From July 12 - September 7, The Tacoma Art Museum is hosting an incredible exhibit that harkens back to the time when all books were laboriously written by hand. Illuminating the Word showcases the first three books of the St. John’s Bible, one of only two handwritten bibles created in the past 500 years. It is one amazing work of art! And it’s BIG! Each page measures 24 ½” high x 15 7/8” wide, and the two-page spreads on exhibit make for a spectacular display. It is truly mindboggling that scribes from around the world used quill pens, inks, paint brushes, gold leaf and other simple tools (also on display) to write and illuminate this seven volume, 1,100 page bible. Illuminating The Word is one awe-inspiring exhibit!

This exhibition is devoted to a single work of art, an illuminated, handwritten Bible commissioned by Saint John’s University and Abbey in Minnesota. This contemporary Bible is at once old and new: a masterpiece of the ancient crafts of calligraphy and illumination that could only be made by artists of today. The Saint John’s Bible is being created by professional scribes in a scriptorium in Wales, under the direction of Donald Jackson, one of the world’s foremost calligraphers. Begun at the start of the new millennium, this unique undertaking combines a centuries-old tradition of craftsmanship with the latest capabilities of computer technology and electronic communication. It is a collaborative effort, involving many persons in both Wales and the United States. In the Middle Ages, monumental Bibles weremade for daily use in monastic communities, yet they were carefully preserved for future generations. The Saint John’s Bible is the modern representative of that great tradition. The pages of the Bibles shown in this exhibition represent a work in progress. The completion date for the St. John’s Bible is 2008.

…quoted from The Library of Congress Online Exhibition

Photo #1. Donald Jackson, St. John's Bible Artistic Director, is a world renowned calligrapher and illuminator

Photo #2. Illustration by Donald Jackson with contributions from Chris Tomlinson

Visit these links to find out more about the St. Johns Bible and the exhibit:

Library of Congress, Checklist of Objects

St. John’s Bible

Catholic Supply of St. Louis

BRIEF INTRO TO ARTIST ALEXANDER CALDER

Alexander Calder (1898–1976), created over 16,000 works of art in a career spanning fifty years. His works include pen-and-ink drawings, charcoal sketches, etchings, lithographs, oil and gouache paintings, carvings in wood, bronze sculptures, kitchen utensils, jewelry, designs for rugs, tapestries and wallpaper, wire and sheet metal sculptures, articulated toys, hand-cranked and motor-driven sculptures and theater sets.

Trained as an engineer, and drawing upon his need for serious play and his lifelong interest in the cosmos and science, Calder created radically new abstract sculptures we know as mobiles and stabiles in the 1930’s. These monumental commissioned pieces can be found in museums, airports, public parks, outdoor plazas, banks and government buildings throughout the world.

CALDER JEWELRY

Alexander Calder produced approximately 1,800 pieces of jewelry. For Calder, making jewelry was making art, and he displayed and sold his jewelry through trunk shows and gallery exhibits along with his other art works. Calder’s wife, Louisa, received hundreds of his jewelry pieces throughout their marriage, including the necklace shown above. Other recipients included Georgia O’Keefe, Peggy Guggenheim and the wives of his friends and fellow artists such as Duchamp, Miro and Chagall.

CALDER JEWELRY is the first museum show devoted entirely to the hand-made jewelry of Alexander Calder. The exhibit, organized by The Calder Foundation and the Norton Museum of Art in West Palm Beach, consists of approximately 100 objects, and includes earrings, pins, necklaces, bracelets and tiaras. Currently on view at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (top photo from PMA website), July 12-Oct 19, the show will be at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, December 8-March 1, 2009, and then travel to the Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin, March 31 - June 22, 2009. Accompanying the show is a beautifully illustrated companion book published by the Calder Foundation.

Go here to find out about a big, beautifullly produced book titled CALDER JEWELRY (released in conjunction with the show), edited by Alexander S. C. Rower and Holton Rower, with contributions by Mark Rosenthal and Jane Adlin and photographs by Maria Robledo. It’s fabulous! Click NPR (bottom photo from NPR website) to read an informative article about the artist Alexander Calder and the Calder Jewelry exhibit written by Susan Stamberg.

NOTE: Alexander Calder is one of the giants of 20th century sculpture, and my favorite artist of all time. In 2006 I created an edition of 100 miniature artist books titled Playing With Calder and each piece includes a tiny, crank-operated kinetic sculpture made of wire.

(my thanks to friend and fellow artist Meredith Arnold for the heads-up on the Calder Jewelry exhibit)

My interview for Indie Arts DVD Magazine was lots of fun and features art and craft works I’ve created over the past two decades. Release date is October 1, 2008. Click YouTube to view the video intro segment to this stimulating DVD. Issue #9 is a visual feast, jam-packed with artist interviews and lots of art.

Highlights:

Kelly Renae takes us to Southern Spain with her photographic Portrait of Andalusia and a special visit to the Moorish architectural wonder, The Alhambra

Interviews with mixed-media artists Sue Robertson, Suzie Wolfer and Indie Arts DVD Video Producer Karen Landey

The Salvage Studio in Edmonds, WA, where three artists are passionate about reusing castoff materials

works by mixed-media artists Lisa Bebi, Linda Gaughran, and 13 artists who participated in an Art Journal Group Show - Anne-Marie Colwell, Mary Gartner, Robin Katz, Julie Kessler, Laura Mosher, Susan Pins, Pat Remington, Marlene Schaus, M.K. Shaw, Cami Smith, Lauren Swing, Judy Tracy and Laurie Wack

Art 'n Soul Rubber Stamp Store in Lacey, Washington

WIRE-EDGE BINDINGS is my newest 1-day class, and consists of two book projects bound on the edges with wire. This versatile binding style was developed by Daniel Kelm, and can be readily adapted to create simple and complex book structures and articulated sculptural objects. When Daniel lectured to the Washington Book Arts Guild in 2000, I was completely blown away with his wire-edge objects. Some were quite ‘book-like’ and others were mind boggling interactive sculptures. I examined them closely and didn’t have a clue as to how they were constructed! My hat is off to Daniel for a most intriguing binding style.

I taught my WIRE-EDGE BINDINGS class yesterday at Art ‘n Soul. One of the two book structures has four pockets with removable pop-ups, and the other book has French doors and holds a tiny pamphlet-stitched book in a cavity on the inside. Both books are bound with a super simple version of wire-edge binding.

The artists pictured below proudly display their wire-edge books.

Judy Daugherty

Top view of one of Judy's books

Julie Shannon

Store owner Susie Tracy made these wire-edge books and portfolio

Artist Nancy Brones also made two wire-edge books yesterday. The photo below, however, shows us with the fabulous gift she presented to me at the beginning of the class. She learned to make Piano Hinge Books in a previous class at Art ‘n Soul, and constructed this one outside of class from vintage printed piano ephemera. Click on the photo to view a larger image and read the two-page spread just above the band with the word ‘piano’ on it. This spread IS one of the folios in the bookblock!! Nancy cleverly incorporated the printed pieces throughout the entire structure, including piano keys along the foredges. Thank you, Nancy, for this treasured gift!