Thursday 21 August 2014

epitaph .....



Book Ideation Cards - Julie Chen and Barbara Tetenbaum - our recipe ..... 
high tech, assymetrical, multiple openings, multiple colours, no text, abstract, muted, photographic, miniature, personal, issue based and simple.

Choosing our cards from each category was fun though I don't think Fiona and I realised at the time just how constraining, or in reality how expanding, this project would be.  It was immediately apparent that for Fiona the challenge would be 'no text' and for me, I think the 'issue based' book was the initial stumbling block.  I think at the end of the day I have to be honest and say that I chose to work with trees before deciding on the 'issue' of trees.  We live on ten gorgeous acres with views up and down the coast but one of the things we have been doing to open up the views, is cut down trees. It is always with great sadness that this happens and of course we still have many many more on this bush block.  Another thing that was a sadness was that one of our huge white gums came down in the cyclone at the beginning of last year.  This will supply us with huge sections of timber for seating around the fire pit but never-the-less, one never wants to see such a gracious tree come down.  

I decided that I would like to record these trees in some manner, remembering them before they were reduced from proud beings to mere stumps and so this book has come about as something personal but also issue based in the act of remembering trees, respecting them, recording them in some manner.  I have also played with the idea that seeds from trees spread and grow into young saplings which will in turn grow into more proud beings. 

Those of you who follow my blog will know I have been exploring new techniques of printmaking in the last couple of months and by employing these new techniques, I think I covered the 'high tech' ingredient from the recipe.  A stumbling block for me was the multiple openings and once I discovered that I could tear open seed like shapes through the fine tengujo paper, revealing the layer beneath, this problem was solved.  The result of many days of pondering is often so simple but it just doesn't appear as quickly as one would hope .... I think it is because as artists we have minds that are open to a myriad of possibilities of direction in which a work could proceed and in order to move forward, we have to decide on just one.  My pencil drawings ended up being very simple marks or lines .... but there again, as I prowled around my book when it was half way through, thinking about all the things I could do, I just had to settle on the one idea and work with that.  I am satisfied that I managed to work to the recipe though I am mindful that with those same ingredients, a number of different books could have been made.

And so, I have named my book Epitaph - I hope my tombstones also look a little like tree stumps.  I do love the fact that by using the marks or relief prints from trees which have lived here on this land, there is a record of their existence. The book is not easy to photograph but I have shown each page and then some of the details.  I have used a number of different weights of Japanese tissue papers for the prints and the book pages are made from Fabriano Tiepolo which is a favourite of mine.


epitaph |ˈɛpɪtɑːf-taf|
nouna phrase or form of words written in memory of a person who has died, especially as an inscription on a tombstone. figurative a poignant epitaph to hiscreative career.• something by which a person, time, or event will be remembered: the storymakes a sorry epitaph to a great career.ORIGIN late Middle English: from Old French epitaphe, via Latin fromGreek epitaphion funeral oration, neuter of ephitaphios over or at a tomb, from epi upon + taphos tomb.

I have left 'peep holes' in the perspex cover through which you catch glimpses of page one.
First page
Second page
Third page
Fourth page
Final page.






















27 comments:

  1. It looks beautiful. Congratulations

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    1. Thanks you so much for visiting my blog! And for your lovely comment.

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  2. Quite, quite beautiful. Your choices, both imposed and free have combined so delightfully, and your in some ways frustratingly tantalising glimpses nonetheless deliver a most enjoyable viewing experience. Thank you also for the interesting explanation of it all.

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    1. Thanks Olga. I actually started this blog to replace my 'drawing a day' book in the hopes that I could keep tabs on what I do in the studio, my thought processes and so forth. So in essence I think I write the posts to myself but I am always please when blogging friends read what I have said and enjoy hearing about the journey.

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  3. What a stunning tribute to the downed white gum trees! From the base prints - which appear to have been achieved with rather large sections of the tree - to the seeds taking flight in the wind so they may scatter and grow to the sense of reverence and contemplation... High art at its best my dear. Brava!

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    1. You are a gem Jennifer. Thank you for those lovely words. I am thrilled to think I now have a way of recording and remembering our trees - not just turning big hunks of them into seats or fire wood! I suppose taking a relief print from trees requires intimacy in preparation of the surface, and as such a tangible connection. Tis a good feeling to notice and record the inner markings of the trunks, or take gentle rubbings from the outside.

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  4. Your book has come together beautifully, with so many wonderful discoveries and explorations along the way. It is a beautiful homage to the trees and so gently and delicately records the cycle of life. A real treasure!

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    1. Techniques learnt for the making of the book which will now become part of my process :-) I will enjoy building a collection of these tree prints over time even if they just become 'photographs' (polygraphs) of the trees, rather than part of my artwork.

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  5. SB - a always full of meaning and love the quality of the printmaking. B

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    1. Thanks Barry - it has been fun to add new techniques into the pot. Hope I keep taking the time to prepare those surfaces and print from those delicious marks trees offer us.

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  6. A beautiful solution and as always I love your colour palette

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    1. After a myriad of possibilities ...... a happy solution. And one that is lovely for me because it is a story from 'my space'. I am sure that bits of the work will find its way into other projects .....

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  7. Genius - I love what you have done you really are so talented.
    The sensitivity of line and colour is just so good.
    Congratulations yet again.

    Diane.

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    1. That is a very generous comment Diane but welcomed .... thank you. It would have been easy to overwork this book but in the end it remains quite simple.

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  8. How beautifully subtle this is and what a pleasure it is to return to your blog after so long away. As always, I find so much to think about ...

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    1. Hello Charlton .... very lovely to have you back visiting. Thank you.

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    1. Thanks Marleen - a wonderful thing to say :-)

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  10. such a beautiful honouring to the trees Susan

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    1. Thanks Mo. It was good be be pushed into finding 'an issue' for this book, and a personal one at that. I think this book will lead onto other work using the same ideas.

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  11. One would think that the parameters were restrictive. You have proven that the imagination can overcome any boundaries. Beautiful work....both of you.

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    1. The book started off feeling restrictive but then a myriad of possibilities opened up really and because we HAVE to do the work or we let the other person down, it makes you push harder, think harder and work harder. In the end though, I think the work spoke for itself and didn't carry any of that pushing and shoving.

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  12. Your prints and colour palette are absolutely elegant and beautiful. Such a work of art!

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    1. Thanks Carol. I think I have suddenly become a huge fan of lightweight printing paper - transparent almost. Love the layering and will certainly experiment some more.

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  13. This is really beautiful work Susan. Look forward to seeing it for real at your open studio.

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  14. Thanks Helen - really hoping you make it up, maybe with some of the other Brisbane book artists. Let me know if you are and I will see if Fiona and Barry can be here at the same time. Invites are being sent out around the 10th September.

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  15. Beautifully done! I, too, am enamored of trees, and love how you handled your "issue." Such rich and varied marks, provoking the mind and enticing the imagination...

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I appreciate your comments - thank you!