Re-Released Books - "Genius (Love)" and "non sense"

I was inspired by a couple of readers who responded to my "Bloom" giveaway post (and speaking of which, I'll announce the winners in my next blog post). They mentioned how much they liked my zines. Encouraged by this and as part of my ongoing effort to simplify my life, I've re-released new versions of a zine and a chapbook that were out of circulation for a long time. 

The zine "Genius (Love)" has been out of circulation for 4 years because I never found the time to screenprint the covers! I decided to re-do the cover so I can just photocopy it instead. 

While it's not quite as fancy as before, it's better to have a zine in the world than not at all, in my opinion. 

I also re-did the cover and hand-binding for my poetry chapbook "non sense." The original version took an incredibly long time to make each one, and after awhile I just never felt like doing it. So I linocut-printed the cover instead of making an individual cyanotype for each one, and I simplified the binding. 

The binding is a modified version of the "Two-Sewn-As-One" binding that I found in "Creating Handmade Books" by Alisa Golden, a book that I highly recommend to beginners looking to get into bookmaking.

Both books are available for purchase in my Etsy shop: www.sprouthead.etsy.com

NON SENSE poetry chapbook

okay, here it is: my first chapbook-length book of poems! 17 of them - about dreams, the frailty and strength of human existence, non-being, mystery, and renewal. it's hard for me to describe. but it means a lot to be able to share something that came from the more raw and tender parts of my heart with friends, family, and the world. I pulled together glimpes of my last few years in words and arranged them in four parts: "Non," "Sense," Promise," and "Return."

Excerpt from the poem "Chrysalis":

wet one finger to the wind &
follow the cold on your skin
your weathered face says much
& little
to one who needs to know
where to begin & end
when to follow & when to sing

This book was lovingly handbound by myself using sturdy yellow thread on an apple green gatefold cover. I typed the poems using a Tower Challenger typewriter, laid out every page by hand using the classic cut-&-paste technique, then photocopied it all onto a very pale chartreuse recycled paper. Each cover is also inset with an original cyanotype image in deep prussian blue and white.

"Non Sense" is printed in an edition of 75 copies. Each is numbered and signed by me. you can buy your own copy in my shop.

here are some photos of the process of making each cyanotype:

 

i arranged string and words i cut out of paper onto a pre-coated cyanotype paper (I used Tedco Sun Art Paper), then exposed the paper to UV light using a UV light unit (if you do this at home, you can just expose the paper to sunlight).

This is how the paper looks after being exposed to light.

then i rinsed the paper in water. you can see how the color reverses once water hits it. i had to repeat the process for each piece of paper, so they are all just a little bit different.

the making of each book is time-consuming, but i feel like it adds to the special handmade character of the chapbook.