>> From the Library of Congress in Washington, DC. ^M00:00:03 [ Pause ] ^M00:00:19 >> Welcome everybody to yet another book arts talk here at Rare Book and Special Collections Division. As always, it's nice to see such a large crowd. I tried to convince Alice that she should keep her expectations low, and I'm glad you all came through over packing the room once again. I've known Alice Austin for quite some time. I actually knew her before I knew her books, and she is responsible among other things for slightly damaging my professional reputation in the book arts world by her behavior at a dinner table, that now has relegated us to as far away from the speaker's table as is possible at Kodex, because of the noise they claim that we make, but it is obviously Alice that's making the noise. So, I'm not part of the troublemaker crowd of Kodex, and I used to be such a dignified man for awhile. Alice hails from a Philadelphia. Is a wonderful bookmaker. Her personality is very much found in her books, and her books very much describe her creative, innovative, colorful, playful, serious, close attention to detail, long focus on the book arts. She is at the Library Company of Philadelphia, where she works as a book conservator. She has been making books for a very long time. She also teaches book structure at colleges in Philadelphia and elsewhere, and also, her books can be found in numerous publications about recent and contemporary artists' books. We decided to help her out a little bit. She sent us a title that we decided didn't really suit her talk. Her talk really is entitled Sculptural Books. We, however, have been having a run of structural books, so we just automatically typed Structural Books. By the time she pointed it out, it was too late, so rather than owning up to the mistake, we told her we really felt the talk really was more of a, [laughter], so as a result, she is going to spend her time talking about the relationship between book structure and sculptural books. She is a real delight. She's a real joy, and I'm thrilled to have her, and I'm also very excited that you're really going to have a chance to really get a sense of her books, so we're very proud to have her here, Alice. >> Thank you, Mark [applause]. Well, hello, welcome every one, and I'd like to say thank you for Potomac Chapter of the Guild of Book Workers for inviting me, along with the Library of Congress and Mark Dimunation. It is great to be here today. So, I'm going to just jump right in here. I've always been an eager traveler. I love to put myself somewhere new. I'm going to get a little bit nervous here with such a big crowd, so, just bare with me for a minute. In 1987, I was hired by the University Museum of Archeology and Anthropology to be an artifact illustrator on a dig [laughter]. Everywhere I went. Oh good, I thought you would all laugh. I was about 23 at the time. Everywhere I went, I was surrounded by pattern and color; bright color, and I loved it. In India, I also saw my first miniature paintings, and I learned about pigments. What you see in the shells there; pigments that were ground from minerals. I wanted those paints. Then we're jumping ahead to 2000. I made a book called "Red, Yellow, Blue". I printed my linoleum prints on black, and then exposed those directly onto metal lithoplates. The book was set offset lithography in five colors at the University of the Arts in Philadelphia; 49 of these books were reserved for an installation in a diamond shape that hangs on a wall in alternating colors of red and blue. And as you can see, I think that was definitely influenced by my time in India. Jumping ahead to Rome. This is the American Academy in Rome. I was a visiting artist there in 2008 and 2009. I studied a map by Giambattista Nolli called the "The Pianta Grande de Roma. It was the first accurate plan map of Rome. Nolli had Papal permission to enter every building in Rome and measure. My intent with my project was to synthesize all of these characteristics of the historic map with layers and patterns, textures of moderate Rome with my paintings and drawings and linoleum prints. The results took many forms. I made an offset printed book called "Nolli", collaboration with John Snyder. I made handmade paper, watercolors, drawings, and lots of individual books; some of which are here today. And here's some close-ups of the map and of the pavement and texture. The Tempe Biato [assumed spelling] by Vermonte. Apparently, the pope saw this little temple the Vermonte [assumed spelling] built, and he said, I want my new church to be just like this. So, apparently, St. Peter's is built after this temple. And just some details from Rome, and the floors, the floors, the cosmetic floors are just amazing in all the churches in Rome. And then when I got back home, I decided I needed to Dieu Donne Paper Mill in New York City, and make paper for my project. All these maps were all 22 x 30 inch paper, and so I made linen paper at Dieu Donne that size, and I included in each of the large sheets, pigment pulp paintings with pigments that I brought back from Rome, and that created the city wall that surrounded Rome. These are linoleum prints that I did ahead of time on Japanese paper, and I included them in the wet sheets. And then this is a finished piece. I went back to my studio with the pulp paper painting pieces that I made [laughter]. And I drew on them, and I printed on them, and I created a big piece. This is my interpretation of Nolli's map of Rome, so this is my Piante Grande de Roma. It was exhibited at the Sedarian [phonetic spelling] in Denver and the University of Denver bought it, and it hangs permanently in their library. Each sheet is 22 x 30 inches. And then I did a whole series of unique books. This one is here today. This is a limp vellum binding. The map of Rome is drawn on the cover with a quill pen and ink, and then the inside is linoleum prints and etching, and some of that handmade paper, the linen paper. So, you can take a look at that, it's here. This is the opening spat. That red line is part of the wall that's in the pulp; that's the colored pigmented pulp. And this is my offset addition called "Nolli"; the one that I collaborated with John Snyder and made. That's also here. It's a single fold of paper, and it was printed offset lithography at the University of the Arts. When it's unfolded all the way, this is what it looks like. The center image is my linoleum print of the Capizolio design for the pavement by Michelangelo, and then just various other locations from the map and from my drawings, but you can see it after the talk. This is what a Heidelberg Press looks like, in case you've never seen one. It's an offset press, so that means, this is the book Nollion process. Your images are exposed directly onto these metal plates, and then they run on the press. This press runs one color at a time. And mixing the ink. You have to mix a lot of ink [laughter]. And this is one of my unique books from that whole project. This is called "Rome Panorama", and the panels are cut and folded, and include different prints, and this is also here for you to look at. Then onto the next journey. We're onto Greece. This Patmos, Greece. I went to study manuscripts illumination at St. John's the Theologian. This is in the library. Very few people are allowed into the library, and usually they don't allow women at all, so we were a very lucky special group. And the man with the white gloves was our teacher for the week. ^M00:10:00 And we learned all about grinding pigments and what to mix with them, and we painted an illumination. We spent the entire week in this little room, while my husband was out riding around on a scooter [laughter]. So copied just one illumination from the book using photographs after having seen the original in the library, and it was a great experience. It really made me appreciate medieval scribes. Then from Greece, I went to Venice, where I was a book artist in residence at the Squella Internet Sinali de Grafica. I was teaching book arts for a month to Italians, and also working on my own work. I did a whole series of copperplate aquatints, and here's just a few slides, gratuitous shots of beautiful Venice. There's so much to be inspired by there [laughter]. And, lots and lots and lots of floors. So, here are two of my copperplate aquatints of Venice. On the left is Ca'd'Oro, the Golden Palace, and on the right was the view from my studio. And then I made these two tunnel books, which are here today, and the one on the left is called Ca'd'Oro. The one on the right is the studio view, and the front panels are linoleum prints, and they're painted with paste, colored paste, which is a process called paste paper. And you can see them here. There's two close-ups looking into the interiors. So, then back to my studio in Philadelphia. I was able to get two fellowships to go back to Venice over the next two years, and my whole project is about being lost in Venice, and how being lost in Venice is a good thing, because you find something new, and I started with these discarded nautical maps. And on top of them, I printed my map of Venice, so people often say Venice looks like a fish, and it does, so this is the abstracted map of Venice. Down on the tail, you see the geometric pattern of Philadelphia [laughter]. This contrasts very nicely to the natural curves of Venice. And then after I did that, I painted and folded. So, I cut those up, painted and folded them, and turned them into these books, and there's one of those here. It's called "Venice Map". It's the type of map that's really useless [laughter]. And it's a series of five unique books. They're all slightly different. This is my Venice sketch book. Every time I go away, I make myself some kind of special sketch book. And I keep lots of drawings and notes, and I always wish I would do that just living in Philadelphia, because I see a lot at home, and somehow I never pay as close attention. But here's one of my views. I just love going back to my sketch books, because I've noted so many things that I've used later on. This is another sketch book, a limp vellum, with an image that I love printed on the cover. Limp vellum, they make great sketch books. They're so sturdy. And then this is my most recent tunnel book. This is called Mosaic, and this is here for you to see today. It's really a celebration of the patterns in the floor mosaics of San Marco Cathedral. You also see those patterns everywhere else in churches in Italy, but specifically, standing on the floor in San Marco, you really feel like you're going to get dizzy and fall down when you're looking at your feet, because it's just amazing. Then I was invited to be an artist in residence in Austria. So, this is my sketch book of being high up in the mountains, and someone way up there on top of those really scary tall mountains had stacked a whole bunch of stones, and I just loved that. I taught there also and exhibited with a group called with a group Art House Four, and it was another wonderful experience. I was living in Wittenstein's apartment. I had no idea who he was before I went. I was probably the only one who never knew who that was. It's an apartment that the State of Austria saves for artists, and I was actually the first visual artist to go. Usually they have writers and philosophers. I was able to make paper at a historic paper mill there, which was fabulous. So, we cut up all our own material from old clothes that we collected from people from the village; natural fibers, and made this great paper. And then we did a whole series of art work with the paper, and I made a unique book from that when I got back home. This is the cover. It's limp vellum. It's purple vellum, and that's one of the inside shots. That's a paste paper, and the book is called "Into the Blue", and it actually has a little bit of text. [laughter]. I'm just laughing, because lately, none of my books have texts. And people say, how can you make a book without text? Well, I do. And, this is a shot of a book from work; from the Library Company of Philadelphia. If you aren't familiar with the Library Company, it was founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1731. It's America's oldest cultural institution and we have a huge collection of Early Americana, so please come and visit. It's open to the public. Anyway, this was one of the older books, and I just loved it, because I was interested, and still am in medieval books. I love the way the scribe worked around those natural defects in the vellum. This is an image of the cover, and then the pesky clasps [laughter]. Clasps are very difficult to make, and if you're making an old book or one with wood covers, and one that has vellum pages, you have to make a clasp, because vellum does not want to stay closed. It's a natural material that stays alive, and it's very springy. So at this point in my career, I decided that what I really need to do was make my own illuminated manuscript without any words, but all image based. So, I had to buy an old deed from 1865 on eBay, and cut it up, because that's a lot of pages, and I just really couldn't afford buying all that vellum for all those pages. So, that's what I did, and I sanded each page lightly to remove some of the text, and then I painted on top of it with a quill pen and ink. And I used pigments that I mixed myself. So, we have a small community garden in our neighborhood. I live in Philadelphia, and it is a great place. So, these shells obviously are not from the community garden, but I love shells, so I just put those in there too. This book is here for you to see, and it really takes you through the summer, because I would pretty much do this after work every day. I would just go to my studio with a flower and draw, and then at the end of the summer, I had filled up all the pages, and I sewed it with cords, and rounded in bats, handmade paper and gelatin. So, the end bounds, shaped the oak boards, and then I had to make a clasp to hold it shut. This is the spine. It has [inaudible] on the spine, which is what you would use, and then you have to make a clasp, which was quite a challenge. With a jeweler's saw; you cut a piece of brace and you bend it, and you sand it, and you work it. So, that's the clasp, and then you nail it onto the book. That's the finished book. And then I had some leftover pages. This was a big deed, so I made a little limp vellum binding, and those are the rest of the pages from the document, and I haven't done anything to those yet. And this little book is here also. Last summer, I was fortunate to take a class here with Renate Mesmer at the Folger Shakespeare Library, and she taught us how to make a medieval girdle book. So, that's what this is. There's only about 22 of them actually left in the world. Most of the books had their girdle, the part that tucked under your waist, cut off, so people; there might be more out there, but they haven't been identified, because that telling little bit has been destroyed. Usually saints, well, not saints, they were usually carried by people of the church. And they make a great weapon too [laughter]. It's really true, I mean when you think about the time period, I think you want something like that to hit someone who's trying to take something from you. You're welcome to feel it, and hold it, and it's here, and that's it open. So, you would leave it on your waist, and you would swing it up to read it. Ireland, that's the next journey. ^M00:20:00 I was awarded a fellowship to be at the Ballinglen Arts Foundation in Western Ireland last fall, and that's all the way on the West Coast in a small town called Ballycastle. Lots of cows. This is an amazing stone carving that my friend, Kim, took me to see, and Kim is here today. Seaweed. I've never seen such amazing seaweed. So I started to focus on the details of the landscape, and for me that meant the small details. So in this case, I did a lot of seaweed drawings, and then I also took advantage of their print shop and did copperplate drawings basically. So, you'll see my stylist there on the bottom left. So, you draw on the plate, and you make a line. So, it's not etched, but then you ink it up, and you print it on the press, and that's the print on the right. And, I did a lot of big drawings. Collected a lot of beautiful rocks. Those are rocks with fossils in them. This is a seaweed root, and there's my dry point of the seaweed root. And that is another seaweed. That's the beach; the closest beach that I could walk to. It was about a mile, the beach at low tide. A crack in the earth. This is peat. Peat being cut, and Kim also taught also me how to make a peat fire in my cabin in my little stove, which is pretty amazing. Mackerel were running when I was there, so I started painting the mackerel. They're extremely beautiful. When I got back to Philadelphia, I took some of those mackerel patterns and started; did a linoleum print. That's my press and some of the prints. And then this is a print that I did in my studio of seaweed. And I'm working with the seaweed imagery right now in my book. I just got back from a great residency, well a school called the paper and book intensive, and I was making paper there using stencils in the pulp papermaking process to create this imagery within the paper. This book is all about Ireland, and I bound it when I got home. I was working on large sheets, and then I chopped them up to make the book. And then the rocks, the rocks and the rocks are everywhere. So, I spent one whole day drawing rocks. I call it my "Rock Jester Drawing Book", and I put this paperback cover on it when I got home, and that book is here. And this is also the coastline. It's quite severe. That's a whale; a whale spine, and that's my limp vellum from that journey. I often used it as a rain guard [laughter], so it got nice and weather. And, I think that's it. There I am, hard at work. And onto the next adventure. Thank you, so much. ^M00:23:34 [ Applause ] ^M00:23:44 >> You can see that she's obviously influenced by her travels, and brings them back to her books. We do have them on display here, and when we're ready to do that, we'll ask the row in front to get up and push those benches back, but before we do that; and we'll be happy to show you the books. Perhaps there are questions for Alice. >> Yeah. >> Just a comment. Down at the base of the Capital Hill, the Botanical Gardens; maybe you've seen that. >> Yeah, I have. >> A wonderful things on roots, since you were drawing roots. >> Yeah, thank you. >> Actual roots. 15 feet long. >> Good. >> And also in your sketch books, do you just use vellum or paper you made, or paper you buy. >> The vellum is always the cover, and then the paper. I have a variety of papers that I like to use for the pages. There's a good one called Zerkel, Zerkel Book, or I also like to get my paper from Twin Rocker. They make beautiful handmade paper. >> Other questions? Yes in the back. >> What's your next trip? >> Well, Michael, I'm going to Japan. I'm going to Japan soon to make paper for my next book; my book about the seaweed. So, I'll be including seaweed shapes in the papermaking process; using a stencil and maybe even doing some indigo dying. >> You talked about being inspired by landscape in your books. Were there other people who work in the book arts who are artists? >> You mean, what are they inspired by? >> No, who inspires you? >> Oh, who inspires me? Gosh, I'm coming back tomorrow to do some research to do some research here at the Library of Congress. >> Just in general, who have you looked up to move you [inaudible]. >> There's so many people, gosh, it would just be a long list. I was very fortunate to have Haity Kyle [phonetic spelling] living in Philadelphia for years, so, she was very inspiring. There's lots; lots of people. Yeah. >> Were you influenced by prints and patterns as a child? >> Probably. I'll say yes. >> What kind of paper are you making, like is there a specific you prefer, or just all kinds, depending on what you're printing on. >> Right, it depends upon what I'm going use it for. I think a mixture of cotton and abica is nice when you're planning on doing printing on your paper. The 100% linen paper is a little bit hard to print on. But in Japan, I'll be making kozo. So, that'll be great. Yeah. >> Did you make your own paper for the [inaudible] drawings? >> I actually bought those. I bought half of them in Italy and half of them from Kramer Pigments in New York. Kramer is a great source. >> So, you don't know if it was historically accurate that you made? >> Well, I did try to use the ones that were the purist and not the synthetics, but yes, that's true, I didn't. >> Your blue wasn't made out of [inaudible]. [Laughter] >> Well, you can buy that from Kramer, but it's incredibly expensive, so no. Which, is why sometimes you see it scraped off of old manuscripts. >> Exactly. >> They reused it. >> You've talked about natural paper. Is there any issue with regards to what paints are used. >> As far as permanence? >> Well, I collect oriental rugs, so that's a big issue about whether you're using synthetic dyes or whether you're using natural dyes. >> Right. >> I wondered if anything was like that in your book. >> Right, well, I'm very concerned with permanence. Yeah, so, I'm very careful about using things that are acid free, and using pigments and not dyes, so I think they are pretty stable. >> When you do artist book, did you actually say, hey, I'm going to be an artist, or specialize in art. >> I've always known that I was an artist; absolutely from when I was a child, and when I was in art school, I was a sculpture major, and I'd never heard of artist books back then. It was a pretty quiet community. It was smaller then. So, after I graduated, I got the various jobs in conservation, and also doing the artifact illustration. So, it all meshed together very well, and then I found this whole group of people who did artist books. >> So, you still work and do art. >> Yes. Yes. >> I have to say if you follow her life in any kind of social media, unlike any other book artist I've know, she is always doing art. It's a cup of coffee and a sketch. It's a trip and painting. It's, I mean, she's constantly making art. >> Yes. >> Hi, I was a few minutes late. You must have started on the dot. >> I think I did. I think I jumped right in to get past that horrible first five minutes. >> But, I was curious, maybe you've already covered this. What launched you into becoming a peripatetic artist, I mean going all over the world. I mean, what was your first big breakthrough that got attention, and set the pattern for you. >> Well, I think my, I have two sons; one of who's here today, and they finally got to that age where I thought it was safe to leave them. And my best friend, Miriam, is here today too, and she made that possible. So, at that point in my life I knew I could start traveling again and going on these adventures, and it was that freedom that made it possible. >> How did you switch from sculpture to book making? ^M00:30:21 >> Well, unfortunately for me, I loved stone carving. >> Me too. >> And, foraging, and metal working, so that's very, very slow work, and I hauled my stones around with me for years, moving from one apartment to the next, and right now, they're all sitting in my studio all lined up, and I haven't carved one for quite a few years. But, I think I carved my linoleum. And I love the linoleum, probably for that reason, and the book structures. I mean, that's what I love about books. They're objects. >> I'm sorry. Did you say the word structure? >> I did [laughter]. There's sculptural structures. Yeah. Anyone else? >> So, in doing all of those books, what would say has been your greatest challenge. >> Oh, gosh, that's a good question. Finishing an edition is a challenge, because I'm always so ready to start my next book, that it's kind of painful to actually have to finish an edition. So, my additions have been getting smaller. But, making an addition is a wonderful thing, because then you have books that you can sell, and you don't miss them. Whereas the unique books, I don't really like to sell, but they're stacking up at my house, so if anybody wants some [laughter]. >> I think we'll leave on that [laughter]. Let's thank Alice for her talk. ^M00:32:04 [ Applause ] ^M00:32:13 >> Have a very good experience. It's very crowded. >> This has been a presentation of the Library of Congress. Visit us at loc.gov. ^E00:32:25