Notebook of Natural History:"Cahier d'Histoire naturelle"






This book has recently been accepted in an upcoming exhibition called Infinite Possibilities
23 Sandy Gallery, Portland, OR.
2012, 7.5" x 9"
Plexiglass covers front and back.
16 pages of acetate, hand painted (acrylic) 
plus 5 Inkjet-printed pages for title page and separation pages
Bound into linen book cloth (note red stitching front and back), running stitch.

I discovered an old (turn of the century?) French notebook in an antique shop. Since I couldn't read most of the beautiful handwriting it became a lovely textural pattern; the illustrations of natural history made exceptional objects of modern art. 

I copied a number of the pages onto acetate and painted in the drawings. Every four pages is separated by the grid paper of the original notebook allowing the illustrations and the handwriting to interact. 

It can be viewed in a number of ways, single pages, a montage of images and texture of each section of 4 pages but I also like the shadows that each page creates when lifted off the page.