Isi
For the theme “harbinger” I chose Carlotta, a central character in one of my sci-fi stories. Carla, Carlotta, auntie, is a psychic, intergalactic podcaster, who likes to protect the children of Oberland.
She is unique, brave and leads in my story as a precursor as well as a messenger bringing together understanding for the Orbitants, should they feel ready to deal with their past to build their future. This character appears in many of my arty projects and is based on one of my grandmother’s friends who had a little pointed nose and eyes looking always beyond our physical reality.
Here are illustrations of Carlotta as part of my artist book, but also as a ceramic and as a fabric doll . As you can see, no master pieces but great fun to create and make.
Joan
My book for this month’s theme, ‘Harbinger’, was based on William Blake’s Europe: a prophecy (1794). I love the way in which Blake combines text and imagery in his work and the subject matter of this particular book is so relevant to the theme. In its day, Blake’s book was a brave critique of the Enlightenment’s promotion of science, logic and mathematics, at the expense of human imagination. He criticised the impact of organised religion for restricting spiritual freedom and the imposition of inflexible ‘laws’ and he parodied Freemasonry and the idea of God as a benevolent designer. It was not a prophecy in the sense of predicting the future, but an analysis of European society and beliefs as he saw them at the end of the 18th century.
My book is a simple concertina, with mono print and bound in a soft cover of waxed paper.
Patti
I thought about Harbingers of Doom, and warnings, and recalled the government publications about how to survive a nuclear attack. I imagined the siren going off and people searching, wondering, “Now where on earth did I put Protect and Survive?”. I made a spoof on this booklet talking about how to survive living with a person behaving strangely: absence, chaos, and leaving – and it’s very tongue in cheek.
Pamphlet, inkjet printed on Fabriano, Canson Mi-Teintes cover.
Gill
For this months theme of Harbinger I chose the Magpie as a Harbinger of bad luck, using the well known rhyme…. 1 for sorrow….etc.
I cut the magpie out of lino then hand burnished the image onto a variety of papers. I used an already made concertina book.
