Fifth Annual Beyond the Book

The Fifth Annual Beyond the Book: An Exhibit of Book Art and Collage
Honan-Allston Branch
Boston Public Library
300 North Harvard Street
Allston, MA

March 26-May 7
Opening Reception: March 26, 2-4 PM

I'm happy to have two Spirit Books in this exhibition of work selected by Marjorie Kaye of Galatea Fine Art in Boston. Thanks to Curator Ronni Komarow for beginning this wonderful tradition and seeing it through in great style for five years!

I won't be at the reception but hope to attend events which will be scheduled later.

Word Play at Maudslay

Maudslay is a place of connection between the made world and the world of nature; a place that can be a playground as well as a space to contemplate the beauties of the natural world. Word Play brings letters and a word game to the observation of this magnificent maple. Stand under the spreading branches and find 22 letters which can be unscrambled to form five words (3,6,2,4,7 letters) that are a quotation from William Wordsworth about nature.

Yesterday we installed Word Play at Maudslay State Park in Newburyport, MA. It was one of those wonderful times when the final result looked as good as I had hoped. It was the culmination of a long process. The site was chosen and the plans submitted in May. Then, of course, instead of working on it through the summer, I waited until less than two weeks before to start. I purchased what are called drops, small pieces left over from cutting down larger sheets, of 28 gauge galvanized metal and a pair of snips at Port Sheet Metal and left with instructions from Sandy on how to avoid injury. I managed to complete the twenty-two letters (first cut from paper using some of my old calligraphy teaching handouts as a guide) without a scratch but with a sore hand. Cutting metal is certainly not like cutting paper. I spray painted the letters brown. I gathered sticks, bark, and pine cones and to attach to the letters. I made holes with an awl and then wired the materials on. I hadn't given any thought to time when I made my original plans and it took way longer than I expected. Was my family surprised? Of course not.

The final stage came on Sunday. My husband was in charge of the installation. We had several ideas for getting the letters onto the tree (his favorite one, using a screw gun, was not allowed) and happily found that tying black coated wire around the tree did a great job holding the letters in place. My daughter came along and happily assisted by climbing the tree as well as from the ladder and learned how to tie a square knot.

If you are in the area, please come by Maudslay. There are 35 sculptures in the park and a catalog available to guide you through. A reception and tour will take place on Saturday, September 19 from 2-5 pm.

Find out more about Outdoor Sculpture at Maudslay here.

Find the unscrambled quotation from William Wordsworth in this free pdf.

Third Grade Books Inspired by David McPhail

Third grade students at the Bresnahan School in Newburyport, MA made books inspired by the books of David McPhail. Retired librarian Karen Twomey returned to the school to guide the children through an exploration of David McPhail's books and the creation of their own. The books were on display at the Newbuyrport Public Library as part of the 2009 Newburyport Literary Festival.

The books were made by following the directions for the hot dog booklet and adding a cover of construction paper. You can find directions for the hot dog booklet here and a youtube tutorial here.

You can see more photos here.

A Celebration of the Books of David McPhail

This year the Newburyport Literary Festival is honoring children's book author and illustrator David McPhail who grew up in Newburyport. The Firehouse has a wonderful exhibit of David's illustrations downstairs. Upstairs is a companion exhibit of work inspired by David's books by kindergarten students from the Brown School in Newburyport. The vibrant and varied illustrations were done under the guidance of school librarian Judy Avery. She began by introducing the children to David's books and then gave them additional time to view his books on their own. They watched a DVD about David and his development as an artist. When he was a child, he drew all the time, often on brown paper bags. To prepare for their final illustrations, the students followed his lead and did sketches on brown paper bags. They did their final drawings on white drawing paper in their choice of media.

The complete schedule of events at the Newburyport Literary Festival including events for children and young adults throughout the day.
David McPhail will be signing books in the Children's Room of the Newburyport Public Library from 2:30 to 3:45.

More photos from the children's exhibit

Spirit Book Workshop

In conjunction with the exhibition Artists and Books at the Art Complex Museum in Duxbury, MA, I gave a Book of the Spirit workshop related to my Spirit Books Series. This is one place where I have not gone recycled and we used handmade paper from Bhutan. I have also made the books with grocery bags which are quite nice but do not have the elegance of ones with handmade paper. Fourteen women gathered on a beautiful fall day to connect with nature and the creative experience. After a brief talk and look at the Spirit Books in the exhibition, they gathered sticks, leaves, needles, cones and bark on the beautiful grounds of the museum. After making four simple sections from handmade paper from Bhutan, they spent the rest of the afternoon stitching, stamping, gluing, and enjoying the camaraderie and contentment of creating.

Artists and Books features the work of 28 artists from New England and New York and runs through January 25, 2009.

There are photos here.

Fourth Grade Poetry Books

I just did a project with the fourth grade students at the Molin Upper Elementary School in Newburyport, MA. It was funded by the Newburyport Education Business Coalition from a grant proposal by teacher Pat Levitt. The grant was for each student to produce a bound collection of poetry that was written throughout the year. I sent information on border design for the pages and cover design using cut and torn paper. The students had the pages and covers ready when I came to their classes to lead them through the binding process.


We displayed some of the finished products at the NEBC Annual meeting and were pleased to receive the award for the best project. They cited the facts that it involved all the fourth grades and it was sustainable with directions and the tools provided for teachers to continue on their own in coming years as the reasons for their choice.

The PoeTree Project

This year's Newburyport Literary Festival in Newburyport, MA honored local poet Rhina Espaillat. In honor of Rhina and the theme of poetry, I designed and coordinated The PoeTree Project, an outdoor installation of poems on trees near several of the Festival venues. I was inspired by an image of a folding screen by the seventeenth century Japanese artist Tosa Mitsuoki.



Students from the sixth and seventh grades at the Rupert A. Nock Middle School wrote poems on strips of tyvek with sharpie markers. They were tied to trees and bushes and were a beautiful sight fluttering in the breeze. The timing was perfect as several of the magnolias were in bloom.





In addition to the children's poems, participating Festival poets wrote poems for Rhina which were tied to the weeping cherry tree that is planted in front of the library in her name.



I was able to attend three of the poetry events: the opening evening with Dana Gioia, Rhina, Lewis Turco, and X.J. Kennedy, a breakfast with the poets with readings by members of the Powow River Poets, and the closing evening with a reading by Erica Funkhouser and Melopoeia: Poetry Recited with Musical Accompaniment with readings by Rhina and Alfred Nicol accompanied by John Tavano on guitar.

Children's Voices: A Celebration of Poetry

The Newburyport Literary Festival takes place on April 25-27. This year the Festival honors local poet Rhina Espaillat. In connection with the theme of poetry, the Firehouse Gallery has an exhibition of poems by children. Kindergartners from the Brown selected and illustrated poems while students from the Bresnahan wrote and illustrated ones of their own. The poems are on a variety of subjects: nature, the seasons, friendship, sports, food, and family and in a variety of forms: acrostic poems, limericks, diamante poems, rhyming verses, and free verse. Written on colored paper and graced with lively illustrations, the display is a visual as well as verbal treat.

Some of the poems:

I am the turquoise blue ocean of Bermuda.
It feels good when people dive in me.
I feel happy when the sun generously shines on me.
I get angry when people pollute me.

There once was a small lad from Cork.
He especially loved the pork.
He ate and he ate.
His size became great.
He realized he was a dork.

You can smell the chocolate,
You can taste the goodness,
Touch it and never stop,
And it all came from my mom.

Children's Voices will be on display through April 27 during normal Firehouse Gallery hours (Wednesday through Sunday 12-5 pm with extended viewing on performance mights until curtain time ) and throughout the Literary Festival.

Love Letters Final Report

The Love Letters exhbition at the Firehouse in Newburyport ended yesterday with a reception for the children and their parents. The response to the project has been fantastic from the children, librarians, and teachers in the creation of the work to the enthusiasm of the viewers who took such pleasure in reading the letters.

View a slide show of the opening evening of the Festival including the Love Letters exhibit by Chris McGarry.

For those who are interested in doing a similar project, here is a pdf of information and samples to get started.

Love Letters To Our Favorite Books

Love Letters To Our Favorite Books is a community celebration of reading in association with the Newburyport Literary Festival.The walls of the The Firehouse Center for the Arts in downtown Newburyport are covered with over 900 letters to favorite books, authors,or characters. Almost all the letters are from the children of Newburyport. School librarians Judy Avery, Karen McCarty, Karen Twomey, and Ellen Menesale coordinated the projects at the Brown, Kelly, Bresnahan, and Nock Schools. Children at the Newburyport Montessori School and Ann McCrea’s KidsArt classes also contributed letters. The project was the brain child of Festival director Vicki Hendrickson and organized by local artist and educator Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord. The installation was accomplished by Karen Dardinski, director of the Firehouse Art Gallery, and Susan with assistance from Kendra Gaylord and Ada Horne.

Love Letters To Our Favorite Books
Firehouse Center for the Arts
One Market Square
Newburyport, MA
April 12-29
Reception: April 29, 2-4 pm

a Newburyport Literary Festival event