Seattle, WA
Offering
$250
To Purchase Contact Abecedarian Gallery
About this Book
Authored, hand dyed and printed on handmade paper by Jenny Craig of Notta Pixie Press. The first and final leaf are composed of Unbleached Abaca and Cotton fibers, the middle two sheets are composed of Bleached Abaca and Cotton Fibers, all handmade and tea-dyed by the artist. The binding is an historical tacket style inspired by works in the American Philosophical Society collection. The book is intended to be displayed standing, with the four poetic leaves open, so that it is approachable from all four sides, but also functions well as a traditional structure. The handmade paper wrapper is made of Hemp fiber, with an Unbleached Abaca and Cotton interior. This book is number 3 in the Omega Edition. It is signed on the interior wrapper. The book measures 16 x 10 inches.
I intended this piece as a meditation on the four elements and the seasons. It is an Offering in that each set of poems offers the reader one of my most vivid memories of time spent with people dear to me. The entire book is dyed with tea, and only tea. To create the first page (Earth, Spring) I allowed a vat full of tea to boil dry with part of the paper exposed, thus creating a sediment that bonded to the surface. The second (Water, Summer) was created by cold dyeing the base sheet and then applying a rapidly cooling tea after the first dried. The third (Air, Autumn) effect was created by folding the paper and submerging it for a short time in cold tea. The final sheet (Fire, Winter) is the product of a hotplate and an aluminum paint roller tray, which sometimes oxidizes onto the paper while it is submerged. As you will probably imagine, there is significant variation in the sheets book to book, which I embrace. I enjoy making edition work, but it pleases me to offer each person who owns the book a unique artwork as well.
Artist Biography
Jenny Craig is an artist librarian, currently residing in Seattle, Washington. She holds an MFA in Book Arts from The University of the Arts (2005) and an MLIS from the University of Washington (2007). When she’s not in a library, she’s printing, teaching and applying to shows.
All images and text copyright the artist. All rights reserved.
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