Archive for the ‘Artists’ books’ Category
May 17, 2012






click to zoom to enlarge image
In Morocco, moushrabiyas or geometrical screens keep Muslim women hidden from view. These screens allow women to observe their surroundings without themselves being seen.
When making an Artists’ Book with this beautiful young lady, I asked her in sign language if she had some scissors. She took me to her room where she flicked on the TV. A static zig zag pattern filled the screen. The room was set up for her family, three outfits hung on rope across one corner of the room. We tore the sheet of paper, folded it and sewed it together with a piece of thread we found. I wondered what this girls’ future was going to be. This idea was the impetus for my book. Zellig, also spelled Zellige, is a collage of patterns making up the tile decoration in Morocco. When making the book I used a collage of my work made up of my poems, paintings, drawings and photography.
Iris printing, on Somerset 175 gram soft white, by Urban Digital Color.
Typography and letterpress printing by Norman Clayton One Heart Press.
A limited edition of twenty copies and three artists proofs
Bound by John DeMerritt, Emeryville.
Copyright by Carla Trefethen Saunders
San Francisco, California 2000 $750.00
Zellig 2000
Limited edition of 20 with 4 artist’s proofs
Letterpress, iris prints, vellum UV Ultra 11 white, Somerset 175 gram soft white,
Rives heavyweight buff and Lamili Lokta paper
Images and poems by the artist
Original drawing
8 x 8 inches
This book is in the following collections:
Private Collections
Zellig is for sale on Amazon.com
Tags:Art, Artists' Book, Arts, collage, Letterpress printing, library special collections, Morocco, photography, poetry, Publishing and Printing, Travel, travel sketches
Posted in Abstract Painting, Artists' books, drawings, Morocco, Paintings, Photographs, Poems, Travel Drawings | 4 Comments »
May 16, 2012

Permission Denied 1999
This little book with layers of see through vellum is more abstract inside. The little tile was chipped out for me by a tile artist cutting the stone for a mosaic, while he sat back on his heels, near the square. He drew a comic picture in my sketchbook and signed his name.
Yarn, sequins, gel, Boku-eki sumi ink, graphite, vellum, rice and watercolor paper
Roses, street litter
5 ½ x 4 ½ inches
Posted in Abstract Painting, Artists' books, Morocco | 2 Comments »
May 9, 2012

click to enlarge
McGouna Rose Petals Slowly Dried in the Shade 2000
Small book inside, Xerox, newspaper, candy wrapper, stamps, transfers
Wire, gold shoe polish, wax, paint, dried pigment from Morocco
Feather, rose petals
10 x 7 inches
Tags:Art, Artists' Book, color, Flowers, Morocco, Painting, Travel
Posted in Artists' books, Morocco | 3 Comments »
May 8, 2012




click on images to enlarge
Original sketches on arches 140wt. Rives BFK
Xerox and ink jet on vellum, watercolor
Caran d’ache crayons, pen and ink, gouache, dry pigment from Morocco,
Original poems by the artist
Accordion 8 x 8 inches opens up to 8 x 80 inches
I
Tags:Art, Artists' Book, Jacques Majorelle, Marrakech, Morocco, Travel, Yves Saint Laurent
Posted in Abstract Painting, Artists' books, Morocco, Poems, Travel Drawings | 4 Comments »
May 2, 2012

click to enlarge
Right now many of the original terra cotta warriors from Xian are on exhibit in New York. At the same time, contemporary artist Gong Yuebin, has a show at the Crocker museum in Sacramento California. Gong has interspersed life size modern warriors marching with copies of the original warriors, but the modern soldiers are carrying nuclear missiles.
http://www.crockerartmuseum.org/exhibitions-collections/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibits/686-gong-yuebin-site-2801
In the summer of 2002 My son and I visited East China. We were on one of the last Yangzi River cruises before the Chinese flooded the three gorges. I have many sketches and poems all ready to put together into an artist’s book or an edition – just haven’t gotten around to doing it. I took different weights of paper to draw on. I had some transparent paper along just in case and ended up using it when we were in Xian.
Tags:New York, California, drawing, China, Yangtze river, Contemporary art, Xi'an, Terracotta Army, Gong Yuebin, Crocker Art Museum
Posted in Artists' books, China, drawings, Sketchbooks, Travel Drawings | Leave a Comment »
March 1, 2012

This is a little companion piece to the larger oil painting ‘Dance of the Drum Beaters.’
Click on the image to view it larger.
‘The Monk’s Mask’ oil on canvas 20″ x 16″

Tags:Art, Artist Book, Bhutan, Buddhism, oil paint, Painting, Paro, Travel, travel sketches, Tsechu festival, Visual art, Visual Arts. animals
Posted in Abstract Painting, Animals, Artists' books, Bhutan | 5 Comments »
February 28, 2012

click on image to make it bigger

Druk Yul 2001
“Land of the Dragon”
Paintings on handmade paper from Bhutan, Saunders waterford paper, Arches 90 wt. paper, rice paper, gouache, watercolor, pen and ink, Caran d’ache crayons, bamboo, prayer pages, postages stamps, Xerox from traditional school of art in Thimphu, woodblock print, silver rubbing wax, graphite, fabric, color xerox, transfer prints.
size 10″ x 8″
I sketched the drum beaters dance when I was in Paro at the Buddhist Tsechu festival honoring Guru Rinpoche born from a lotus flower. Dances are performed by monks wearing ornate costumes and fantastic masks.




Tags:Art, Artists' Book, Bhutan, Buddhism, oil paint, Painting, Papermaking, Paro, Thimphu, Tsechu festival, woodblock print, Xerox
Posted in Abstract Painting, Animals, Artists' books, Bhutan, drawings, Sketchbooks, Travel Drawings | 1 Comment »
February 27, 2012

One morning I took a taxi up the hill to see Mynak Tulku, the archivist at the National Library in Thimphu. He wasn’t there so I spent hours between the stacks painting all alone. Manuscripts are imprinted using wood blocks. The prayers are printed or written on long strips of handmade paper. These are stacked between two pieces of wood and are wrapped in brilliantly colored cloth or in silk cloth held together with a leather thong. When I was hungry and tired I packed up and went hunting for the exit. All the lights were turned off. There was no one in the building. I wondered if they would come back after lunch or if they were closed until the next day. I had no phone with me. Deciding I’d better find an alternative way to get out I checked windows and any other possible exits. No luck, so I went back to the huge tall main door, went up to it and unlocked it, pushed and it opened quite easily. I was out in the bright sunshine, still all alone. So I started walking down the hill, eventually finding Thimphu. Click on the image to see the transfer print and sample of traditional textiles used for Bhutanese clothing.
Tags:Art, Artist Book, Bhutan, Library, Paper, Papermaking, Prayer Books, Thimphu, Travel, Wood block
Posted in Abstract Painting, Artists' books, Bhutan | 4 Comments »
February 24, 2012

After buying a gift of sugar and powdered milk, my friend took me to her mother’s home to meet her family. A taxi drove us outside of town where we were dropped off near an old wood bridge; someone was giving the bridge a new coat of paint. It was a beautiful day. Peach trees were in blossom Player flags on high poles were fluttering in the breeze. We walked the rest of the way past water fountains, past pigs and a cow in bamboo pens, past hunting dogs tied up in front of a home and past clothes hung up in the sunshine. Looking ahead of me, sitting up on top of a hill, was Karma’s mother and sister traditionally dressed with their black hair cut in the traditional style. Not having a telephone, they didn’t know we were coming. I was offered yak butter tea or tea with milk and sugar and maze, “corn picked, fried and pounded.”
After tea my friend took me into a beautifully decorated prayer room which, among other things, had a photograph of the Dalai Lama, an altar and a cabinet filled with twelve holy books collected between carved boards, wrapped in orange cloth with blue, orange and gold ribbons. The older ones were made up of pages of calligraphy wrapped in silk and tied with a silken ribbon or leather. The classification system consists of tiny satin flags, color coded to match subjects. I painted with my friend’s three year old niece. She was shy, but I gave her a few crayons and paper. In a few minutes she was drawing, too.
They didn’t know I was coming, but my friend’s sister had prepared a full meal. We ate in the livingroom with her mother, sister and niece. The meal consisted of red rice, spinach, cheese potatoes cooked with onions and chilis, pork and green ferns from the forest. I asked how they had prepared our meal since they didn’t know I was coming. They grow their own potatoes. The rest of the meal was prepared from dried foods they had in their home,
This day was special, never to be forgotten.
Tags:Altar, Art, Artist Book, Bhutan, Dalai Lama, drawing, Painting, Prayer Books, Travel
Posted in Artists' books, Bhutan, drawings, Paintings, Photographs, Sketchbooks, Travel Drawings | 6 Comments »
February 23, 2012

I’m working on three other scrolls, playing around with ideas.

Or this? I’m thinking of having a scroll that, when opened, transparent delicate pieces would hang loosely from the surface. Maybe I’ll attach the paper with thread. Glue or wax would be too rigid. I’d like to be able to take a scroll out and hang it in a place where the sun would shine through showing the transparency of the waxed areas and use of mulberry paper. Click on images. You will be able to see the audience at the Paro Dzong watching a 250 year old silk appliquéd thangka being unfurled.
Tags:Art, Artist Book, Bhutan, scroll, Travel, Visual Arts
Posted in Abstract Painting, Artists' books, Bhutan | 6 Comments »