SURROUNDED BY BOOKS by LYNNE PERRELLA

I am honoured to have well known author, artist and workshop instructor Lynne Perrella as my guest blogger on Art Propelled this week.

Thanks so much for being here Lynne. Over to you ........

I thoroughly enjoyed Robyn's recent posting, showing her well-loved, expansive library. It reminded me of many studios I visited when I was working on my latest book, "Art-Making & Studio Spaces" (Quarry). I thought the readers of Art Propelled might enjoy having a look at four of these studios that feature books as a vital part of the inspiration quotient. All photographs are by my good friend and travel mate, Sarah Blodgett.

The phrase "chock-a-block" was invented for my studio. Books are everywhere. I am totally unapologetic about my love of books, and more arrive every week. I love being surrounded by my library of art and reference books, and my studio also functions as a reading room. Shelf space is always an "issue", but never a hindrance. One way or another, everything fits. Books are wonderful companions, and provide the flashpoint for so many ideas. There is nothing to match the feeling of sitting in a comfortable chair in my studio, with the music on, and a big art book in my lap.
True happiness!

My good friend, Judi Riesch, has perfect radar for finding beautiful things and placing them together in wonderful tableaus. This polished antique secretary was the ideal staging area for Judi's collection of small antique volumes, one-of-a-kind artist books, a growing collection of gilded daguerreotype albums, fond family memorabilia, and a grouping of her own framed assemblages. Books have a starring role throughout her home and studio, plus Judi uses fragments of old books and manuscripts to great advantage in her mixed media collages and shadowboxes.

My friend and neighbor, RO Blechman, has entertained the world for decades with his noted "squiggly line"; and his illustrations appear in ads, book covers, animations, and more. An impressive wall of books, bibelots, and visual archives (complete with rolling library ladder) is arranged with an art director's eye for "what to leave in, what to leave out". The wall of books has the fascination of a thoughtful room-sized visual composition, gathered and refined over time....a totally personal reflection of the lifelong interests and passions of a humorous, well-read, prolific artist.

Meeting and getting to know Melissa Zink was one of the great honors of my life. Whenever I visited her studio, we would prowl around the various work tables looking at assemblages-in-progress, and we would always inevitably end up in this wonderful sitting room just outside the studio. She often described her long-and-varied art journey as "the book experience", and her love of books and reading was the driving inspiration behind her lifetime body of work. She gleefully described making a visit "somewhere down South" and unexpectedly coming across a large grouping of "16th century books" in a thrift shop. "Well, naturally, I had to have all of them" she remarked, tossing a fond look over her shoulder at the row of old delicate volumes. No regrets.

Every studio I visited was ultra-personal and distinctive; the result of a gradual, revealing, organic process. Most of all, I encountered work spaces that radiated with all the "necessary things" that each artist wanted to have within reach. Oftentimes that meant "books....and lots of them!".

Lynne has generously offered a personalized copy of ART MAKING & STUDIO SPACES for a lucky draw. If you would like to take part in the draw say so in a comment on this post and the winner will be announced on Friday the 22nd January.

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Visit Lynne's website, here . Glorious art and workshop information.

Order Art Making & Studio Spaces at Amazon, here.

And the winner is ...... Annie Kerr

FOR THE LOVE OF BOOKS

I was going to post photos of my tidy studio this week but it's been a particularly daunting task and I'm not quite finished yet. Lack of space being the main problem. I seem to be rotating art supplies and books round and round the room because there's nowhere to put them once I've tidied up.

I bought Rice Freeman-Zachery's book Creative Time and Space a few months ago and I received Lynne Perrellas latest book, Art Making and Studio Space for christmas so I am feeling inspired to make space, both physical and mental, for new beginnings in 2010.

My dilemma is that I can't bring myself to clear out old books to make space for the sparkly new Christmas books. I love them all! They are like old friends and were my main source of inspiration before I succumbed to the lure of the internet.

Our book collections live in every room of the house .....

"It is instantly apparent, as soon as you enter, that this studio is all about the books, from the display cases to the bulging library shelves." - Pam Sussman in Art Making and Studio Spaces by Lynne Perrella


Another quote from Lynne Perrella's  book, Art Making and Studio Spaces ......
"Books have the most powerful and subtle connotations. They are never only objects, they have a voice with which they speak across time and across lives, a voice contingent only in part on their material nature and expressed forcefully in their text." - Philipp Blom

And then there are the notebooks ..... dozens of them!  I really find it difficult to throw them out.  They are filled with copious notes and even if they're only shopping lists, telephone numbers ..... or website links....what if I need this information one day? I also have journals (who hasn't?) and sketchbooks of ideas as well as my beloved quote books where I've been scribbling favourite quotations since the year dot.

Jackie mentioned Randi Parkhurst's extraordinary assemblage of books she discovered  here or  here, which led me to Judy Wilkenfeld's delightful little handmade books  here, as well as heartstopping images taken while making artists books with some of the treasures that Judy found at an Asian antique store. Scroll down to the 23rd December and watch a video clip about Judy's art. 

ART BOOK FETISH

There's a new title in the Lark 500 series called 500 Tiles. I had to have it!





To me inspiration means new ideas. New ideas mean new work. New work means pleasing potential buyers. Potential buyers mean earning an income. Earning an income means I can afford more wonderful books to inspire me.



Does everyone go through this process to justify book addictions? Books (particularly art books) give me endless joy. They are my springboards to new ideas. I discover new artists, new mediums , new processes and new outlooks.




In 500 Tiles, I discovered Steven Bird's quirky mosaics. He creates playful, naive ceramic pieces, a number of which are featured in 5oo Tiles.


I'm guessing he started making mosaics when he had a surplus of broken ceramics that were beautiful in their own right. Far too good to throw out. His work makes me smile. (Another good reason for buying this book. There are many pieces that make me smile).



South African artist Hennie Meyer also features. He is known for his quaint teapots but now I have fallen in love with his tiles.


The set of 6 tiles tiles above are made by Hennie Meyer and the mosaics are created by Stephen Bird.