Showing posts with label books. Show all posts
Showing posts with label books. Show all posts

Wednesday 7 March 2018

Literary Linocut Project

   
 


I've started a new weekly project for 2018 called #literarylinocut where each week I'll make a small, quick linocut detailing anything literary from current reads to author portraits, made up book covers, book stacks and quotes. Here's the first 5 weeks worth featuring my current read 'The Black Cloud' by Fred Hoyle, the great, late Ursula le Guin, recent read 'The Woman in White' by Wilkie Collins, a favourite author in Patricia Highsmith & a great read remembered in 'The River Ki' by Sawako Ariyoshi.

To keep up to date with the project, follow me over on my Instagram where I'll upload a new linocut every Wednesday!





Tuesday 20 February 2018

Soviet Milk




I am an avid reader and my TBR list is ever-long and ever-growing so while a book buying ban is necessary, I can't tear myself away from collecting those published by Peirene Press who publish beautifully designed short books in English translation from Europe. Last year my favourite read of the entire year was 'The Orange Grove' by Larry Tremblay which they published and I reviewed here.

This year the series of 3 short books to be published is called 'Home in Exile' and I was really excited to be sent 'Soviet Milk' by Nora Ikstena to review, the first Latvian author I've ever read and it is translated into English by Margita Gailitis.

The book alternates between a mother and daughter's point of view from growing up and living in Riga and the Latvian countryside under Soviet rule. Everything is shown to have two sides and each needs the other to exist; Life and Death, Mothers and Daughters, God and Science, Freedom and Imprisonment. There is even another side to the life-giving milk a mother should give to her baby, as she feels it has been poisoned by her (and Soviet rule) she deprives her daughter of it.

Latvia's imprisonment and silencing under the Soviet Union is paralleled in the banishment of the Mother to the countryside. She begins to withdraw from reality seeking solace in cigarettes, books and pills and the daughter is then also imprisoned by always being tied to her mother, at first having to grow up with her in the countryside and then when she is older having to return to visit her and trying to pull her back into reality.

Soviet Milk makes us examine how we are all living in multiple cages, from the emotional ones we create for ourselves to those imposed upon us through family, work, society, the government or country ruling over us. While these cages and boundaries may appear to help us to exist and survive as a society, individual freedom is still always hoped for and appears in-between the cracks; through a rebellious teacher, a midnight swim or a friends help, even a hamster seeks it and finally there is no escaping death which will release us all into an infinite freedom.

Despite the dark themes and unanswerable existential questions Soviet Milk throws up, I felt there was always an underlying sense of hope, while darkness will always be inevitable in life so will hope and light. Freedom will always be present on the horizon, in milk or in the earth.

Thanks to Periene Press and make sure you check out all of their other books!



Friday 12 May 2017

Review: The Orange Grove by Larry Tremblay

 

Ever since I first saw a few of these novellas by Periene Press in a bookshop I was drawn under their spell; their beautiful design from the minimalist connecting covers to the inside flaps, paper texture, and the publishers note on why they chose to publish it, everything is so well considered and that's before we get to the fiction contained inside. After loving the first two I read (The Portrait of the Mother as a Young Woman & The Looking-Glass Sisters) I decided to collect them and now I've have been sent a copy of their newest 'The Orange Grove' to review. I love reading but have never attempted to write a review before, so here goes...

The story is set in an unknown country which could be nowhere and everywhere in a time that has experienced a war; it could even be all a dream, as you often hope reality is. But Aziz & Ahmed always come back to the Orange Grove; the gathering of fruit in the harvest, the flowers, the canopy's shade, the dirt and rocks the oranges grow out of. These sights and smells of the Orange Grove ground you to a simple domestic oasis of home, nature, the earth, where you came from, your country, your father and mother.

Aziz & Ahmed are twin brothers who live by the Orange Grove next to where their grandparents were recently killed by a bomb which came from the other side of the mountain. The local militants decide that revenge & honour must be sought by their father who has to choose one of his sons to sacrifice.

The bones of the story is given up in the blurb, when you know that one of the brothers has to be sacrificed by wearing a suicide belt and the implications this has on the brother that survives. As you await the inevitable fate of one of the brothers the story unfolds through a quiet, beautiful, poetic tale of truth, lies, duty, brainwashing, honour/dishonour and a mother's undying love for her sons. 

The Orange Grove forces you to view war from this small family perspective, they could easily be you, having to live your life, raise your children through bombs, suicide vests, militants and having to keep your family's honour intact so the future is still bearable. This family living through the horrors of war teaches you about tolerance, compassion, love and circumstances. 

The Orange Grove left me at a stalement, as life and war often does, with no peace in sight, only questions. How does the future recover from the scars of war, how is one person's life worth more than another, why are innocent children always involved? War has always been a part of history and sadly I feel it always will be, but those losses and lives buried under miles of earth sometimes can grow into oranges. 

A heartbreakingly beautiful read that will be with me a long time, teaching me more about tolerance, compassion and love, I highly recommend it.

Thanks to Periene Press and go check out all their books!




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Tuesday 16 February 2016

No Feeling is Final


Rainer Maria Rilke's famous quote also working as 4 individual ones reminding me in tough times that everything changes, it's all in a state of flux, nothing stays the same, the world is constantly turning, everything ages and seasons come and go, everything flows, things transition and end up faraway from where they started and No Feeling is Final. . . .



Friday 12 February 2016

Year of Printmaking: Whale Book Print



A started this mini book print a while ago and have finally got the right blue ink for my whale! I wonder what whale it is? Moby Dick of course!

I think I'll have to develop this print into my business card and make a few more tiny prints to go into the book that represent classic books over the coming year as they're so cute and quick to do. The challenge comes in creating tiny simple images that represent complex stories. What book to do next?





Friday 22 January 2016

Year of Printmaking: Walden Monoprint

 


Experimenting with simple print techniques this week in a minimalist monoprint inspired by Henry David Thoreau's cabin in the woods by Walden pond. Monoprint's are exciting in how quick they can be produced, just place paper over your inked up surface and draw onto the paper and then reveal something spectacularly unexpected!




Tuesday 7 July 2015

Heart of Darkness in San Francisco

  

My Heart of Darkness Poster has been having a fun time in San Francisco recently it's in the mini 'Recovering the Classics' exhibition at the public library (right on the curve) which is on all summer...

  

it popped up at a pop-up gallery exhibition with music by Daniel Park for Codex Hackathon...

  

 and made an appearance at the ALA Conference & Exhibition event.

Wish I was there with it, SF is on my top list of places to visit!



Friday 26 June 2015

Friday Illustration: Go Set A Watchman

 

To Kill a Mockingbird is one of my favourite books & I've done a drawing & a linocut related to it (see here & here) so now the lost 'sequel' is coming out soon I'm getting rather excited. So I had to create an image for the only quote released from the new book so far, for Penguin Random House's competition to celebrate the launch of 'Go Set a Watchman'. Roll on July 14th.



Friday 12 June 2015

Friday Illustration: Bookshelf

 
 I've been adding to my bookshelf this week; I found some beautiful Bloomsbury Classics, a few Austen's with the beaut covers by Leanne Shapton & the new(ish) Keigo Higashino.
 

 

Tuesday 19 May 2015

Custom Embroidered Book Bags

  
After first creating my Haruki Murakami Book Stack Bag for my etsy shop I started creating Custom Book Stack Tote Bags where you can choose your own 6 books/Authors. Here's a look at a few of the embroidered book bags I've been creating over the last few months. . .

 

I love seeing what books people choose and I get to add even more great books and authors to my to-read-list!

    
I got to embroider my favourite trilogy 'His Dark Materials', must reread it this year as it is 20 years since it was written! (love these scholastic special editions)

 
Here's me with my original Haruki Murakami Bag out in the garden.

   
I also did a special 7 book version for my sister, a huge Harry Potter fan!

http://www.xojane.com/clothes/literary-fashion#comment-1661534832 

and here's one I did of 6 Neil Gaiman books out in the wilds of a library!

What books would you choose on yours?





Friday 27 March 2015

Friday Illustration: Russian Literature


This week I had a bit of a Russian Literature week, I saw Anna Karenina at the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester, watched the film Onegin and the Dr. Zhivago mini series and started reading it too. Full of powerful women, snowy forests, great hats, interiors, trains, beautiful churches, folk embroidery and rosy cheeks.



Friday 13 February 2015

Friday Illustration: Mr Ripley

 

Just finished reading Patricia Highsmith's 'The Talented Mr Ripley' and thought it deserved a little friday illustration treatment, so here's Tom Ripley becoming Dickie Greenleaf.

You can see all my Friday Illustrations (& my playlists) collectively on my tumblr.



Friday 23 January 2015

Friday Illustration: Burns Night 2015

nae man can tether time or tide - from Tam O' Shanter, Robert Burns

Last year I did a few illustrations for Burns Night & lo and behold here it is again on January 25th. So here are a few new illustrations of a few great quotes from the great poet, Robert Burns. Happy Burns Night everyone, will you be piping in the haggis this year & reading tam o' shanter or address to a haggis?



Friday 16 January 2015

Friday Illustration: The Goldfinch

Week 3: The Goldfinch


 I finally finished the Goldfinch, a good easy read but it was too long and the ending was a a bit middle of the road. 
Have you read any great books lately?



Saturday 21 June 2014

Book a Day: Week 3

Here's the book's I found on my bookshelf for Book a Day: Week 2 (see week 1 & week 2 to catch up).  June 14- An old favourite: To Kill a Mockingbird June 15- Favourite Fictional Father: From my old favourite it's got to be Atticus Finch!

 
June 16- Can't believe more people haven't read: Out by Natsuo Kirino, absolutely amazing Japanese Crime. June 17- Future Classic: Lanark, a mesmerizing vision of surreality in Glasgow should be around for years & years to come.

 
June 18- Bought on a recommendation: I bought 'The Book of Disquiet' after one of my favourite songwriters (Roddy Woomble) mentioned in a interview that it was his favourite book and it fast became one of mine. June 19- Still can't stop talking about: Naoko by Keigo Higashino is really weird and creepy and the cover's pretty amazing too. 


June 20- Favourite Cover: Is too hard to choose, there are so many (and books I've already choosen) but this version of 'Quiet' by Susan Cain is one of them, beautifully appropriate debossing.

If you want to join in & catchup check out the list
 of categories for each day!

Monday 16 June 2014

Custom Book Stack Print

https://www.etsy.com/listing/193005191/custom-book-stack-linocut-print-literary

I love books and love making products to celebrate them so after creating a Murakami & Austin Linocut Print
you can now get your own favourites on a Custom Book Stack Print of your own!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/193005191/custom-book-stack-linocut-print-literary   

 Hand printed onto A5, 160gsm cartridge paper with hand inked typographic book titles & author names. Just choose your own 6 favourite authors & books and you can also choose what colour titles you want. Available now in my shop.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/193005191/custom-book-stack-linocut-print-literary  https://www.etsy.com/listing/193005191/custom-book-stack-linocut-print-literary
 I chose some of my favourite books for these examples, it was really hard to decide which ones to include!

What are your favourite books?




Saturday 14 June 2014

Book a Day: Week 2

       
Here's the book's I found on my bookshelf for Book a Day: Week 2 (see week 1 to catch up). June 7- Forgot I owned it: I totally forgot that Maigret has scruples and cost 2&6. June 8 - Have more than one copy: There are 2 copies of HP & the G of F in my house!

       
June 9 - Film or TV tie in: Tarrantino screenplay with great cover designed by pentagram! June 10: Reminds you of someone you love: Dervla Murphy books always remind me of my Dad travelling round Africa & Asia.

   
June 11 - Secondhand bookshop gem: Found this great art book tome in a 2ndhand bookshop, a really useful gem June 12 - I pretend to have read it: I don't really pretend to have read books, but nearly all the classics are on my never-ending to read list.

June 13 - Makes me laugh: A question that will always make me laugh!

If you want to join in & catchup check out the list
 of categories for each day (the hashtag changed to #bookadayuk because of some weird outrage from the 'original' usa hashtag users!)