Poem Book

I began this book by putting black gesso on to some printed calico in what I hoped were random patches.  Once that was done, a book on photo transfers inspired me to attempt to transfer a photo. I found a photo of a landscape, and transferred it onto the cloth using a thin layer of white gesso.  The colors were too bright and white for the mood, but a thin wash of color dulled it down. Sanding it dulled it down further.

The crow on the back is black gesso from a stencil i cut, highlighted with paint marker. I’m not sure what I originally planned to put in the rectangle.  By now I knew what the mood of this piece was, and I hoped to find text to write there. I’m a writer too, but I usually get very self-conscious using my own words on my pieces.  Shweta Narayan, a fine poet who happened to be a Clarion 2007 graduate with me, posted a draft of her poem “Epiphyte,” on her livejournal and graciously granted me permission to use it on this piece.

At one point in the poem, she references “bottle glass eyes.” so I used the bronze charm piece and a photograph of a dark child’s eye with an epoxy sticker.  Going through old toys we found one of those dynamo lettering tools, and I fed some copper tape through it (used for stained glass).  It looks like it says “elate,” but it doesn’t, not quite.  I love the copper color though, and think it suit well.

The end papers are flocked brown and black with a victorian design.