"The Library" (sold)

(sold)


"Books have the power to take you to far away places and very deep thought." Some of my fondest memories are curling up in a favorite chair and enjoying a good book. There is something very rich about holding the book in your hand....even if you have an iPad or Kindle. My library is my prized possession. How about you?

In some of my larger works, I have completed at least 6-8 pieces over the last few years that I call "library pieces". They all contained collage elements that were very old and generally they all contained small and very old books I have purchased in antique stores across the country. Some of them had a window cut out of a book cover that was filled with an inclusion of fused glass. None of those pieces are in my possession now so I am concluding that library pieces with a very traditional look are still in demand.

This piece reminds me of some of those works for the same reasons. This piece has an old book page, a piece of very old music from a hymnal, some of my own lettering printed on silk tissue paper and a stock photo of a butterfly. An excursion into a library will often have a wall piece containing specimens of butterflies or drawings of plants, etc.

Without intending to, after the pieces were assembled and shapes were formed, I looked at the piece from across the room and the orange shape from top to bottom reminded me of a book mark. The "bling" is the silver leaf. The upper right hand segment was dulled a bit by rubbing on some walnut ink and then blotting.

Another technique with Speedball Printing Ink is in the bottom right hand corner. If you brayer on the printing ink and let it dry, you can dip your pen into water and write into the ink and reveal the color underneath. Likewise, you can drop water or make a fingerprint into the ink and create some texture. I encourage you to try some of these things and see how your library pieces turn out.  And there you have it...just a few more things to think about.