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

[De Villo Sloan]

Dw's brain is a memory sinkhole, Marie. He can't even remember when to slop the minks.

[Marie Wintzer]

It's a memory hole, of prime quality. They are very hard to shoot, even for someone as experienced as M. Rancher. And even harder to fill.

[De Villo Sloan]

Looks like M. Rancher used this for target practice. Then he put the gun back in his hole-ster.

[Marie Wintzer]

Thank you additional genkis. I'm glad you enjoyed. I could have spent a whole morning taking pictures of this book and playing with it. Now I have to continue reading it :-))) and learning.

Holes are totally serious.

[De Villo Sloan]

"Businessmen they drink my wine

Plowmen dig my earth

None of them along the line

Know what any of it is worth"

 

  

 

[De Villo Sloan]

A masterpiece fulfilling the book-about-book concept. This also shows the potential of holes to be "serious." Dw is a visionary?

[Lesley Magwood Fraser]

Yes I am slowly getting back to normality but not working yet, have to get studio up and running. I've got nowhere to put all my stuff!! 

[Katerina Nikoltsou (MomKat)]

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful! Thank you for blogging beautifully, Cherry Blossom! And Cheryl, now I really cannot wait until your Book about Books arrives in Greece! Oh, it takes soooo long! However, today Marie has given us such a fantastic view of Cheryl's masterpiece! I am chuffed!!!

Good to see you, Lesley! 'Hope all is well for you and yours...and the move! Miss you!

[Marie Wintzer]

Glad you like :-))) it's a fantastic book, needless to say

[cheryl penn]

Lesley - how are you???? Long time no see - and you're missed! Thank you for blogging Sweet Pea - in your usual beautiful way.  I still want WANT your photographic skills!!!  :-) X