FRANKENSTEIN'S WOMEN - a progress report

Lino blocks for Frankenstein's Women, 20 x 15 cm (each block)

The blocks for Frankenstein's Women, my forthcoming artist book, are almost ready for the next stage, namely, printing.

For those who have been following the development of this project since it began life at Melbourne Athenaeum Library during a residency for Melbourne Rare Book Week 2018, here is an overview of the work to date. (Click on images to enlarge).

As noted in my last post, the block for the title page of Frankenstein's Women (pictured third from top) was new and hadn't begun to harden. As a result, the surface was very brittle. In what turned out to be an ill-starred combination, my linocut tool, a Speedball with an interchangeable No. 1 cutter, was also new, but far from sharp, causing areas of the lino to crumble away during carving. For many   years, I've found this particular cutter indispensable for producing very fine lines. Sadly, however, the current Speedball cutters are poorly made; they are blunt, rusty and frankly, shouldn't even be on the market.

There is hope for the future, however, thanks to my friend Paul Compton, who recently presented me with a most thoughtful and generous gift - the elegant linocut tool pictured directly below. I've never seen one like it before. According to the accompanying label, it's a 'TRAD SANKKAKUTO Vee Gouge'. Some of the blocks could use some minor tweaking; this tool cuts through them like butter.

Looking back on 2018

As a former St. Kilda girl who grew up in the shadow of Luna Park, I've come to liken the passing years to roller coaster rides, in other words, a series of highs and lows. I'm happy to report that in 2018, the highs by far outweighed the lows.   

High on the list of personal highlights was my residency in June/July at Melbourne Athenaeum Library for Melbourne Rare Book Week (pictured top). The linocuts I made during the residency will be the basis for Frankenstein's Women, a forthcoming artist book.

During the residency I also made a unique artist book, Progeny, which later in the year was Highly Commended in the Biblio Art Prize at Blarney Books and Art in Port Fairy.  Biblio subsequently traveled to Tacit Galleries in Melbourne.

LEAVES OF ABSENCE, the artist book that was launched at the Melbourne Athenaeum Library in late 2017, was acquired by the library in 2018. The book was part of the group show PATTERNS OF COLLECTING/From the Bower at the Johnston Collection (see below) and was a finalist in the 2018 Libris Awards.

Early last year LEAVES OF ABSENCE was acquired for the permanent collection of the State Library of Victoria and towards the end of 2018, it was acquired by the National Gallery of Australia. The year couldn't have been more perfectly book-ended.

2018 was exceedingly busy, even for me. Every year I vow that this will never happen again, and every year it does - and then some. The constant travelling between Melbourne and Ballarat doesn't exactly help. With the aim to make more time for my own projects and myself in general, from now on, I'm saying "no" more often - and sticking to it. For example, for the first time in several years, Moth Woman Press has reluctantly decided not to participate in the annual Sticky Institute Festival of the Photocopier Zine Fair, an event we very much enjoy. We're feeling sad about this - Moth Woman Press usually does particularly well there - but believe it's ultimately for the Greater Good. I do hope we can return next year. Meanwhile, a selection of MWP publications are currently available at the delightful Playing in the Attic.

The halfway mark for January has already passed. Currently, my primary aim is to further develop Back Stories, a series of paintings that is already well under way. These are thematically linked to the linocuts in Frankenstein's Women, for which I have to design a title page and finalise the text before printing begins in the second half of 2019.

A second artist book is also planned. I'll post updates on this and other projects as they unfold.

Wishing you all a fabulous 2019.

Melbourne Athenaeum Library Residency: Final Day

Pictured above: the view from my work table at The Melbourne Athenaeum Library on Saturday, 14 July, the final day of my residency.

In this post I cast a wistful eye over my former workplace, beginning with a photo of myself and the library's current Playwright-in-Residence, the delightful Patricia Cornelius (photo credit: James Baker) and a series of shelfies featuring accordion books in various stages of development.

Below right: library volunteer Aaron Cook, who kindy helped Shane and I carry the substantial baggage from my residency to our car several blocks away at the top end of the city. (All of the nearby car parks were full).

I'm going to miss going into the library every day. I'll miss the staff, volunteers and the energising conversations I had with a steady stream of visitors, several of whom made return visits. A future post will focus on Progeny, the artist book I made during my residency. In the meantime, I'll think of Melbourne Athenaeum Library every day as I continue with the projects that had their genesis in this very special place.

The Rare Book Week That Was

Melbourne Rare Book Week has ended, but not, I’m delighted to announce, my residency at Melbourne Athenaeum Library. I’ve been invited to extend my stay, so I’ll be in again this coming week. I know that all good things must end, but in this case, I’m happy it won’t be for a little while longer. Meanwhile, directly following are selected highlights from the fabulous week that was.

Throughout the week, work continued on Progeny, my artist book inspired by Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.

There was a great turnout to my artist talk on Wednesday evening, July 4 and I couldn’t have wished for a finer audience. Thanks to everyone who came and to inestimable Melbourne Athenaeum librarians Tom Coleman and James Baker for ensuring it all went without a hitch. 

Tom Coleman introducing my artist talk

Audience members browse my books and zines

Among the particularly steady stream of visitors on Friday, July 6 were distinguished personages Louise Jennison, Gracia Haby, Elaine Haby and Vicki Fowler, accompanied by second-time visitor Jill Kellett (not pictured), who took the photo of Vicki and I. Then, as the long, but especially memorable, day drew to a close, I was joined by Ewan and Heather Barker.

Louise Jennison, Gracia Haby and Elaine Haby

With Vicki Fowler (left). Photo credit: Jill Kellett 

Ewan and Heather Barker

Saturday, July 7, was the last official day of my term as Artist-in-Residence. It was literally a red-letter day, as the hand-lettered red text was added to Progeny, taking it another step closer to completion. The text still needs some tweaking before the final stage (aside from binding): hand-stitching selected areas of the image with matching red embroidery thread.