Serendipity has for some time been my favourite word. I have, for the last couple of years, based my process around the delights that serendipity can bring. So, how wonderful when exploring a new theme for some work…that these have caught my attention… Of course, what this now means is my mind is wandering along an altogether new path and i am very much enjoying the journey 🙂
Gosh, hasn’t it been a while! Finally got a window to catch up on blogs, chats and other delicious activities that we tend to sideline a little when the pressures on.
Ok, so I have managed to shoehorn a few working days in the studio, resulting in playful activity and generally trying to remember what old books feel like. So here we are, a couple of examples of those playful days… looking forward to getting back down to some more intensive studio activity… so many ideas bubbling, so little time!
Ok, so another couple of new work additions… one sold already (that’s got to be a record for me!). It made me think quite a bit about how I remain connected to my work and that it is intrinsically part of who I am. My knee jerk reaction to someone wanting to purchase it was ‘oh, but I haven’t had long enough to sit with this and reflect.’ I realise that it doesn’t necessarily have to be with me for that to happen… a strange emotion all the same… Made me smile (that and some cold hard cash in my hand!).
Not my usual approach but the work is a response to a very special family occasion. I really enjoyed this diversion from my normal practice and as always, found new things to learn and new problems to solve… Experimentation is a wonderful methodology!
Looking forward to some Liverpool vibes and interesting book arts…
Artinliverpool.com – Huyton Gallery Knowsley: For the Love of Books.
Also listed here… great to see work utilised in promotional copy.
For the Love of Books | Blog | Design Week.
Upcoming show appears in Design Week article…big Yay!
Of course, book sculpture, book arts, artist books or altered books have been around for a considerable time. I am inspired by many artists and having just been asked by a good friend to recommend some creative book viewing pleasure, I thought it would be good to share to a broader audience… so here are some of those artists that particularly delight me in this field sometimes with their concept, sometimes their amazing skill and craft and of course many with all those ingredients rolled into one!
I hope you enjoy them as much as I do…
The outrageously talented Brian Dettmer
The delightful, playful work of Su Blackwell
Jaw dropping Guy Laramee
The colourful feminine work of Jacqueline Rush Lee
The precision of Georgia Russell
Patience and concept of Jill Sylvia
Intriguing Norike Ambe
Exquisite work of Maria Fischer
Intricate Meg Hitchcock
Ok, so I’ve been busy working with some amazing staff and pupils at a local special educational needs school exploring our ‘sense of self’? Really has been quite a journey which will culminate in a group show of pupils, staff and about 14 professional artists entitled ‘A sense of self’. I’m really looking forward to the show, a celebration of creative expression and diversity.
So here is a new work that I am submitting. It really has been interesting… when all my work essentially stems from personal experiences to focusing on oneself specifically, the dynamics of my practice shifted.
Jo Howe-Artist 
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