She's Crafty | Art Made From Books

During one of my internet researching frenzies I came across Art Made From Books compiled by Laura Heyenga. I saw the cover, which features a swirly mass of papers against an intensely black background, and had to find a copy to check it out.

I was able to find one held at a participating library system through Link+ and got to pick it up at my home branch. How cool is that?! Click right here to get a copy of your own...and believe me, you're going to want to click that link. During the short walk from customer service to a space where I could examine my new read my mind was completely blown.

Su Blackwell, The Book Of the Lost, 2011.

Art in progress.

As the subtitle suggests, this is a book that showcases art created by altering, sculpting, carving, and transforming books. This is not the art of book binding or typesetting a book for reading. This is art made from books that no longer function as their original selves once did, and the work is inspiring and beautiful, thought-provoking and exciting.

Rarely have I flipped through a book of art and loved so many works as I do from Art Made From Books. However, surprised I am not. We are talking about art and books in one. Since I can't share them all, here are just a few highlights:

Guy Laramée carves and sculpts absolutely stunning landscapes from books.

Guy Laramée, El amor por las Montaña nos cura, 2012.

The close-up above right shows the realistic details of his carvings. In fact, if I had seen this picture alone I would have thought the crags and vegetation belonged to an actual mountainside.

Seen in their entirety, Guy Laramée's pieces are quietly surreal. His transitions from landscape to book are done is such a way that it looks like they came to be by natural processes, as if the book eroded over time into the fantastical landscapes they contain inside. 

Guy Laramée, Prajna Paramita, 2011.

A book artist took Edinburgh, Scotland by surprise in 2011 by leaving ten book sculptures at various locations all while remaining Anonymous. Accompanying each whimsical piece was a unique tag with a lovely statement that matched the location the sculpture was left and the subject of the piece. Anonymous also sought to support the literary locations the items were left by referring to a Twitter feed owned by the location. The tag below also carries the following message, "in support of libraries, books, words and ideas..."

@byleaveswelive, 2011. Left at the Scottish Poetry Library.

Jeremy May makes wearable art excavated from the pages of books. Form and design is influenced by the content of the book a piece is made and each piece is presented within the book from which it was extracted.

Jeremy May, Serial no. 028--Vanity Fair, 2009.

Su Blackwell is known for creating scenes that are magical and enchanting. The detail of The Baron in the Trees below shows not only a tree made from book pages but a lit treehouse and tiny little clothes hanging on a line to dry.

Su Blackwell, Detail of The Baron in the Trees, 2011.

Give Art Made From Books a try and see what magic can be made from what we already know to be incredibly special.

Malia

Just Life| Hooray for Audio books

I love audiobooks. My very favorite audio books are the Harry Potter series read by the talented Jim Dale. When you listen to these audiobooks, you are right in Hogwarts with Harry going from one unbelievable adventure to the next.  

So, this new year, let's not overlook audio books. They can be wonderfully entertaining and educational.

Imagine learning a new language on your morning commute. Yes, that is feasible. 

If your eyes aren't what they used to be, you can still enjoy your favorite books by just listening to them.

If your child doesn't like reading that much, an audio book can make writing that dreaded book report easier.

Library audiobooks come in different formats:

• Books on CD
• Books on Playaway 
• Downloadable audio books via Overdrive or Access 360

We even have a few books on cassettes for the folks that can't let go. So, this new year, give the audio book a chance to delight you.

Here are a couple of my favorites audiobooks:

Harry Potter and the sorcerer's stone [compact disc] 

Paris Wife [ compact disk] 

Signing off until next Monday- Panteha

Learning | Excoriate

A recent online headline caught the attention of a few of us at the library. It referred to a professional baseball player being "excoriated" for training for a position he no longer plays.  Never mind the controversy about the player's motives for training; it just seemed like an unnecessarily big word for a sports story headline.

Excoriate. From Richard King's photostream on Flickr.com.
Some rights reserved

Excoriate comes from the Latin word excoriatus,  which in turn is derived from the prefix ex- (meaning out or from,) and the Latin word corium (meaning skin or hide.) Both excoriatus and excoriate mean to flay, or strip off the skin or hide. In the eighteenth century, the word started to be used figuratively, meaning to censure or denounce. 


So why didn't the news agency use a shorter word like censure or denounce? I don't  have a good answer for that. Journalists used to try to write news stories that could be read at a sixth grade level.  Perhaps that reporter and editor did not know about that practice, or didn't care.


A search for excoriate in our Shiny New catalog found no results. Instead, I'll leave you with a list of books about that controversial baseball player.

Just Life| My Happiness Project!

I want tons of happiness this year. I want happiness for me, for my family, and for my friends. I wish happiness for all of the decent human beings of the world.

For foes, let's leave them to Dementors. Yep, I have been watching too many Harry Potter movies lately. 

A few years ago, to boost my happiness, I started reading the" The happiness project " by Gretchen Rubin. 

Unfortunately, I never finished reading it. This January, I am going to read this entire book to boost my happiness.

Happiness is so important and sometimes so elusive.

This book has twelve chapters; one chapter for each month of the year. 

The book starts with January. The aim of this month is to " Boost energy". Each chapter of this book is focused on one specific topic.

The month of June is called " Make time for friends". That is something that I have got to work on.

Gretchen Rubin, also wrote another book called Happier at home. I have got to read this one too. You can visit her website at www.gretchenrubin.com

She also has a new book coming up this year called: " Better Than Before. Mastering the Habits of Our everyday Lives".

So, this new year, lets try to be happier. Here are a few books on happiness:

Code to joy : the four-step solution to unlocking your natural state of happiness

The myths of happiness

The wisdom we're born with : restoring our faith in ourselves

Signing off until next Monday- Panteha

Learning | Epergne

My brother, Dale, likes to pretend he doesn't know any big words.  Whenever he hears a family member use an unfamiliar word, he asks for us to repeat it and tell him what it means. We usually end up looking up the word in the dictionary, and then he uses it in a sentence--usually a silly sentence.

There's a story he tells, about helping our father with the preparations for a backyard party. They were hosing off the lawn furniture.  My dad (an engineer) turned off the spigot at the wall of the house.  Dale was still holding the hose, but not spraying anything.  Dad called out,"Okay, Dale, depress the nozzle and release the residual!"

"I knew what he meant, but I just couldn't resist," Dale recalls. "I called out, 'but Dad! There's water in this hose!'"

Image from page 208 of "New Bedford, Massachusetts:
 its history, industries, institutions, and attractions" (1889)
From Internet Archives Book Images'
photostream on Flickr.com.
No known copyright restrictions.

Yesterday, Dale sent an email to the family about his word of the day: epergne. 

According to the Merriam-Webster online dictionary (see citation below,) it's from the French word for saving: épargne. Epergne refers to "an often ornate tiered centerpiece consisting typically of a frame of wrought metal (as silver or gold) bearing dishes, vases, or candle holders or a combination of these." 

 "Epergne." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 31 Dec. 2014. <http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/epergne>.

Image from page 37 of "Examples of household taste"
 (1875) From Internet Archives Book Images'
photostream on Flickr.com. No known copyright restrictions.

I don't know how Dale came across that word. Maybe I'll ask him, next time I see him.  In the meantime, I found some lovely images of epergnes on Flickr.com.

Tea sandwiches on an Epergne, from Jan's photostream on Flickr.com.
Some rights reserved.

The Silver Epergne on opening night,
from Leeds Museum and Galleries' photostream on Flickr.com.
Some rights reserved.

Searching the keyword epergne in SSJCPL's Shiny New catalog yielded no results, but if you are interested in epergnes, I recommend taking a look at these books on tableware.

She's Crafty | Hand-Lettering Ledger

Letters fascinate me. Not only are they the building blocks with which we build words, but I find them in all of their varieties to be utterly beautiful.

Constellation by Ben Didier. Some Rights Reserved.

Calligraphy, Agra. Detail of the Taj Mahal.
Photo taken by Navil Nazeri. Some Rights Reserved.

Gothic San Serif Lower Case - FUTURA!
Photo taken by Kyle Van Horn. Some Rights Reserved.

Ever since I could remember, I've been head-over-heels in love with letter forms. From the feel of writing careful letters--slow, steady, and fitting them together just right--to the digital slickness and fun of fonts.

When I was studying design, letters quickly became my main focus. First course of action for any project was figuring out the text. The look, the mix of fonts, sizes, and fit all had to be right before I even worried about the pictorial elements. Typography, the art of setting letters, also became a favorite area of study.

A good portion of my drawings and doodles include text. A quote, a song, a single word I found interesting would be the seed for a drawing. After an initial writing of letters, I would embellish and fine-tune them like I would any other thing I drew. And when I came across a project in design that needed a font I just couldn't find, I would often jump at the chance to create my own.

A favorite theme that runs through my text-based drawings are either fitting text within a shape or making a shape out of the letters. I created the Put a Bird On It drawing below in the hopes of putting IT on a tote or a t-shirt. Someday.

Put a Bird On It

 

Interesting handwriting and the skilled use of fonts light up my brain like a Christmas tree, which, coincidentally, is where I found this little gem waiting for me this year.

Hand-Lettering Ledger by Mary Kate McDevitt

Hand-Lettering Ledger is the artistic typophile's dream come true. Not only does author Mary Kate McDevitt explain the differences between calligraphy, hand lettering, and typography with a simplicity I could never muster, McDevitt also made this book incredibly pretty to oggle with the eyes. McDevitt has a background in graphic design and it shows. She introduces readers to the multiple type styles featured in her book explaining  the basics of form, offering plenty of tips, and showcasing a plethora of witty examples to inspire original creations.

Request a copy of Hand-Lettering Ledger by Mary Kate McDevitt for checkout through Link+ by clicking on the title.

We have other hand-lettering and calligraphy books if you're interested in exploring the art of handwriting:

Hand lettering : simple & creative styles for cards, scrapbooks & more
The Art & Craft of Hand Lettering 
Calligraphy : A Guide to Hand-Lettering   


Have a happy new year!
Malia & Kaye

Just Life| New Year

Year 2015 is fast approaching and these books seem somehow appropriate for the start of a new year:

Small move, big change

Thrive : the third metric to redefining success and creating a life of well-being, wisdom, and wonder

Find your sweet spot : a guide to personal and professional excellence

Love your life : O's handbook for your best today-- and tomorrow

I wish all of you a fantastic New Year.

Signing off until next Monday- Panteha