TURNING THE PAGE

Lament, Wooden book by Karen Kunc

With the new year approaching I am ready to turn the page and start afresh. On the inside cover of my journal for 2012 I have written a quote by Carl Sagan.

"Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known".

What better way to start a new year than knowing that somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known!

Thanks M for reminding me.

Everything/Something by Karen Kunc. Wooden book: screenprint and gouache.

A big thank you to all the wonderful people who visit my blog. The blog world has certainly enriched my life. A few days ago I was feeling a little frazzled as I usually do at this time of the year and after visiting a few blogs where I read many words of wisdom and encouragement I came away feeling refreshed and filled with hope for the new year. Thank you dear friends for your wisdom, enthusiasm and support!

Wishing you all the best for 2012 and many fulfilling hours, days or months of creativity!

Reference by Karen Kunc. Wooden Book, screenprint and gouache.

Also, a big thank you to all those artists whose beautiful art fills my blog gallery. What a joy to feast my eyes on such extraordinary work!

Though many of you have seen Velma Bolyard's amazing Rock Books, I wanted to celebrate them here on my blog. Click here to read more.

Christina Wiese's ceramic book. See website here.

Check out Wendy Kershaw's series of porcelain books on Flickr, here.

I discovered this photo of Anselm Kiefer's Standing Book on Catherine's Flickr photostream. Many more amazing gems to be found on Flickr. Click here.

Arabesque by Dot Krause. A cast iron book with thin sheet of polymer clay. Website here.

Falling in Place. A series by Redredday on Flickr. See here.

A bundle of Elizabeth Bunsen's little books. I check in on Elizabeth's blog regularly because her photographs and words make my heart sing. See blog here.

Book by Carol E McMahon. See website here.

Book from Ronald Chase's Play series. See website here.

Beautiful handmade pages by Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord. Click here to see The Spirit Book series.

"Each page is a meditation that echoes nature with both repetition and variety. "Reading" the book is meant to be a contemplative experience that takes the reader out of the everyday world and into a state of gratitude and reverence". - Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord

Photograph by Helena on Flickr. See more of her Diary of the Book-Lover series here.

2000 year old lead codice. Read about it here.

"May peace and peace and peace be everywhere".

- The Upanishads (c.900 - 600 B.C.)

SCROLL, SCROLLING, PAPER ROLLING

Library of Alexandria (detail) by Ania Gilmore. Read post by Catherine Nash here.

My fascination with scrolls began when as a child my Grade 3 teacher told us the story of a young sheperd boy who discovered a cache of ancient clay jars in the back of a cave near the Dead Sea. I can still feel the butterflies in my stomache thinking back to that day .....when sitting crosslegged on the floor of a chalk scented classroom.... my teacher came to the part of the story where the lid was removed from one of the jars to reveal ....... a scroll that had not seen the light of day for more than 2000 years. 2000 Years!!! A simplified, condensed story of course but it made quite an impression on me.

Library of Alexandria by Ania Gilmore. See website here.

Many years later I read a short magazine article about the healing scrolls of Ethiopia. I had a fit of the butterflies again which sent me on a fact finding mission.... but my search came to a very disappointing dead end until I began working in the University library. Thrill of all thrills, I found a book.... a whole book! ..... about these amazing artefacts . When we finally had access to the internet and Google, several years later, one of the first things I googled was Ethiopian Healing Scrolls.

Long Ago and Far Away by Dot Krause. See website here.

This post however is not about the ancient scrolls of long ago but rather about contemporary scrolls or paper rollings that artists incorporate into their art.

Who Owns the News by Joan Giordano. See website here.

Who owns the News, detail by Joan Giordano. Website here.

Mixed media collage by Leslie Avon Miller. See Leslie's blog here.

Mixed media collage by Donna Watson. See Donna's website here.


Tribal Offerings Series # 7 by Joanne Williams. See website here.


Stairs to Mauthausen by Robbin Ami Silverberg. See website here.

Reeds of Knowledge by Rosie Huart. See website here.

I've featured these scrolls by Mary Ellen Long in another post but I love them so here we go again. See Mary Ellen's blog here.

Crush by Vadim Katznelson. Acrylic paint and mixed media on board. See more here.