Creative Process, Execution

EXECUTION

Storytelling Development

Bringing to life the visual and narrative of the book.

“Young love is a flame; very pretty, often very hot and fierce, but still only light and flickering. The love of the older and disciplined heart is as coals, deep-burning, unquenchable”. — Henry Ward Beecher

What comprise the story behind Infatuation?

This project demanded in-depth thoughts and emotions on an almost 55-year old event. Feeling more and more like an actor whose job is to bring a scripted character to life, I wondered what technique I could use to bring the dialogue of a celebrity crush alive.

© 2022 Louise Levergneux. Studying structures, images, and text.

Infatuation presents this fantasy/reality by juxtaposing personnal photos with appropriated stills from the TV show Lancer. Once the photos were chosen to fit the wanted effect, I used my many years of working in Photoshop to blend images and re-awake a celebrity-crush dream world. Compositing in Photoshop allowed the creation of impossible scenes — the fantasy intrinsic of a young adolescent — resulting in a journal filled with her dream world. To recreate this dream world, I combined multiple exposures and composited backgrounds, making sure each photo had the proper lighting sources to juxtapose the correct images together. Each detaif the composite shifts the reader’s focus on what becoming of age means for an adolescent girl.

© 2022 Louise Levergneux. A composite image from three different photos and still. Text/words appropriated from “Unchained Melody” by The Righteous Brothers, 1965.

© 2022 Louise Levergneux. A composite image from two different photo/still plus text/words from “Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart” by Robson and Jerome, 1996, original song released in 1967.

© 2022 Louise Levergneux. A composite image from two different photo/still plus text/words from “Something's Gotten Hold Of My Heart” by Robson and Jerome.

Next came the script, I selected words of songs to yield power to the imagination that are meant to inspire the reader. On the first page, the first few words deliver the initial information about the character — the heart strings that tug a youthful teenager.

© 2022 Louise Levergneux. Text/words on first page is appropriated from “Johnny Angel” by Shelley Fabares, 1961.

© 2022 Louise Levergneux. Text on second page is appropriated from “You Don't Know Me” by Elvis Presley, 1967.

© 2022 Louise Levergneux. Text comes form Eric Clapton’s - "Forever Man"

Option Development

Elaborate the options for the binding and the structure and choose a final format.

With a chosen title of “Infatuation” and a subject in place, I started to visualize and narrate with prototypes. My choice for a structure and page layout had to fully represent a young adolescent’s dreams. What did I remember about this intense but short-lived passion — this unattainable fantasy? I explored the traits of a young girl — the friends, the journal, the dreams, and the secrets. With my initial research on structures and bindings. I decided a mix of accordion and drum leaf would be ideal. The drum leaf structure gave me the possibility of using spreads or multiple images without anything cutting the image. The drum leaf also added to the weight of the folios. A small accordion inserted in the middle of the book brings forward the secrets involved in a young girl’s journal.

© 2022 Louise Levergneux. Title page.

© 2022 Louise Levergneux. Infatuation open showing drumleaf pages and mini-accordion page.

Pilot Options

Examine and step back from the work, formulating an analysis and questioning one's own work.

I enjoy using Moab Lasal photo paper, after identifying many templates and choosing the size of the book, I found out the company no longer made the preferred size with the correct grain direction in this paper. So back to the drawing board to figure out a different size paper to work with.

I’m still researching how to bind this bookwork. I know that leather needs to be part of the binding but still need to iron out the details.

I’m on a three month journey down the Northwest and West coast of the US. This has given me the opportunity to do more self-reflection and to continue my research as I will be meeting with women with the same interests and visiting film locations, this will help with the finishing touches for the images. With more info and photos to utilize as background I intend to work on my project while on this journey and have a completion date for the beginning of September. We will see… life has a way of sending curves even fun ones!

How does it feel to be in the final stages of a book? It's a time when you're problem-solving at every step. The practical questions are more present. I realize that from reading you because you are also in the final stages: the binding, the paper format, etc. There is a lot of creativity in this period because we think about the materials available, how to handle them, etc. I love this stage of the process.

© 2022 Guylaine Couture. A sprout=an idea

On my side I finished my book "A sprout=an idea". Because I was under a time constraint (one month), the book became more of a detailed model of what the book could be. I didn't measure the size of my pages correctly in relation to the cover, the pieces sometimes didn't fit well, and the pop-ups are far from perfect. But, I made so many nice discoveries though: the pop-up work and the root printing, different from what I had done for another book. I really like the result which motivates me to continue some of the things I discovered in this work.

© 2022 Guylaine Couture. A sprout=an idea

I look forward to seeing your book in the early fall! — Guylaine Couture

A Visit to Library Collections in the North West and West Coast

PLEASE EXCUSE ANY INCONVENIENCE THIS EMAIL MAY CAUSE

My husband and I have scheduled a trip, part research and my second goal was to finally be able to visit artists’ book collections in Washington, Oregon, and California. We are picking up a new travel trailer in Sumas, Washington. From there we will make our way down the west coast to California. I will be travelling through the States of Washington, Oregon and California.

Last month I received an Apple Notice for a system upgrade. Since I was leaving for 3 months, I wanted to make sure all my technology was in good working order so decided to go ahead and upgrade to the next Monterey version. I backed-up all my files especially the ones pertaining to my on-going project “Infatuation”. I will continue working as I travel and get prepared to print and complete “Infatuation” in early September. A carefully set plan started and ended just as fast.

After 20 years of nurturing a mailing list, it was obliterated by the upgrade with the click of a button. To my horror my CONTACTS had disappeared with other files after the upgrade to Monterey 12.4. Panic struck, I called Apple, visited an Apple store to discuss to some less than acceptable Geniuses. They told me they were terribly sympathetic and could not explain the result of this upgrade but I was SOL. I’m extremely disappointed in Apple. The company seems to have lost their customer-centric attitude, Apple worries only about its own wallet.

At this point I’m unable to write personal emails to Libraries without my contact list. I decided to use my email campaign list of contacts that sits in Squarespace but all meta data, including individual and organizational names and phone numbers… are undistinguishable.

Because of time constraints, excuse the email campaign sent to my extensive list. This was my solution in trying to reach out to Libraires. If a visit to your collection is possible, you can reach out by email. This visit would provide me the opportunity to also present my artists’ books.

My work can be viewed at: https://louise-levergneux.squarespace.com/config/pages

I can be reached by email at louiselevergneux@gmail.com

Much appreciated… Louise

Creative Process: IDEATION

IDEATION

Ideate

Explore and illuminate the idea. Arrange thoughts, ready the experience, and preserve the idea. Organize photos, text, songs, sequence… for the book. Muse over the final look of the book.

© 2022 Louise Levergneux

This is the phase Edison was referring to when he said that creativity consists of 1 percent inspiration and 99 percent perspiration.”

This is the stage where the hands-on work begins; this is the phase when the abstract takes shape to give way to the concrete. It would be nice to just idle in the inspiration phase for a while longer but now is the time to discover the solution and make it clear.

This stage is usually relatively brief and involves a strong rush of insight in a short span of time. This time, my idea to gel, seemed to take an eternity! As an artist, one uses a ton of day-to-day reality or events to express themselves and their environment… I appreciate simple moments portraying our lives, whether sensational or monotonous... When an idea strikes me for an artists’ book, it’s because the life experience is fresh and the emotions are in the now. Since our minds manipulate our feelings and the fantasy angst to be portrayed happened 50 years ago, the challenge was to recapture the emotion or experience which was retrospective. The need to relive that teenage crush from afar created moments of self-awareness. The challenge was to relive how I really felt as a teenager and what I believed I experienced back 1968.

© 2022 Louise Levergneux. Sample of photos from personal albums.

© 2022 Louise Levergneux. Sample still images from streaming Lancer episodes.

As a result, I started to arrange my thoughts by organizing photos, text (lyrics of songs) and the potential sequence of the pages from chosen photos. The fundamental design had to represent fun, innocence, a sense of closeness, sensuality, and the complicated sentiments of an adolescent girl. You're just watching TV, minding your own business, when you suddenly identify someone on the screen who scrambles your brain and makes your heart drop to your knees — how to represent this experience? The conclusion is a narration on infatuation, a time of foolish love.

I started with words that to me defined the project: infatuation, dream, fantasy, reality, passion, desire, fascination, captivation, puppy love, celebrity crush, charismatic, attractiveness, allure-ment, enchantment, enthrallment…

While streaming the Lancer TV show, I captured appropriated images, I recreated blissful fiction scenarios utilizing my tool of choice — Photoshop. I wanted to rekindle my ability to implement Photoshop features by creating a new photograph with juxtaposed photos to re-frame my own subject-position and enter into the desires that celebrity crush can evoke in a young adolescent — her dream world.

© 2022 Louise Levergneux. I needed a font that would look like hand writing, after careful search I chose Modernline.

I experimented with text which included mixed lyrics — language of the soul — accompanying the images to prompt us on how memory coexists in dreams.

Prototype

Research content versus binding. Create maquettes of binding and structure. Choosing paper and material to complete the book.

“Infatuation” corresponds to a fiction — journal — and obsessively persistent romantic fantasy of a young female with the actor James Stacy’s persona of “Johnny.” It was a subconscious struggle to determine the proper and most effective design, structure and binding to represent this fantasy world. I was looking forward for all the puzzle pieces to fall into place.

© 2022 Louise Levergneux. The many phases of designing pages.

© 2022 Louise Levergneux. The many phases of designing pages.

© 2022 Louise Levergneux.

The page layout is the first step; it usually helps define the binding structure. I wanted the book to retain an innocent sensual feel. To bring this feeling into effect, adding red organza and strands of red thread became more poignant.

The threads could easily be part of a sewn book, the strands cut long to hang below the bottom edge. Black and white photos or coloured? Maybe add a colour LUT (known as Look-Up Tables in Photoshop to bring a cohesiveness to the pages) LUT's are used in order to apply specific and distinctive effects and style to photos. What about texture?

As for the structure, the first one of interest was the Accordion Binding for its playful pagination as seen below by Annwyn Dean, Alice Simpson or as in my artists’ book Conversation below.

© 2017 Alice Simpson. DANCING ! Unique double-fold, accordion. Original hand-painted paste papers, watercolor, shagreen paper, thread and beads. Against a double layered, paste-paper background; Isadora Duncan, Martha Graham, Vaslav Nijinsky, Bo Jangles, Josephine Baker, Fred Astaire, Cyd Charisse, Gene Kelley, and Michael Jackson dance with joyous abandon in an homage to iconic performers I have always admired on stage and screen.

© 2017 Alice Simpson. DANCING ! Unique double-fold, accordion. © 2017 Alice Simpson. DANCING ! 17”H x 11”W x 1”D x approx. 9’. 5 open

© 2018 Annwyn Dean.

© 2016 Louise Levergneux. Conversation.

© 2022 Louise Levergneux

Then the Drum Leaf binding which I enjoyed when creating my artists’ book “Shadow Me” also spring to mind.

Verification

Transfer the overall idea to the substrate, test the prototype, and evaluate the project, paper, presentation, sketches, and notes. Critique and seek feedback/opinions on already planned prototype options.

I thought the fun aspect of the accordion would present the project’s subject of infatuation in a delightful and colourful way. The narration could be seen in single pages or its entirety. But, after trying a few accordion models, I was unable to settle on any page layout design.

I created a sewn book layout template using InDesign. It was overly rigid of a structure and not useful for some of the images that acquired a need to spread along two pages. The fun was eliminated!

Coming back to the Drum Leaf binding, the structure offered me the opportunity to capitalize on spreads without any visual interruption and gave access to pages for reflection.

© 2022 Louise Levergneux. I thought this little sample was interesting, I could make in a drumleaf structure with an accordion. Great!

With more reflection, I knew that a mixture of structures would pop-up in my mind’s eye. Next month I will share my Storytelling Development and Option Development. “Let ‘er buck”!

On my side, I started a book for the monthly #areyoubookenough challenge on Instagram. This month I was inspired by the "sprout" theme.

This kind of short challenge is perfect for trying new techniques. I don't have too many thoughts or readings for this book. I'm taking the opportunity to try out pop-up folding, which has intrigued me for a while now. At first I tried to figure out the folds, made some, watched some, and see how to get inspired. Beautiful exploration.

© 2022 Guylaine Couture

© 2022 Guylaine Couture

In my photos, I show you the roots I would like to print, calligraphy words and a piece of pop-up model.

I too am in the layout stage right now. Each background of the double-page spreads will be inspired by the explorers' notebooks with drawings and texts, as they used to do back then. I am just beginning the realization of the book. Next month, I will be able to present it to you because it will be finished. One month is really fast. — Guylaine Couture

Creative Process, INSPIRATION: Observation

INSPIRATION: Observation

Time and research to define an inspiration into a more concrete idea, to construct a knowledge base. My time to reflect is ordinarily achieved in the early morning hours while in a state of sleep. Then I focus on similar ideas/subjects developed by other artists to deepen my inspiration.

Sometimes, after a setback, it's difficult to simply pull ourselves back up and keep on truckin'. We feel as though our inner fire has fizzled out, producing a sense of despair and without hope that we can make "it" happen, regardless of what “it” is! We possess the capacity to release stress, anxiousness, and unresolved emotions through dreams. For me this state of sleep is where I dream ideas depending on my perspective of the world at the moment.

The subject of “a teenage crush” rekindled and helped to reawaken a sense of hope, optimism, and personal power. The vision became clearer.

To interpret and recognize how I was going to express the feeling of a teenage crush, I started reading psychology reports on the meaning of a first crush. I learned that it signified a lot more about the dreamer than the admired. While talking to other female friends and remembering our « celebrity crushes » way back in high school brought on laughter and excitement. It compelled us to feel young and alive.

During our teenage years, we don’t realize as we are awakening to new emotions how it will form our personalities or how it will define future choices. This particular, formative phase of adolescence moulds us into adulthood — without our knowledge. No matter the case, the tingling phenomenon of puppy love/celebrity crush will disappear with life changes. Through the years we tend to overlook how we have arrived to this persona we live with daily.

“First love is only a little foolishness and a lot of curiosity” — George Bernard Shaw

I tried to find out what I remembered about this intense but short-lived passion — puppy love and/or an unattainable fantasy — celebrity crush during the 60’s and what it signifies for adolescent girls now days. In the depths of the internet, I enjoyed exploring this goose bump experience and what it symbolized for me.

Above all else, our first infatuation is a statement about what fascinates us — what is aesthetically pleasing to our eye — the movement of the body, the strut, the look, the tenderness, the twinkle of the eye, the infectious smile... For some it might be the sensibility that became the foundation for nearly everything about one’s identity... romance, politics… Are these traits familiar?

As I researched more and more my idea, I experienced some resistance to the word “infatuation,” while others felt it was an appropriate title. These conversations caused doubt on using the word “infatuation” and forced me to reflect deeply on my interpretation of the word.

After reading on various aspects on my subject, I needed some visuals to bring back the feeling of being a teenager. I started watching western, documentary, drama, and beach party movies and TV series of the 60’s.

One of cinema's most successful films between 1965-1967 were the beach-movie genre. These movies symbolized an entire generation's youth and featured teens, bikinis, and a whole lot of good, clean fun. These low-budget films celebrated teen culture and were sheer fantasies since the turbulent social issues of the 1960s never invaded the story line. It was escapism for teenagers, ah! to be young again. Beach party movies are the definition of "You had to be there.” Today's teen entertainment is practically Kafkaesque, compared to beach party movies.

For me westerns provided an all around entertainment. Our family saw many western movies and TV series as they were a smash with my father. My sister and I often played pretend it was our way to discover and explore a wild west fantasy — an era we had no hope of ever experiencing in the real world. Towards the late 60's, westerns began taking on more substantial issues — social issues — with a few grown up themes.

The more I surfed the net for inspiration the more my mind captured other ideas. After my internet rabbit hole experience, I discovered a whole new project: the end of Hollywood’s Golden Age, which happened in the late 1960s. Film infiltrated my every thought and the energy made me think outside the box and my project. I envision tangents as a way of sparking creativity and thinking. This also brought me to swap between thinking about two or more different concepts simultaneously.

As for my research on similar ideas/subjects developed by other artists, I was directed to contemplate the work of Jillian McDonald whose work meditates on celebrity and North American celebrity culture. Julian mines contemporary Hollywood movies before digitally reshaping their filmic narratives. Jillian’s work corresponds to a humourous fiction and obsessively persistent romantic fantasy regarding bad-boy movie star, Billy Bob Thornton. I featured McDonald’s “Me and Billy Bob” video in my blog of December 2021.

In another video, Jillian shares an evening with Nick Offerman (American actor, writer, comedian, producer, and professional carpenter).

My Mr. Darcys, an artists’ book by Laura Davidson, came to mind as I reviewed other works on my subject of infatuation.

© 2009 Laura Davidson. My Mr. Darcy is a tribute to the many actors who have played the role of Mr. Darcy in Pride & Prejudice adaptations. It includes portrait miniatures of 6 actors along with text from each film. An edition of 500 copies.

© 2009 Laura Davidson. My Mr. Darcy, an inside view.

I reached out to Laura to find out more about her bookwork. Laura explained the intention of the piece; the story behind the narrative brought a wonderful personal note. In my mind, the obsession with the character still represents very much an infatuation.

It was in fact for my sister Laura — the idea came to me as Paula kept informing me when a new Austen book was being adapted on film or TV, or forwarding me DVDs. I was pretty hooked on them too because I had grown to love the Austen stories and characters. My sister’s excitement, (being an Austenite and film buff), was contagious. We compared the various portrayals of Darcy — who was her favorite character — and many people’s favorite character, especially when Colin Firth emerges from a small lake in the BBC 1995 adaption of Pride and Prejudice.

When I carried out research for this book, I had to re-watch all of the Pride and Prejudice films, taking notes about which line would work with each painted miniature of the actors who played Mr. Darcy. It was total immersion! When it came to the text on the back of my book, I knew which line from Pride and Prejudice I wanted to use, but had no idea where to find the line quickly. I phoned my older sister Paula, a devoted Austenite and the one who introduced me to Jane originally. She was driving, pulled off the road, reached into the side pocket of the passenger door to pull out her emergency copy of Pride and Prejudice and found the passage for me right away. At the time — I was amused by this. But now, of course, I carry an emergency copy of Pride and Prejudice on my phone along with Persuasion.

© 2009 Laura Davidson. My Mr. Darcy

In summary, I have noticed that Jillian, Laura and I went through a similar INSPIRATION: Observation phase. Laura re-watched all of the Pride and Prejudice films and Jillian must have watched many films to be able to select particular clips to convey her idea. My inspiration deepened by re-watching westerns and beach movies of the 60s.

Guylaine Couture’s answer is shorter this time but made me reflect on my process no less.

You are continuing your stage of research and it is expanding, so probably the subject of your book will become clearer. Especially as you share your memories and aspects of your personal life with us.

Interestingly, unlike you, I don't push my research towards other artists' books that work on the same subject. I'm probably missing something. As my own process is started, I look at ways to make a book in a broad sense. I don't have any knowledge of bookbinding, my structures are often creations that are not in the norm and I like to keep it that way. I don't invent anything, I make my books my way with all their flaws and some qualities, I hope.

Since you are talking about visual research, I am presenting you with pictures of the process for my book "The territory of the weeds". Research photos and a print/collage that I tested afterwards. I did a lot of observation in urban textures to make prints on paper that I then used in the collage. A way of doing that I reused later in other books.

What I find interesting in this exchange is that we work a little in the same way and also not at all in the same way. I love it!

© 2022 Guylaine Couture. "The territory of the weeds" research photos .

© 2011 Guylaine Couture. "The territory of the weeds", a test for print/collage.

Next month, the discussion will culminate with the moment of insight when my mind identifies a potential solution to my idea/subject. As long as people recollect, dreams never die. As long as people dream, life continues.

Creative Process: INSPIRATION (Preparation)

Last February, I talked about the creative process and its distinct phases. Thanks for your interest and support. Join me as I begin describing my experience in developing each stage. Come on, rattle your dags, and let’s get going!

© 2020 Louise Levergneux.

INSPIRATION, Preparation

Absorbing knowledge, experience, insight and context for an imaginative idea. Brainstorming and gathering raw material and data to interpret a “vision” in which an image, a sight, a sound… can be articulated in the mind.

This first stage of the creative process is where I define the need, desire, or problem, and collect generic data. It's a time for me to completely immerse myself in a particular subject — this for me is an ethereal phase!

I typically need to feel passionate about a project for the finished product to be successful. I gather and absorb as much raw material as possible to allow the information to enter my subconscious and stimulate the sentiment I want to express. This might be the reason why each artists' book demands a lengthy period of time to develop. Drawing on personal memories can be exhausting, especially going back numerous years. Though, it is enjoyable to grasp the personal growth one goes through during the progression of an art project.

I also need to discern the tools I utilize to accomplish the desired look and feel of my books. I have enjoyed photography and collage for a long time, and my digital camera is the accessory to this art medium. So, it’s no surprise that Photoshop has been my creative tool of choice. The software permits the exploration of ideas without constriction or boundaries. I can easily blend reality with fantasy by retouching, editing or transforming photos — composites — to capture my imagination.

Another tool I implement to explore my recollections includes surfing the internet to brainstorm ideas. Conversations are also a good device to get insight and to inculcate in my consciousness the many aspects of a theme.

In late 2021, I was delighted to be indeed inspired again. The idea didn’t merely and suddenly light up in my head. It all began from the premise that the last two years have been challenging for us all. I profoundly missed the personal contact with friends and family, especially my elderly mom back in Canada. Loneliness set in and caused one of the longest slumps ever felt in my art career. I wanted to feel the normality of life, the joy, the freedom… again. The only way for me to explore all those feelings, was to be nostalgic. The past made me reflect, and the farther back I went, the more events and memories of innocent times permeated my dreams and my life…

© 2020 Louise Levergneux. Be happy when you think about a good memory. That’s as simple as it gets: Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened. — Dr. Seuss

In 1968, I was fourteen with quiet and gentle innocence. I was struck with the winds of love. A teenage crush caused my heart to beat a little faster. Reminiscing and taking into consideration any reality or object of an irrational or foolish attachment — I got creative. I began to interpret a vision of the project.

My mind was going many miles per hour, and thoughts enveloped me for days. For me, this is part of the process. The word infatuation came to mind and encompassed my every thought as I grasped how lovely it was to have been fourteen and discovering the opposite sex.

Looking back at my youth and reminiscing of the time when I became aware of my sensuality, brought me back to happier times. Who could have made my heart beat faster?

My connection to the years 1965-1973 was getting stronger. With photography being the base of my art, I suddenly embraced the need to look into my family albums. The photographs illustrated my youth and innocence!

Thanks to the internet, I started searching for movies and TV shows predominantly of that period. While going down the rabbit hole of the Internet, I was presented with celebrity idols I pined over throughout high school with my girlfriends. This task helped to rekindle that flame that flickers in the hearts of teenagers for celebrity idols and songs during a special period of life.

This phase lasted a few weeks as I revelled in “puppy-love.” Stay tuned for the observation phase where I start to explore some themes as I continue the discussion on the INSPIRATION-Observastion Phase. The topic will get more concrete.

© 2020 Louise Levergneux.

Guylaine Couture and I have enjoyed our conversation on the “Creative Process”. With that in mind, here is Guylaine’s response to my INSPIRATION-Preparation post:

The book begins. First there is the choice of subject, something that inspires and interests us to spend time on. Your word "infatuation" is very well chosen. For my part, I always work on several projects at the same time, a limited edition book and an artist's book. They move at different speeds. I like this way of working. When I think about one, I technically work on the other.

I see that you started your research on your feelings, but that you have now extended it to the TV shows of the time, the atmosphere, etc. It's super interesting.

Like you, the pandemic brought me back to my memories. In my case, I even moved to the region of my childhood. This downtime allowed us to reflect and sometimes brought us back to periods of our lives that we had forgotten.

© 2022 Guylaine Couture. Guylaine’s collection of articles she read as she developed her ideas.

In the creative process, the first step is that of research in the broad sense: looking everywhere, drawing, making connections, finding inspirations or old ideas that we would like to try, etc. This portion of the work can be more or less time consuming, but it is essential to have all the cards, possibilities and options in hand before making any choices. I try to be very open-minded throughout the process especially at this stage. I do things, I build structures, I read, I write down my ideas or draw them. When they're on paper, my brain is free to continue searching.

© 2022 Guylaine Couture. Here are some of Guylaine’s print tests.

I am currently finalizing a book on consciousness. I have read a large number of scientific articles on the subject, (…step 1). So many, that I didn’t know where to start or what I wanted to say. The core had been an article on the consciousness of pigs. For me, that had to be the heart of the book. Finally, after careful consideration, it won’t even be in the final version.

Consequently, each book is different and has its own life. My intention is always the same, to sensitize people through the artist's book format on a subject that challenges me.