A Book About Books - from Cheryl Penn

[Marie Wintzer]

I don't really know how to start this blog, because no blog can say enough to do justice to this work. Cheryl's Book about Books is an absolute beauty. It won't reveal all its secrets at first glance. You will have to dig in and explore to find out more about it.

The backbone of the book is a map used in aviation, a gem in its own right. When completely unfolded it is probably over a meter long (>3 feet), which says a lot about the complexity of the piece.

Cheryl's idea for the Book about Books was to make a piece that would include some of the major books she has worked on over the years. As you turn the pages you will find the various titles, along with a few lines of explanation, quotes, or poems by the artist itself. Each section contains an envelope where you will find photos of that particular work.

I say photos but they are much more than just photos. Each of them is a well crafted card, with stitching, sometimes layers of paper, text or wax. And I'm not talking about 2-3 photos, there must be thirty of them among all the envelopes.

This book is what would happen if you took all of Cheryl's work and condensed it over a few cubic centimeters. Impossible, but possible! All her lines of work are there, the main themes, it is almost as if you can follow her thoughts, just by visiting each envelope and the text that accompanies it. 

For anyone who is interested in digging a little bit deeper it gives away quite a lot about the various techniques she is using. The pictures of course will tell you a lot about layering, the concept of Re-, where she finds inspiration and how she deals with it, and you can even find a lot of cues in her poems.

It's a real privilege and honor to have this book. Thank you is not really the word I am looking for, you know this. The Book about Books will never be done, and one will never be done reading it. To finish I would like to credit the following stars, and they ARE stars!

Autobiography / The Diary Book / Memory Holes

Needle Girls

Paper Palimpsest

The Burning Shore

A Book About Books

The Tinder Box

The World is a Town

And Then They Were Three

Collaborative Vispo Books at the IUOMA

... and I probably forgot a few along the line

[Lesley Magwood Fraser]

Another Cheryl Masterpiece! Thank heavens she came into our lives with all those boekies tucked under her arm and ideas flying out her head..... Cheryl is most generous with sharing!

[vizma bruns]

Beautiful blog all over!!

[Marie Wintzer]

Thank you Nancy, such sweet words...

[Nancy Bell Scott]

This makes two boekies that have blown me away today. Can't speak coherently about either yet, but they have made this a most special day. Thank you Cheryl and DVS (and Marie for blogging this wonder of Cheryl's). For starters, the hole on photo 4 is strength-speaking delicacy itself.