Short poems in the Reel world, letter soup and odd dogs

A Creative Life, art book review, Art Word Combinations, artist book, author illustrator, book design and layout, dog portrait, gift books, handmade books, hopepunk, life of the mind, miniature art, poetry, publications - publishing, Storyberries, words and pictures

Imagination and poetry were on my mind this week. I’ve been thinking of our mental ecosystems and the landscape of our minds. So this week I did a portrait of a Shih Tzu this week for upcoming exhibits via Caplan Art Designs which I’ve titled “In Imagination”.

“In Imagination” by Clancy- 10 x 8 inches- ink, gouache and collage on board

Here’s a closer view of what’s on the dog’s mind.

As I mentioned in my last post there was still some promotional work with Storyberries to be done about How The Cow Went Over The Moon and Tiny Notes To The Sun. I did a video on YouTube talking about making the books and I shared the video with Storyberries for their promo use. Here’s the link https://youtu.be/MJ_MACUUVJE

Storyberries said “Great! Can you do it as an Instagram Reel?” And I replied “A Reel? I’ll have to Google whatever that is…” So I Googled and found this article as well as others. I also talked more with Storyberries about Reels because they’ve been doing Reels longer than I have.

Turns out that doing a Reel was fairly easy to figure out. I still have more to learn but I did turn the above YouTube video into a Reel on Instagram

Then to practice further I put my Tiny Notes visual poem by itself as a Reel on Instagram. I think you can see it here – https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cap5Pn2gKAE/?utm_medium=copy_link

Additionally for promoting “How The Cow…” I submitted it to Apple Books as an ebook and was accepted! This brings the total number of books by me on Apple to 15! I’m proud of that! If you scroll down this page you can see more of my books.

https://books.apple.com/us/book/how-the-cow-went-over-the-moon-and-tiny-notes-to-the-sun/id1612027035

Also in the promotion of How the Cow… Bonnie showcased my work on her blog https://bonniereadsandwrites.wordpress.com/2022/03/06/self-published-spotlight-how-the-cow-went-over-the-moon-and-tiny-notes-to-the-sun-by-sue-clancy/ I just love how the online creative community supports and encourages each other! I appreciate all the help I get when it comes to letting people know my work exists. (If you’re a writer please check out Bonnie’s blog.)

As you know from my last post I’ve been thinking of poetry as a rhythmic visual sequence. So I played with a short sequence of drawings and published it as poem on a coffee mug. To me the sentiment in my poem fit the trying-to-get-started morning need for caffine. I also used these drawings as test content for making another Instagram Reel. Im trying to practice this because suddenly I’m seeing the very short videos as another way to share my visual content… and I can imagine doing more collaboration with Storyberries this way too!

https://www.zazzle.com/so_noted_mug-168379402814896112

Speaking of very short poems: a whole lot of progress happened on my newest experimental art poem…

I finished painting the content and the cover art. Then I cut out the cover art and glued it onto the outside of the 2 inch square concertina book.

Here’s an early peek at the finished original artist book. As I mentioned in my last post I don’t want to show too much of the punchline before Storyberries has a chance to distribute it. They’ve tentatively scheduled it for release Mar 12 so slowly over this next week I’ll post more in public on social media. But for my dear blog followers here’s an advance look at the original artwork.

Here I am, with canine supervisory assistance, setting up the digital files for sending to Storyberries.

And here’s what’s on my laptop screen.

My thinking is about the mechanism of ebook flow on Storyberries and fitting a visual poem rhythm to that. The ebooks on Storyberries flow up and down so my question is can I do poetic rhythms, repetitions and surprises in a way that takes advantage of that? Can a viewers eye “read” an implied connection between the up/down pages? It’s fun to experiment and play with what a poem and a book can be!

Here’s a peek at the ebook version. I’m thinking the viewers will make the transition between the pages just fine… what do you think?

While “A Scoop Of Letter Soup” seems really simple there was a lot of thinking and planning behind it, possibly more planning than I’ve done for my more complicated works. I think of “A Scoop…” as a little treat rather like how a baker puts a lot of time and effort into making something yummy that’s eaten in a moment.

This week I also cut, folded, trimmed and glued handmade paper into what I call “book blanks” concertina books that are ready for my content. I have some more plans for future artist books and this is part of getting ready for book content production.

Sometimes I have bought blank concertina books from an art supply store but generally I find it more satisfying to make my own. I can choose my own paper for the book and make it a size and length needed for the projects I have in mind.

Below is a photo of my evening reading list. Three of the four books pictured talk about the playful, generous nature of poetry and books in general and ways language itself can be a form of loving and caring. I’m enjoying thinking of how poetry and stories can be useful mental landscape construction tools for creating pleasant mind-scapes.

And Good Omens by Terry Pratchett is just plain fun to read.

I hope your mind is your preferred landscape and that it is especially beautiful this week. See you next Monday.

Miniature art, books, dogs, a cow, a bird, a dragon and a rabbit review

A Creative Life, Alphapets, animals in art, art commissions, art gallery, art techniques, artist book, artistic inspirations, author illustrator, book design and layout, books, Cats in art, children's book, dog portrait, Dogs in Art, fine art, miniature art, poetry, publications - publishing, published art, reading in art, visual story, whimsical art, wordless story, words and pictures, writing and illustrating

This week I finished the dog painting you saw in my sketchbook and on my easel in my last post. The cow is still active in the field of my imagination as is a wee bird. More on that later in this post.

Here’s the completed dog portrait titled “Being exquisite”. Like the dog portrait in my last post this new one is 8 x 10 inches and uses that nifty new brush technique (last post)! I’m having such fun with all of these tiny details!

Like the fur between his eyes and the nose… below are two photo views so you can see.

And the details of the dandelions! Oh that was fun!!

This past week has been filled with gluing the cow artwork pages onto a piece of paper cut 4.25 inches x 4 feet long and folding it so that it zigzags  into panels 4.25 x 6.25 inches in size. Plus the week was spent making a slipcase for my book which can be called a leporello, a concertina or an accordion format. Everything was made from scratch: raw archival book binders board, white flat paper and glue. When the story pages are folded they’re almost 1 inch thick so the slipcase accounts for that. Below are photos of the slipcase and the concertina book.

For more details on the Leporello,  Concertina or Accordion style folded books here’s a good link https://wp.me/p4va0m-gU

Here’s a reference book I’ve used for years when I’m constructing books and making boxes from scratch. I altered methods described in this book to make the cow book slipcase. The book is Books Boxes and Portfolios by Franz Zeier

Behind these analog scenes I’ve been working on the digital files for a printed version of “How the cow went over the moon”. In pre-pandemic days I’d have made this one handmade book and sent it to a gallery like the 23 Sandy who would have exhibited it and sold it to a private collection or to a public collection. For example the UCLA Fine arts library has one of my books, so does the Bainbridge Island Art Museum.

Then the pandemic happened and I began making reproductions of my books available via Blurb which can print then mail my books directly to the buyer. That seemed a more pandemic safe way to share my artist books. It is also why I say that I approach self-publishing from a fine art perspective.

When I did the first printed book, Alphapets, in early 2020, I was contacted by Storyberries who wanted to distribute the ebook version. Well it’s been so much fun to make my books available in an on-demand way (my books are only printed when they’re ordered) and even more fun to share with readers on Storyberries that this fun is now factored in to my book designs.

For example: as I’ve been making the digital files for the printed book (and for Storyberries) I took the photos below of the handmade books with a piece of candy to show scale. I did this because it might amuse readers to see the original books in the printed book version. And perhaps help the younger readers be aware that books are made by people just like them.

This week I’ve also been talking with Storyberries and – dear blog reader you’re getting this news first – they’ll be making an “art experimental” story category for my work!! How fun is that? I so wanted arty quirky books when I was a kid… and now I’m making them and getting to fill a whole childrens book category with ebook versions of my artist books!!! I’m over-the-moon excited and yes that pun was intended! 🤣

As I wrote in my last post I’ve been reading The Annotated Arabian Nights and I sat up and took notice when the annotation mentioned a literary genre called “mirrors for princes”.  So as a companion to my “How the cow went over the moon” book message (?) about not being too serious and remaining down-to-earth I’ve been thinking of the importance of remembering joy.

So here’s a look at what will be the second wordless poem in the printed  book. This poem is titled “Tiny notes to the sun”

This book too is a leporello format but instead of a slip cover it’s got hardback covers. This book is 2.25 inches square when closed and opens out to 20 inches in length.

The photos below that have a peppermint candy in them are the pics I’ll put into the printed book version because it might amuse people to see them too.

As I mentioned earlier I’ve been working simultaneously on the book layout and design for the printed version of “How the cow went over the moon” … and I’m using visual elements of the original artist books … here’s a look. 👇

This week the Caplan Art Designs Gallery sent photos of my 3d box project “All the Chances” in it’s new space! And look, the client’s pet rabbit approved!!

And someone else sent me photos of their dog approving the dog portrait I painted and the way the Aurora Gallery framed the portrait! So glad their dog approved!!

Here below is the framed portrait on the dog’s “Clancy art” wall!! Isn’t that sweet?! A whole wall!! Wow!! This makes my artist heart so happy!!

In the coming days Kidz Stories plans to read my book “How to draw a dragon” out loud on their YouTube channel and, since it’s a coloring book, they’re hosting a color-along!! I’ll post a link to the video when I have it. In preparation to help kids to be able to color-along I’ve made my coloring book a free download here on my portfolio page!

I hope your week is full of your favorite colors and comforts. See you next Monday.

Pocket Full on new paper

A Creative Life, Art Word Combinations, artist book, artistic inspirations, books, fine art, food in art, handmade books, illustrated shorts, illustration, mundane and magical moments, small things, words and pictures

I was given some art paper during the holiday. So I wrote a poem, illustrated it and folded it into an artist book. It’s titled “Pocket Full” and is a limited edition of 2 unique books.

“Pocket Full” poem and art by Clancy

Btw: Edition 1 already has been sent to a collector. Contact me privately if you’re interested in Edition 2.

coffee book featured in Colorado

A Creative Life, art gallery, artist book, books, handmade books, words and pictures

My artist book “Coffee Beans Plus H2o” is featured at the Abecedarian Gallery in Colorado!  I’ve loved it that the gallery owner and some other artist’s who’ve commented privately  have “gotten it” that in this book I was playing with a concept of time! I’d worried about whether that was getting across so I can’t tell you how much it feeds my artist soul to hear supportive “I understand this” comments from people – and from people in the book-arts-field too! Wahoo!! I’m happy dancing around my art studio today!!  Thank you thank you everyone!!!

Check out the gallery website here: http://abecedariangallery.com/store/product-category/new-and-featured-inventory/ – scroll down where they list the “new and featured inventory” – and lookee there’s my work among some other really awesome book-arts work! Wow! Pinch me – am I dreaming? Look at the other artist’s work – Wow impressive!

And here’s the specific gallery page about my book: http://abecedariangallery.com/store/shop/sue-clancy-coffee-beans-plus-h20/

coffeebeanspluspg2

Coffee Beans Plus H2o by Sue Clancy – an artist book handmade with hand carved printing blocks and printmaking techniques applied on used coffee filters as a way of artistically exploring the concept of time. 

You can also find additional info about this book on my YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTz7Wzr-bj2RbePAsbrHmLw

my book art in Nebraska

A Creative Life, art exhibit, art gallery, artist book

Tonight’s the night! Some time back I’d posted about artwork that I was sending to the Constellation Studio Gallery in Nebraska… and tonight is the opening party!! This exhibit and project is a big-deal-international-book-arts-collaboration of artistic “interpretations of urbanity”! So when I say “party” I mean world-wide PARTY!!!

Here, for the curious, is the link to my post about the artwork I’d sent to Nebraska an eon ago https://sueclancy.com/2016/09/15/more-star-stuff/  Yes, Virginia, you can see my actual artwork in that link above.

And here is a photo of the exhibit sent to me via the gallery director! (Thanks Karen!)  My artwork is in there… somewhere.

installationview1

Installation view of the exhibit at Constellation Studio Gallery in Nebraska (work by Sue Clancy is in this photo… somewhere)

Here is an image with the details about the party tonight… and about the exhibit in general. Did I mention that this is a big-deal-international-collaboration?!

And I’m proud and honored to be a part of it!!  Going to go happy dance around my studio!

ic_announcement

Details about “Invisible Cities” at Constellation Studio in Nebraska

 

artist book rabbit

A Creative Life, animals in art, artist book, books, handmade books, handmade papers, illustration, poetry, words and pictures

Practicing my video techniques again in prep for filming my pop-up book “A Fish Story” (see more about that elsewhere on my blog)… this time I’m practicing video with a rabbit. Even had to “trim” my original video. But don’t worry, no actual bunnies were harmed in the production of this artist book or the film of it.

coffee accepted

A Creative Life, art exhibit, art gallery, artist book, books, travel art and writing, travelog, travelogue, words and pictures

Just found out that my artist book “Coffee Please?” was accepted for the upcoming Wanderlust exhibit at the 23 Sandy Gallery!! http://www.23sandy.com/  I’m excited! More info about, and pictures of, “Coffee Please?” here: https://sueclancy.com/category/artist-book/  Going to go do my happy dance now!!

side A of "Coffee Please?" by Sue Clancy - a unique handmade artist book

side A of “Coffee Please?” by Sue Clancy – a unique handmade artist book

recycling paper art

handmade books

ArtOBooks72

After any completed fine art or illustration collage project I have lots of handmade-one-of-a-kind papers leftover. Since I made the paper – spent several days creating it for specific works of fine art/illustration – I don’t want to throw the special-to-me art paper away or put it in a recycle bin. So for a number of years now me (and my wife Judy) have solved the problem of what-to-do-with-too-much-paper by creating little “cigarette pack” size books out of the above mentioned scrap paper and selling them via a project called Art O Mat http://www.artomat.org/ !  We’ve recently been getting another batch of books ready to ship to the folks at Art O Mat and I’ve almost got the studio cleaned up and ready for the next fine art/illustration project! What fun! Oh, btw many of my own sketchbooks (sample pages seen on this blog) have been hand sewn similarly to what you see in the picture. (You can also see more about this project on sueclancy.com under the books menu.)