Incorporating words and symbols in my fabric works led naturally to an exploration of calligraphy and eventually to books. About 15 years ago I simply “fell in love” with the “book arts” and have been working in both fabric and book related mediums ever since. Each has deeply enriched and informed the other. The fabric medium has influenced the texture and forms of the book at the same time as the creation of the paper surfaces has energized the surface manipulations in the fabric works. Both present rich, multi-layered surfaces to explore and use in enhancing final works.

The relationship of image to text and the interplay between the two is my most persistent exploration in the artist’s book. I think the book has an unlimited potential to explore imagery/text both as an over-all visual experience as well as a linear thread running through the whole book. There is an element of time in a book and the concealing/revealing aspect of the turning of the pages adds an intimate interactive engagement with the reader that is quite different from the usual “art on the wall”. The subject content for the books remains the same as for the fabric pieces – my ongoing exploration of “our place” in the greater scheme of things.

Most of my books are one-of-a-kind although some are limited editions. All incorporate my wheat paste papers and cloths, and now some are also using digital procedures for the images and/or the printing of the interiors. I have included a number of paste paper and paste cloth examples as well as completed books here.