Turn the Page artists book fair - Part One

This weekend saw me at Turn the Page artists book fair, in Norwich.  I’d been looking forward to this for some time, and over the proceeding months and weeks I watched three of my friends completing work for their stands.  My heart missed a beat or two when I entered the venue because there was such an array of book art and some extremely talented artists. It was hard to know where to start! But the beginning is always a good place - so we visited the first stand and carried on from there.

It would be impossible to show everything so here are some of the works that most connected with me.  My husband doesn't have the same level of interest, and said that once he’d seen enough he would potter off and meet me later. The fact that he didn’t potter off shows that there was much to see and admire!  There was a lovely atmosphere and all the artists were friendly and enthusiastic. But 
what stood out was hearing the stories - of how or why the artists made the books. And everyone was happy for me to take photos of their work too, I appreciate that because it is nice to look back and enjoy the experience again through memory.

So come with me and I’ll show you around…..

Visually, this was one of the show stoppers for me.  These books made by Dizzy Pragnell are pages made from fruit and vegetables - I kid you not!  Each is a wafer thin pressed image and the photo does not do them justice.





These are cabbage leaves...

apple.....

kiwi....

and carrot...

Each book was exquisite and I could fill a blog post about each stand that I visited, but I need to move on.....

Next is Pien Rotterdam. One of my favourite books of hers had a collection of fabric swatches that belonged to her grandmother and great grandmother. Pien inherited these fabrics and over the years she has used them. It was only when she started to run out that she thought it important to hold on to the memory and keep a record of the collection.

On the back of the book a small label tells what the fabric had been used for. Pien remembers these... 

Pien also made smaller copies of the book to sell. Each has original swatches and as someone who appreciates nostalgia I really admired Pien's work.  She had lots of other examples of work too, including a stamp album in which she has added beautiful snippets.  Each page is a different colour co-ordination.

Next was Peter Knight.  He makes copper etchings and uses these to make amazing prints and three dimensional constructions.

This one had particular interest as I visited Down House in recent weeks and have always been fascinated by Darwin's work.

Another stand that held my attention was artist, Jane Sasanow. I love constructions and how shadows and surprise comes from folds and concealment. I have often used these constructions to make my own books, but I was inspired how Jane had put these together, to create collections and works of art. Jane will be adding photos to her new Instagram site.

Another series of work that captured my imagination was by Annette Kreiser. 

I love to use found objects in my own work, as it is a way to create longevity.  This is even better where stories are involved too, so imagine my excitement when I heard that some of Annette's marks are made by pieces of WWII aircraft, washed up on the Norfolk coast line. Straight away I was taken back to the crashed WWII plane I found in the Shetland islands. But I digress....

There was so much to see that it was necessary to take a brief break, but a short walk and refreshments gave the much needed energy to go back for more.

And I suspect you might welcome a break at this point too!  So I'll come back with the rest, tomorrow. Thanks for joining me in this visit and I hope you are as inspired by these art works as I am.