OBLIQUE a

OBLIQUE a. For the last week or so I have been working on a new complete book. What, you may ask, is a complete book? Well, in short it is a book that has the art work, printing and making/binding by one person. Perhaps one could call it an Artist's Book.

I am fascinated with many things, artists and designers. I have a modest collection of Victorian/Edwardian glass negatives. The medium is always delights me. The way that light and chemicals capture light-a moment in time- is.... with no pun intended... timeless. In addition the way in which a few of my plates have degraded over time to leave a patina of sorts has, for me at least, created further depth and layers of imagery.

Using my trusty light box we can see more and......

...... with a little bit of computer magic we get the full picture. I just love this sort of thing.

Along with glass negatives I am in awe of the artisans of a bygone age. In particular the artist and crafts people that produced the wood cuts and engravings that pepper a small collection of the Illustrated London News, again Victorian, I have tucked away on the shelves of Studio 5. 

It would appear that I am not the only fan of course, with perhaps one of the most iconic designers of the 20th century, I refer to Piero Fornasetti... of course. In the 1950s, Fornasetti used the face of Lina Cavalieri for his series Tema e Variazioni, which over time became one of the icons of the Fornasetti style.

It has to be said, that I am, along with many others a fan of Fornasetti.

 It has been said, of my work, that it can be rather dark at times. I have to agree, life is dark at times and my work, with books, reflects the contents. I tend not to do books that are happy and gay, flowers and the sort. Having said that, I would bind a book of Emil Nolde's flowers...

I digress.

Back to OBLIQUE a. I suppose that I like to look at life at an angle, to see what is on the other side or to experience from different perspectives. I have always wanted to combine the visual texture of the negative with the stylistic nature of illustrations from Victorian publications. So after a little bit of experimentation, manipulation, distortion and grotesque (comically or repulsively ugly or distorted). 14 prints for a limited edition of 5 books. Each print is 12cm x 12cm and, with the nature of the print technique, each print is unique.

The prints are proof copies only, the real print job will start next week, which will be fun. Inspiration can be found anywhere!