chance to meet with Jace and see the exciting work that is crafted by Cloverleaf Studio. This helped inspire a new book I have in mind about the Quercus Virginiana. Maybe bound in Texas!

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Quercus Virginiana on ranchland in Lexington, Texas

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Minneapolis, Minnesota

Five years ago on my way back home, I visited Minneapolis, Minnesota. At the time Jeff Rathermel was Executive Director of the Minnesota Center for Book Arts in Minneapolis. I took the time to drop by and view the exhibition Directed: The Intersection of Book, Film and Visual Narrative exhibition. I was pleased to participate with my artists’ book Decades Apart in this juried exhibition. Jeff was kind in showing me around the show and the MCBA.

© 2012 Louise Levergneux. Decades Apart

With no knowledge at the time that Kate Burke — a Minneapolis artist who has a recognized career in both public art and painting — was chosen to design manhole covers for the Nicollet Mall in the city.

The Nicollet Mall underwent a redesign by James Corner, designer of the High Line in NYC in 2017. The original manhole covers installed in 1992 were removed, cleaned and reinstalled. Nicollet Mall is comprised of 75 covers with eleven unique designs each cast seven times. The new concrete walkway has an etched leaf, branch and a basket weave design. This is the new home of the manhole covers.

To my surprise, while researching streets on Google Map for City Shields, an on-going project, I noticed a wonderful manhole cover. What dismay! I had overlooked the opportunity to photograph some of the most uniquely designed covers for my series. I was devastated! Researching till I discovered the name of the artist and communicated with Kate Burke and later featured her work on one of my blog posts. It’s been a year ago almost to the day. I visited Minneapolis at the end of September 2018 and walked Nicollet Mall to find most of the manhole covers designed by Kate. I was thrilled! I photographed in late afternoon while walking in the drizzle most of the 13 blocks of Nicollet Mall.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Haralson Apples, manhole cover on Nicollet Mall, designed by Kate Burke.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. The Loon, manhole cover on Nicollet Mall, designed by Kate Burke.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Northern Pike, manhole cover on Nicollet Mall, designed by Kate Burke.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Lady Slippers, manhole cover on Nicollet Mall, designed by Kate Burke.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Wild Rice, manhole cover on Nicollet Mall, designed by Kate Burke.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Corn, manhole cover on Nicollet Mall, designed by Kate Burke.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Oats, manhole cover on Nicollet Mall, designed by Kate Burke.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Norway Pine, manhole cover on Nicollet Mall, designed by Kate Burke.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. The Walleye, manhole cover on Nicollet Mall, designed by Kate Burke.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Wheat, manhole cover on Nicollet Mall, designed by Kate Burke.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. The Timber Wolf, manhole cover on Nicollet Mall, designed by Kate Burke.

©2018 Michael Sutton. Walking over the famous Walleye on the sidewalks of Nicollet Mall on September 27, 2018.

© 2018 Kate Burke. Norway PIne, manhole cover, when it was first installed, designed by Kate Burke.

© 2018 Kate Burke. Oats, manhole cover when it was first install, designed by Kate Burke.

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Have you seen a unique manhole cover lately? If so, where?

Another volume? Not sure, I have other projects I would like to accomplish, but one never knows.

Ottawa, Ontario

While being in my home town of Ottawa, Ontario /Gatineau, Québec, there were many people and artist friends to visit. This year I had the opportunity to have a fantastic dinner with artist Adrian Göllner and his wife Joanna Swim, an artist and career Art Educator. We recounted many stories of our previous years and what we have been up to.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Birds were of interest for me this summer. A Woodpecker visiting at my brother Denis’ cottage in Notre-Dame-du-Laus, Québec.

Adrian has exhibited extensively since 1987 and has received a number of public art commissions. His studio practice concerns the transposition of sound, time and motion into other forms. In 2017, Adrian set himself against famed ornithologist’s John James Audubon’s declaration that he observed 10,000 birds a day for his new project All the Birds I Saw Last Year being exhibited at Central Art Garage through November 02, 2018.

© 2018 Julia Martin. Central Art Garage, Ottawa, Ontario

Göllner’s daily avian observations are exhibited as large illustrated lists from which the viewer can distinguish the increasing dominance of invasive bird species.

© 2018 Julia Martin. Exhibition of All the Birds I saw Last Year by Adrian Göllner

All the Birds I Saw Last Year as described by Adrian.

I have become distracted by birds. Early in 2017 I began to take note of the local flocks of starlings, sparrows and crows. Depending on the weather and time of year, their location and activity varied considerably. It occurred to me that if I were to make a record of every bird I saw for a year, some larger patterns might emerge that speak to our relationship with nature. Indeed, conceiving of the local bird population as a collective canary-in-the-coalmine, I thought I might begin to detect how human activity is adversely affecting our shared environment.

As I began my bird count on September 18, 2017, I was conscious of famed ornithologist John James Audubon’s (1785-1851) declaration that he saw 10,000 birds a day. How long might it take me to reach that number in an urban environment some 200 years later? Properly, each bird image denotes one sighting, so can represent either a single bird or a flock. Still, I estimate it took 240 days to meet Audubon’s one-day total.

© 2018 Julia Martin. Exhibition of All the Birds I saw Last Year by Adrian Göllner

Admittedly, my pursuit is pseudo-scientific. While the regimented manner in which the results are presented suggests a scientific eye, what birds I see from day to day is largely random. Perhaps the project is best expressed as the meandering of one being intersecting with the meanderings of many others. Be that as it may, over the course of several months, the fluxes in the local bird populations are apparent and patterns can be discerned. One observation that is particularly telling is that 38% of our local bird population are invasive birds, species that humans naively introduced and which now thrive in the urban environment, displacing endemic birds.

© 2018 Julia Martin. Detail of All the Birds I saw Last Year by Adrian Göllner

© 2018 Julia Martin. Full print of All the Birds I saw Last Year by Adrian Göllner

© 2018 Julia Martin. 5 x 5 inches/12.7 x 12.7 cm detail of All the Birds I saw Last Year by Adrian Göllner

During the course of the year, I realized the project pitted my Neolithic brain against my modern sensibilities. While I am now able to rapidly identify birds by their colour, call, behaviour and flight pattern – something our ancestors would have relied on to find food or be warned of approaching predators – I am compelled to categorize and order those birds in the same all-too-modern manner that has, ultimately, led to the exploitation of the natural world. That all my bird sightings are recorded on my mobile phone, something that keeps us disengaged from our physical surroundings, belies a whole other set of ironies.

My desire is for the project to be read as a gesture of hyper-attunement at a time in which we are all increasingly aware of the rapid pace of environmental change. I am at once buoyed by the intelligence, ingenuity and incredible beauty of our avian neighbours and distressed by how we humans impinge on their lives on a daily basis.

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As soon as Adrian described All the Birds I Saw Last Year, I was hooked by the idea of how a collection can be amassed and the way it’s transformed from concept to practical reality. Have any of you worked on developing collections?

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Glass Blowing in Merrickville, Ontario

Another local gallery I love to visit whenever I’m in Merrickville is Gray Art Glass. This gallery typically brings the outdoors indoors.

Established in 1985, Gray Art Glass has become a leading institution in the North American Glass art scene. The gallery creates beautiful one-of-a-kind pieces of art. Gray Art Glass is currently carried by over 250 galleries and shops across North America. Gray Art Glass is famous for their Witch Balls but is equally well known for producing unique sculptures, custom installations, lighting, and awards.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Inside Gray Art Glass

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. A glass blower at work at the © 2018 Louise Levergneux. Gray Art GlassGray Art Glass

Michael Gray, the second-generation glass artist, and owner has been working with glass for 14 years. He started working in the studio by his father’s side at a young age, learning the family business and developing skills in glass art. Michael studied at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, and has succeeded in developing his sculpting and blowing skills. 

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Gray Art Glass

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Gray Art Glass

In 2012 Kevin Robert Gray, founder of Gray Art Glass, passed away after a courageous fight with cancer. It was difficult but with the help of James Wardhaugh and Carley Newman, Michael was able to continue Kevin Robert Gray’s legacy through Gray Art Glass. As the owner and operator of Gray Art Glass Michael continues to bring the studio to a new level of craftsmanship, creativity and excellence.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Gray Art Glass

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Gray Art Glass

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Gray Art Glass

The team gives the gallery a well-rounded approach to the creation of glass art and creates exquisite, unique products.

“My work is about personal experiences with nature and the story that can be told. I try and create things purely from my perspective; I want the glass to have as much feeling as possible.” Michael says of his glass work.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Gray Art Glass

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Gray Art Glass

James Wardhaugh thinks of the surface of the glass as a canvas and treats it as such. He uses colour and texture to create depth and emotion in his works. Finding glass ‘a very organic material; patterns occur in nature that are a natural translation in glass.’ He finds joy in discovering these patterns and creating either a literal or figurative connection. James draws inspiration from sources that relate to rural and natural areas and specific aspects of nature’s own science. His body of work is reflective of what is seen, and what happens around him in this ‘enormous and beautiful place.’

Between studies at Sheridan College and traveling throughout the country, Carley Newman has had the opportunity to work alongside some of the most innovative glass artists in Canada. Working on a number of large-scale installations and global projects, her experience has been an integral part of developing her work. Carley has been inspired to adopt colours, forms, and textures from the outdoors as a reminder of the simple beautiful things designed by nature.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux. Gray Art Glass

Do you bring glass in any form into your artists’ books? Alexandra Keck, Eduardo Kac, Becky Slemmons, and Adele Outteridge have created books with glass pages. That’s for another post!

Merrickville, Ontario, Part 1

The historic village of Merrickville, Ontario, remains a fantastic place to meet and invariably greet artists of different media. Every summer, I typically travel the hour-long route from Ottawa/Gatineau to view some favourite galleries. This is a feast for the eyes trip. Next year, I would like to visit studios that participate in the Artists Tour at the end of September. For over 30 years the Merrickville Artists’ Guild Autumn Studio Tour provides thousands of art lovers a peek into the creative worlds of artists in and around Merrickville.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux, Monsky Creations Art Gallery

© 2018 Louise Levergneux, Monsky Creations Art Gallery

During our stay, serendipitously through a valuable introduction by my husband, I visited the Monsky Creations Art Gallery which exclusively features the work of multi-disciplined artist Monica Viola. Monica works in clay, glass, painting, and fabric; one-of-a-kind art that is beautiful and intriguing. The mention of glass work and I’m there!

Over the last few years, Monica has become an international artist whose unique and highly collectable works can be found all over the world.

© 2018 Louise Levergneux, Floating Butterflies, fused glass by Monica Viola

© 2018 Gary Viola, Twiga, fused glass by Monica Viola

© 2018 Gary Viola, ceramic by Monica Viola

© 2018 Gary Viola, fused glass (20” x 7” x 1.5”) by Monica Viola

© 2018 Gary Viola, fused glass platter (20” x 7” x 1.5”) by Monica Viola

© 2018 Gary Viola, ceramic serving platter by Monica Viola

© 2018 Gary Viola, Gazelle Platter, clay (4” x 21” x 6”) by Monica Viola

© 2018 Gary Viola, clay, Windtalker by Monica Viola

Found Objects

Back on the road and intentionally trying to write as fast as I can. It’s challenging to get back into my work after such an extended holiday. I’ve heartily enjoyed the continuous presence of family and friends back home in Canada since the beginning of August. Now we are going South to warm up. Furthermore, it's time to get back into creating artists’ books. As I travel, the one thing that keeps catching my eyes are trees with their texture and shape.

© 2017 Louise Levergneux, Palm trees

© 2018 Louise Levergneux, Sedona, Arizona. trees give me hope and comfort

During studio visits, I connected with two artists who have in common an affinity for using driftwood, roots, and other natural elements in their art-work.

For my first blog post after a lengthy break, I bring the work of Marnie Powers-Torrey from Salt Lake City and Judith Serling-Sturm from Cincinnati.

Marnie’s work in progress—a series of boxes—its working title Archive of Now is without a declared finish date.

Marnie talks of Archive of Now:

© 2018 Marnie Powers-Torrey, Archive of Now

Maybe, I’ll consider it done when I complete a concurrent project Roadside Attractions. The paper wrappers for the boxes are printed as palimpsests of the process of printing Roadside Attractions. The plates are relief-printed collagraphs {roadside found objects mounted type high for letterpress}. Simultaneously printing projects from the same matrixes is a matter of efficiency—a necessity in our culture {the digital age} when my research relies on obsolete {slow} processes.

The roadside objects were sought like shells by a beachcomber during walks of all sorts—meditative, hurried, purposeful, lackluster—all otherwise uneventful. Initially, I had no intended plan for this rubbish. I was compelled to pick up the pieces and save them like prizes. These found pieces of the industrialized puzzle were mysteriously captivating to me, not being particularly mechanically minded. I had no recollection of many of these scraps of things—what their initial purpose was. Others, I recognized after considering for a time, and some immediately know. All were realizations of human being’s incredible and lasting ingenuity.

© 2018 Marnie Powers-Torrey, Archive of Now

© 2018 Marnie Powers-Torrey, Archive of Now

At the same time {for the past few years and now}, I began collecting sage root balls after the county cleared a new cross-country ski track and hiking trails in the open space near my home. I am enthralled with the new trails and walk them nearly every day. Still disturbed by the disruption, the annihilation of this slow-growing and remarkably hearty desert dweller. Sage is long-living—an icon of wisdom and progenitor of healing. Sagebrush’s dry wit is also a fuel source for wildfires. These root junctures are thus both castaways and wellsprings, harbingers and scepters.

© 2018 Marnie Powers-Torrey, Archive of Now

I’ve always collected things since I was very young. First rocks and then pottery shards. Also, erasers and soaps. The calling to gather, to preserve, and to keep has stayed with me. The driftwood, bones, rocks, and other organic souvenirs are memorialized and archived in these boxes. Presenting the found natural objects in this manner allows us to refocus on the micro, to recontextualize the beauty of these nothings that would otherwise continue to naturally decay in the natural environment. The still beauty of nature’s readymades is engulfed by the bits of manmade machinery meant for motion. Each naturally occurring object gains an aura, surrounded by the impressions made from objects shaped from raw materials by man. Both nature’s and human’s byproducts are talismans to hold tightly into the uncertain future.

© 2018 Marnie Powers-Torrey, Archive of Now

Some boxes hold typed text while others are purely visual. The text is serendipitous meditations—translations that come to mind as I handle and contain each object. I am reticent to include text in all boxes as I’d like the viewer to discover personals effigies. I hope the text that I do include provides permission to follow our visual intuition when looking and excavating meaning. I invite the viewer to appreciate the beauty of these objects for what they are while also imagining what their shapes and presence suggest.

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© 2018 Louise Levergneux, found objects in Judith Serling-Sturm’s studio

Judith explains some of the pieces of driftwood and bark that she has collected and how they will be integrated in artists’ books in the future.

Frequently, I am drawn to a piece by its texture; the vertical striations of a honeysuckle branch, the knobbed shingles of persimmon bark, the smoothness of a knotty branch lapped by years of slapping waves. Other time the shape invites me.

© 2018 Judith Serling-Sturm, I discovered this unique piece on a hike shortly after reading Walt Whitman—for me it evokes the free celebration of self, body, and soul—and one of these days, when I have no pressing duties, I will incorporate this piece into a fan book...

© 2018 Judith Serling-Sturm, I uncovered this piece of wood by a construction site... it just looked up at me, the bent rusted nail a tear seeping from the knot of an eye—and there is so much to cry about these days... it will undoubtedly become a cover for an artist book.

© 2018 Judith Serling-Sturm, this palm bark, another form that speaks to me with its female form... one of my many long-term projects is one about ‘Home’ after moving so many times. For several years I have interviewed people to learn what they mean when they talk about ‘home.’ This unfinished piece refers to my immigrant grandparents and my grandfather’s assertion that, as Edward Sharpe says, Home is wherever I’m with her.

© 2018 Judith Serling-Sturm, this is an artist book with a nest and a condom wrapper woven into it! How can it not be an artist book about the naturalness of using contraception?

© 2018 Judith Serling-Sturm, when I found this stick, I immediately began thinking about how all creatures leave their mark in the world, how we create and at the same time possibly destroy as we strive for a meaningful life.

Time and again a natural element will prompt me to think things in an innovative way, as in this last case. It may never actually be incorporated into the actual artist book about that issue. 
And sometimes a piece of wood is collected just because it's beautiful. And that is equally valuable.

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I have been attracted to trees especially in the hills of Texas but nothing has come to mind for a future project yet! What about you, have trees, driftwood, or other found objects conveyed ideas for an artists’ book, art piece, or series? If so, what have you produced with them?