Blog posts from the Spendy Pencil about photography, writing, art and Tokyo.
Starting an adventure tomorrow that will last the next three weeks. I’m keeping the location a surprise until I arrive.
I’m aiming for daily updates.
The owl will not be joining me on the trip but I find his stare really motivating. When I get tired I will always imagine this face encouraging me to get moving… or else!
The last six months has been great for meeting artists and talking to them about their work. Jeni McConnell is another British Artist I’ve exhibited with but haven’t had the chance to meet yet. She also shared a table with Art Byte Critique at the Tokyo Art Book Fair-Ginza Edition on the weekend of March 8th. It was lots of fun to watch people pick up and enjoy Jeni’s books. In this interview she talks about her why she makes art books and her creative process.
How long have your been making art books?
Since 2007 when I took the 2 nd year print module during my Fine Art BA. The print tutor, Michelle Rowley, was (and still is) an amazing teacher, print artist and artists’ book maker. She introduced us to the form of the artists’ book and took us to see the special collection at MMU in Manchester, England https://www.specialcollections.mmu.ac.uk/artists.php. As a student group we began to show and sell our work at artists’ book fairs in Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds and London, which I continued after leaving college.
Why do you like making books?
I have long loved books as objects to be held, read and treasured. Sometimes, the fustier and yellowed, dusty and battered, the better the book feels as a weight in my hand. It’s as if the passing years add to the heaviness. I developed a passion for making artists’ books and altering existing books as a natural way of
extending and exploring this sense I have of the book as a form. The contact of marks connected to the papery surface, images that flex with words to take the reader or viewer to another place, on a journey, through an experience. I love to explore ways of presenting my thoughts in this wide ranging form, often conceptually. The process adds a rich layer of meaning to my other creative
forms of expression.
What do you like about making books compared to other forms of expression?
The book form is something that can be handled, explored, moved and touched which adds another layer of experience for those who interact. It is so much more than just looking, it takes you on a journey, gently leading you through the pages.
Many of my books will also have a container, box, or wrapper to hold the book form as a key part of the work. I love this way of making the readers’ explorational journey to get to the book a part of the experience.
There’s also a sense of freedom that you can explore in the order you wish; I am left handed so I think I explore books slightly differently because of my dexterity skill balance – tending to open and explore books from the back page first!
Do you have a favourite method or technique to make books?
I tend to stick to simple book forms, concertina and other folded shapes. I also make boxes and containers to place them in. For me it is so important that every part of the book form expresses the message, or responds to the theme I am working with. I often play around with small pieces of paper and different folds as well as with the images and words – there’s so much more trial and error in
the recycling bin than you might imagine for what at first look like such simple final forms!
What method of making books do you want to try next?
An altered book: I have an old book that I used to press some collected plants and weeds from a desire line walk I did a few years ago. I’ve removed the old battered pages of the book and kept the book cover and spine in tact – I now need to work out how I connect the pressed plants with the book frame in such a way that it conveys the message I want with the right aesthetic. I have been thinking about this for far too long – should I just get on with it?
What was the biggest challenge in making your book?
How will this end is formed of inkjet printed A4 recycled paper sheets, cut, folded and glued to form a single concertina book. Getting the images cropped for printing and making sure the folds of the paper were level and even was key to the final piece. Thinking back further, it was also a bit of a challenge to get the plastic sea creatures covered in gold leaf, making sure their breathing/eating areas were kept clear – but it was a key part of the work.
Looking forward, I was unsure whether people would respond to this book with their own words and images, which the separate small cards were provided for. To date I’ve had no replies, but maybe people are still figuring out how to respond. I’ve done this in Europe with ‘Talking with Strangers, 2009″ and had quite a good response. Perhaps I need to explore and understand more about our
cultural differences – but even the silence is compelling for me to respond creatively!
Do you have any favorite book artists?
Elizabeth Shorrock
Louise Tett
Where can people find out more about your work? (Social media etc)
My website: jenimcconnell.com
Facebook
Instagram
Twitter
Tate Library
Jacqui Priestly is a British artist who has been collaborating with Art Byte Critique in sharing artist books between the UK and Japan. Currently she is sharing a table with the Art Byte Critique artists at Tokyo Art Book Fair Ginza Edition from March 8-March 10. The Ginza Edition is at Sony Park and runs from March 8 to April 7. During weekends, exhibitors have tables and during the weekdays, books are available through a book vending machine.
How long have you been making artist books and why do you make them?
I haven’t been making artists books very long, along have l have made my own sketchbooks for some time, so am familiar with a number of book binding techniques.
I like how the medium allows me to combine my two artistic passions, writing – poetry & prose and visual arts – printing, painting, drawing and photography. I am also fascinated by how far we can push the concept of “a book” into more conceptual three dimensional forms.
Do you have a favourite creating books?
I don’t really have a favourite process in terms of book making, l like to experiment but l am fond of the traditional processes of stitch binding and stab binding, both can be challenging but rewarding when the pages come together. I am keen to try some cut page work on my next experiment, combining it with my love of ink drawings. Maybe starting with a more simple cut work like Maddy Rosenberg’s REPTILES! Which with its accordion format seems achievable using ink drawing and cut shapes.
I have included some images of my most recent books.
Further examples of my work across all media can be found on:
website: www.jacquipriestleyartist.com
blog: jacquipriestley.wordpress.com
Twitter: @jacquipy
Joan Birkett, an artist from the UK, has collaborated several times with Art Byte Critique. Currently, she is part of the UK contingent sharing a table with Art Byte Critique at the Tokyo Art Book Fair Ginza Edition at Sony Park in Yurakucho. The TABF Ginza Edition runs from March 8-April 7. The Art Byte Critique tables from March 9-March 10.
In this interview, Joan talks about her work, collaboration and building a community.
What was the purpose of building the artist group in your area?
Some of them belong to Platform Arts studios which was originally formed by Claire and myself linking up with a number of other interested artists, with help from the very active Arts and Library service in the Town. This was about ten years ago now but it has changed over the years to what it is today, most of the artists now involved are new. Other artists involved work individually across the North West but come together for group projects. There has always been a number of individuals and small art groups in St Helens but Platform arts was possibly the first artist network around in St Helens at the time of its conception. Since then there seems to be a number of artists coming together to form collaborative partnerships. The Yellow Door artists are one example.
Not long after Platform started to operate, the Heart of Glass programme began in St Helens with funding from Arts Council England. This was through what is called the People and Places funding which is for artists to work with communities in order to introduce innovative arts and cultural opportunities, hopefully broadening and raising the level of engagement with Art and Culture throughout a particular Town. A number of different organisations in the Town were involved in bringing bidding for the funding and Platform was one of these. It was through this programme that I originally received some funding to look at the possibilities of linking with artists in Japan, it was suggested by one of the Heart of Glass producers because of my family links in Tokyo and my interest in Japanese woodblock print work and how my own work had been influenced by the connection. It was also about providing information to others about how links could be made and the benefits of working in this way on a number of levels, perhaps influencing others to have a go. So I did quite a lot of research about what networks were in Tokyo and I put some information together which I sent off to them. My daughter-in-law helped by translating the letter for me. However, I wasn’t very successful until I discovered an online blog/help site, by an artist working in Tokyo, named Miki Saito, she was very helpful and receptive to what I was trying to do and put me in touch with Arthur Huang and consequently the artist group -Art Byte Critique. Arthur, was from the beginning as I have always found him to be, so positive and resourceful, open to just trying things out, exactly the artist I needed to meet, he has been so such a great person to meet and work with. It is really down to him and all of the other artists involved that we have been able to put on three joint exhibitions as a result of the partnership. I can’t believe how lucky I have been in being able to meet such open and interesting people.
Another artist that I met was Atsu Harada a really talented traditional wild life artist, this was through a friend of my Son, and we keep in touch and have been able to meet up when I have been in Tokyo
How long have you been making art books?
I started to explore making book art objects as part of the Tokyo/St Helens return project, which began in 2014. This was somewhat of a pragmatic decision on my part because of the practical difficulties of sharing larger works between Tokyo and St Helens. Also the fact that a number of the Art Byte Critique artists with whom I had made contact through the artist Arthur Huang, were making books and zines as part of their practice and exhibiting at The Tokyo Art Book Fair.
Why do you like making books?
It has allowed me to explore 3D possibilities on a scale that I am able to cope with easily, experimenting with materials and form, I also like the fact that it can be touched and explored by the viewer. Although not normally working with paper unless I am sketching or drawing from life, I am interested in materials and texture, and book art has inspired me to work with different papers and to explore my interest in print as a process.
What do you like about making books compared to other forms of expression?
My work generally begins from my being inspired by a particular subject or idea, after which comes the research that informs the work I eventually make, this is often large scale and consists of a visual language type imagery as a depiction of humanity. Book art allows another dimension to this in presenting a number of possibilities, particularly in the size of the work, it makes me think about working on a different scale and with the text in a different way. It does though present certain constraints given I am quite new to the process and book making skills.
Do you have a favourite method or technique to make books?
I am still learning so I haven’t tried many of the techniques yet, my experience to date is limited but I intend to keep exploring the possibilities.
What method of making books do you want to try next?
I have had a long term interest in using text within my work therefore I suppose I would be interested in exploring different types of text and what I can do with it, therefore developing my work in this way.
What was the biggest challenge in making your book?
Definitely for me not getting too expressive in the making, so that the object becomes too fragile for the viewer. Although I have to say this is often really what I am looking for, a depiction of strong and fragile within the same object, so a bit of challenge. I have also attended a number of print making workshops in order to extend my knowledge and skills with printing methods. I don’t deny that this is quite a challenge for me I work expressively, precision and constraint is not something I am necessarily very good at.
Do you have any favorite book artists?
There are so many artist’s work that I find inspiring generally, I haven’t really just looked at artists who concentrate on this medium. I’m interested in how the making of book art can influence the expression and physicality of my ideas.
Where can people find out more about your work?
www.joanbirkettart.com
Artist Interview: Deanna Gabiga
— Read on inthedetailstokyo.wordpress.com/2019/01/24/artist-interview-deanna-gabiga/
The first time I met Odding was at the Sequential Art Meetup in July, but we never got a chance to talk. During the set-up for the Monogatari exhibition at Tokyo Chapter in October, we discovered we had a lot in common–especially coffee and mushrooms. Odding’s delicate graphite images for her Monogatari contribution, “Here,” add a wonderful facet to the amazing artwork in the issue. Checkout the Q &A with Odding below.
How long have your been making sequential art?
For decades, since I was around 5 or 6.
What do you like about sequential art compared to other forms of expression?
I think sequential art opens up many possibilities, comparing to single frame images, since it brings fragments of time in itself; Comparing to moving images like movies or animation, it gives the reader freedom of setting your own pace; Comparing to literature, like novels or poetry, sometimes it speaks more with less words or even only visual elements. I like all the above forms as well but I think sequential art definitely has its own unique charm and more potential to be explored.
What inspired your story for Monogatari?
“Here” was about a real story, well, it wasn’t even a story, just a little fragment of memories, when I first moved to my current place and found this little old motsuyaki store, run by a small old lady with (probably) her son, the lady was always smiling and I could tell that she was a very honest and sweet person. One day I noticed a bamboo dragonfly on top of the shelf in the store and she realized that I was interested in it, so she took it down and let me play with it. Back then I couldn’t speak any Japanese, so our communication was basically gestures and smiles. I’m always fascinated with old places and old people, and this kind of little stories always brings me lots of warmth at heart.
What are you most proud of in your story?
I’m proud of its honesty, even though it was a mixture of reality and imagination. The point is whenever I read it myself, I can still feel the same kind of warmth as I did in the little store.
What was the biggest challenge in making your story?
Telling the story without words would be one of the biggest challenges, as I did in my other stories too. I was worried that readers won’t be able to fully understand it, but actually they don’t even have to. The story itself is beyond language barrier, and I think I’m quite satisfied with it. Another challenge would be fitting the artwork into A5 size space without losing much details, and I think the editor and printers did a good job on that.
Do you have any favorite stories or sequential artists that you recommend to readers?
My all time favourite would be Chris Ware, then Jon McNaught, whose way of storytelling kind of inspired “Here”. Besides those two, I’d also recommend Lisa Hanawalt and Nick Drnaso. For books I recommend “The Photographer” by Didier Lefèvre and Emmanuel Guibert; and “Here” by Richard McGuire (Haha my story in Monogatari has nothing to do with this book).
Where can people find out more about your work?
You can check out: www.oddingwang.com, or follow me on Instagram: @odding
I haven’t met Carol Miller in person… yet. But through another artist, Joan Birkett, we’ve collaborated on a couple of art book exhibitions. Carol is also a very talented illustrator. Her graphite drawings for Drawlloween 2018 are amazing. I was really impressed with her pieces for Reading Between the Lines and Turning the Page, doubly so since they were her first foray into artist books. She answered a few questions about her work. Check out her interview below.
How long have you been making art books?
Before being invited to participate in this project, I had not made any artists books since my Art Foundation Course.
Why do you like making books? / What do you like about making books compared to other forms of expression?
I enjoyed the tactile nature and sculptural quality of the final works.
Producing work which people are actively encouraged to handle and interact with and which would be enhanced by the potential ‘destructive nature’ of that handling added an additional element not possible in my other work.
Do you have a favourite method or technique to make books?
Whenever I start a piece of work the process is always fluid and I never have an end ‘work’ or image in mind, rather letting the work and lead me.
I approached making books in the same way. I did rediscover the joy of Ink and bleach and produced 3 of the books using this technique. I’m not sure I would say it was my favourite technique, more that I got slightly obsessed with it for a while.
The books I made using this technique are still amongst some of my favourite work.
What method of making books do you want to try next?
The books I made for the project were originals and I would like to explore the possibility of producing affordable editions.
What was the biggest challenge in making your book?
Honestly, stopping. My one book contribution to the project turned fairly rapidly into five.
Do you have any favourite book artists?
As a ‘newbie’ to the world of artists books, not yet but I enjoy the journey of discovery.
Where can people find out more about your work? (Social Media etc)
Website www.artistcarolmiller.com
Instagram carol_miller_artist
Facebook artistcarolmiller
Twitter @carol_miller1
Photos courtesy of the artist.
I met Julia Nascimento last year when she came to an Art Byte Critique meeting. She showed us her books and her illustrations and I was blown away. One of the things I love about Julia is her vision and her drive to create not just art, but community. She has enriched the Tokyo art community by setting up the Sequential Art Meetup. Many thanks to Julia for taking the time to answer questions about her art and collaborative process with Craig Atkinson for their Monogatari story, “Little Key.”
How long have your been making sequential art?
I’ve been telling stories visually since I was very young. But it only got serious when I started FE&JUada Comics with Felipe Kolb Bernardes, which is a series about our life as a foreign couple living in Japan.
What do you like about sequential art compared to other forms of expression?
I really enjoy being able to use images and words together, and balancing how I use them depending on which way I want to tell a particular story.
What inspired your story for monogatari?
This time I collaborated with a local writer, Craig Atkinson. He provided the text about a lost key in Shibuya and I created four illustrations for it.
When Erica Ward and I decided the theme for ToCo’s second issue was going to be “monogatari”, we agreed that the focus should be inanimate objects, rather than people. Shibuya always represented a kind of sea of people for me, and I tried to depict people as a form of landscape, once the main subject of the story is a key.
What are you most proud of in your story?
To be honest what I’m most proud of is the fact we were able to put together such an amazing book with thirteen stories! I took the first printing test with me to read during a long overseas flight and it was extra special to read it up in the air. The stories are so different from each other yet they give the reader a great feeling of diversity that Tokyo has.
What was the biggest challenge in making your story?
Working in the same piece with another person is always a challenge, both sides need to be in tune for the partnership to be successful. At first I thought of drawing the story in panels, but the text I received from Craig was nothing close to what I imagined as comics, and I didn’t wanted to force the story into something it was not. So I had to figure out a way to display the text on my illustrations in a meaningful way for the storytelling itself.
Do you have any favorite stories or sequential artists that you recommend to readers?
I do! I love Julia Wertz’s brutally honest comics (plus she does an amazing job drawing interior), Sarah Glidden‘s journalistic watercolor comics, and Carson Ellis‘ whimsical picture books. I’m also a huge fan of Daniel Clowes and Adrien Tomine. Guy Delisle‘s comics diaries abroad are also a delight! As for Japanese authors, I love Yukari Takinami‘s “Rinshi!! Ekoda-chan”, Junji Ito‘s “Uzumaki”, and Katsuhiro Otomo‘s “Akira” was probably my first encounter with manga in my uncle’s storage boxes when I was around five or six years old.
Where can people find out more about your work?
You can find me on Instagram, Tumblr, Bigcartel for my shop, and on Carbonmade for my portfolio. My autobiographical comics FE&JUada is on Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter and Bigcartel under @feijuadacomics.
Did you notice the surge of illustrations on social media in October? Have you heard about Inktober? What about Mab’s Drawlloween Club? Both provide a drawing prompt for everyday of October. Anyone can participate by sharing their illustration and tagging it with the challenge name. Inktober, created by Jake Parker, has topics which are perhaps broader in scope. Mab Graves, creator of Drawlloween, makes prompts oriented to Halloween or horror genres.
I’ve wanted to do Inktober for a couple years but was a little shy to do it on my own. This year, an artist friend started a small group on Facebook to support each other through the Drawlloween challenges. Sharing the art more widely on social media was optional. Perfect!
The idea of some kind of daily practice without a lot of pressure was really appealing. But I didn’t want to get too caught up in this challenge while I had other obligations. I set a few personal rules:
1. Try to spend no more than 20 minutes on a sketch
2. Try to use a medium I’m not good at or comfortable with.
3. You have permission to make bad drawings
LIKES: The Cat, the mushrooms, the haunted object
DISLIKES: The witch, the lab. Mainly time issues. My idea for the lab was an old alchemist lab but… ideas bigger than my skill.
DISCOVERIES: I’m not as good at pencil drawing as I thought. Drawing on Post-Its is awesome. White ink on black paper isn’t what I thought it would be. WORK SMALLER!
LIKES: Werewolf, Rat
DISLIKES: Seance
DISCOVERIES: The wax crayon (Caran d’Ache) was fun but I have to relax on detail control with them. My determination to make the white on black paper is… I just need to let that go.
LIKES: I like the pun for pumpkin. The Lint Monster (which was surprisingly popular) but I’m not a fan of anything in particular.
DISLIKES: Pretty much this whole week, especially the forest.
DISCOVERIES: Super swamped with deadlines and visiting family in the hospital. I wasn’t doing these daily. At first I was excited by the prompts and then I found them excruciating. The watercolour pens for the forest annoy the heck out of me. I’m frustrated and annoyed with the stuff I’m making but since I’m 21 days in, I’m not going to quit. I liberally applied the DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT rule.
LIKES: Mary Shelley was the one I was least keen on at first. It’s my favourite. Victor Frankenstein is a single line drawing. The Bride… I find it funny.
DISLIKES: Not this week!
DISCOVERIES: By this time I’m caught up and doing one a day. I think these are the best ones of the series. I took way longer than my allowed 20 minutes. My image of Dr. Frankenstein’s lab was similar to the day 5 challenge. I barely avoided that rabbit hole.
SUMMING UP
Daily Practice: Momentum in a project is really a thing.
At the beginning, the idea of daily practice really appealed to me. By the third week, I’d fallen behind and started to get stressed. But having done 21 drawings gave me that extra push to make sure that I completed the challenge even though I was doing multiple drawings on some days.
Time Management: Reflect, compromise and know yourself?
No surprise that investing time gives better results. My favourite images took way more time than I planned. The biggest struggle here was letting go of certain visions in order to meet deadlines. A couple things were good: working smaller, use whatever is on hand (result was drawing on Post-its). I was really inspired by the artists I did the challenge with. They inspired me to make my work as good as possible. The drawback was frustration. I know I could do better with more time. It was also easy to start comparing myself to them and that was totally not the point of the challenge. More importantly, we are all on different points of our artist journey and I think comparing yourself to another artist is a waste of time and harmful.
Different Media/ Technique Challenge: good to try new things but great to be in the comfort zone
I felt like pen and ink work improved a lot. Using black paper didn’t work out how I expected. The guache was better than white ink pen and the coloured pencil on black paper… no. I feel like I needed to try a wider variety of techniques. I realized my pencil drawing technique is not as good as I thought. That’s fine. It’s good to know what to work on.
Permission to make bad drawings: taken at full face value
This permission also freed me up to try different techniques. Even when I didn’t like the direction of the sketch I kept going. For me and this kind of practice, it’s important to say done is better than perfect. It also helped me with time management.
Anyway, a very long wrap-up of my daily art practice with Drawlloween. If you’re curious about any of the drawings, feel free to comment.
Also, if you have any art medium or techniques you recommend let me know. I do love to experiment.
There’s a pile of polymer clay that I’ve wanted to incorporate into art-book making for a while. My previous experiments with polymer clay pages and coptic bindings will not see the light of day. Making new work for the September exhibition, Reading Between the Lines, provided inspiration to try polymer clay again.
The Book of Eringi
I liked the idea of having a realistic front and concertina pages. I tried first with a shiitake shape but the sculpture was too top heavy. Eringi proved an idea shape for the concertina format I had in mind.
Pop Up Mushrooms
I have a bunch of small tins I planned to make into mini-sewing kits, but they ended up being made into a type of book, instead. I covered the lid with a thin layer of polymer clay and then sculpted mushrooms to go on top. My favourite challenge with polymer clay is mixing the clay until I get the right color. The pop-out mushrooms are hand-painted using watercolour
Glow in the Dark
It’s the same method as Pop-Out Mushrooms. The glow in the dark polymer clay actually glows in the dark! That was really exciting. I have some glow in the dark paint but haven’t decided what kind of content and how I want to design the pages yet.
Other Projects and Ideas
I started another book in the shape of a shiitake to do in the same format as the eringi. It didn’t work as the stem wasn’t thick enough and it kept falling over. I found an old hymnal book with pages falling out so I took the cover and attached the shiitake. I still haven’t figured out the content of The Shiitake Hymnal. I have another couple of ideas of layered images and cut outs that I want to try. I’ll post those when I get more done on them.
QUESTION:
What kind of mushroom book would you like to see?
The Spendy Pencil 