Making books

I think it was in 1993 that I attended Judith Patterson's one day workshop on book making at the Women's Art Resource Centre in Toronto.  Judith showed the participants the principles and techniques behind basic book making and everyone went home with a medieval style tacket book (the light green one on the top of the pile).  Since then I have been making variations on the theme as gifts for friends and family -- sketchbooks and journals with cardboard, denim, leather, and heavy fancy paper covers.  I have recently started working on a leather cover one for Elise's birthday which is coming up.  Apparently her travel sketchbook (the denim one on which I embroidered her name), which was the first one I made for her, is just about full and she needs a replacement (the cardboard one underneath it, also with her name on it, is too large for travel).  The picture below includes sketchbooks I have made for myself, James and Elise.

Reading - Margaret Atwood

I just recently finished Margaret Atwood's "In Other Worlds: SF & the Human Imagination" and had to find a place for it on the bookshelf.  Were there ever a lot of Atwood books already there!  I guess I like her writing, which I was first introduced to back in 1978 or '79 when I read The Edible Woman.  Reading everything between the covers of In Other Worlds, I discovered that "Oryx & Crake" and "The Year of the Flood" are part of a trilogy.  How did I miss this?  Mr Google helped out:  "Maddaddam" is due to be published in September of this year.  Yay!

In addition to my own reading, I and James (my husband) read with our ten year old daughter nightly.  At the moment we are having quite a laugh reading Salman Rushdie's "Haroun and the Sea of Stories".  This was a book I picked up more than 20 years ago at the PEN benefit in Toronto, when Rushdie made his first public appearance after being in hiding for several years.  It was certainly a night to remember, though I was terribly worried that the whole of Canadian literature (every living Canadian writer I had heard of, and then some, were standing on one stage to welcome Rushdie) could be wiped out by some mad person in the audience.  Happily it didn't happen.

Moments - New Paintings

I finished another three paintings in the Moments series and signed them a few days ago (which means they ARE finished!).  They are acrylic washes on canvas.  This one is entitled Together and is 36 cm x 37 cm.

This one I have entitled Flapper, and it is 56 cm x 36 cm.

This is entitled Army Dreamer (thank you for the title, Kate Bush!) and is also 56 cm x 36 cm.

Irish Wave, China

Last week Fion Gunn (the main organiser of Irish Wave) posted some photos to dropbox to give the artists involved in the various shows an idea of what the shows looked like -- I don't think too many of the artists were able to go to China for the launches. 

 I am glad my cow curtain was free hung so that one could walk around it.  I like the shots of people at the exhibition seen through my curtain.  Fion also set up a FaceBook page for Irish Wave, now listed on my sidebar.  She posted separate albums for each venue, and there are 39 photos of artwork in situ at the TuShanWan Art Museum, Shanghai (there were two shows there, Gather and ReMade).

Prague

 After Easter I went to Prague, to both visit relatives and to see the sites again (it has been a few years since I was there).  This is a typical view of the castle above the Vltava River (also called the Moldau).  The castle complex also includes St Vitus Cathedral, whose spires can be seen.

I went on an introductory tour of the city (which included coach, boat and walking tour), so I got a good sense of the four historical towns -- Staré Mêsto (Old Town), Hradĉany (Castle Town), Malá Strana (Lesser Town) and Novo Mêsto (New Town).  The first time I had been to Prague (1992) I also got a sense of the Communist-era outer city, which I don't need to explore again (very ugly block buildings outside the historical centre).  The building below is called The House by the Minute and is adjacent to the old town hall and astronomical clock tower in Staromêstská (Old Town Square).  This beautiful building with stunning black and white sgraffito-painted facade was Franz Kafka's childhood home.

The astronomical clock -- still accurate after several hundred years -- is a thing of wonder, as well as being a major tourist attraction.  Every hour, on the hour, small doors open above the main clock and there is a parade of carved wooden saints.  The skeleton on the side of the clock also shifts his hour glass so you can be more aware of your mortality...

It's great to see some new architecture too!  This building is called The Dancing House, which I first spotted from across the river (I was staying in the Smichov area), is an office building designed jointly by Croatian-Czech architect Vlado Miluniĉ and American Frank Gehry.  It was built in 1997 with the strong support of playwright and former president, Václav Havel.

One day, after a visit to Strahov Monastery, I walked down Petřín Hill.  It is a very pleasant walk down to Malá Strana, and at the foot of the park is the Memorial to the Victims of Communism sculpture by Czech sculptor Olbram Zoubek.

Dublin and Shanghai!

After the Big Egg Hunt artists event last week, James and I walked up to the Hugh Lane Gallery in Dublin in order to see the Francis Bacon Studio, which had been meticulously catalogued, taken apart in London and recreated in its chaotic entirety in the gallery in Dublin.  It is a fabulous exhibit, with accompanying interactive computer information as well as a room full of Bacon's research material and photos, so one really gets a sense of Bacon's working process.

On the way along the quays, I came across this bus signage which I though was totally surreal.

Last night the group exhibitions "ReMade" and "Gather" opened at the TuShanWan Art Museum in Shanghai. They are part of Irish Wave 4, an annual event of exhibitions from Irish based artists which take place in Beijing and Shanghai.  This is a photo of my work "Pastures Green" taken in the cow shed at Fernhill Gardens, Dublin in 1997.  The two cow curtains visible in the foreground are now being exhibited in Shanghai.

The Big Egg Hunt - Farewell!

This morning I was in Dublin for the Big Egg Hunt artist event and photocall. It was great to see all the eggs gathered in one basket (so to speak).  Impossible though to take a picture to show all 100 in the T-space of the building, plus the side gallery. Here is mine, Wild Roses, in the foreground, Lynda Cookson's Aspirations in the middle ground, and James's Hilbert Curve just beyond (then the others become a colourful blur).

A view of the other row of eggs (the floor plan was like a big T -- two rows going down the stem and then bunches at either side of the entrance.  There was also a gallery with the 30 something eggs which will be auctioned live on Saturday night at the gala event.

And I was giving my egg a big hug goodbye, as today will probably be the last time I see it.  There have been bidders, so it will go to someone at the end of March.