Still editioning my ‘Moth’ artists’ book; pages are curing, then to cut, fold and glue; then box making.
If you would like to purchase one and it isn’t stocked in my Etsy shop; please email me which one you would like and I can make it as a priority, email catamongthepigeonspress@gmail.com
You can read all about ‘Moth and see the finished books in this blog post.
(© Catherine Cronin)
I have at finished making the first books of a new artists’ book I have been working on since 2012! It has been a labour of love. The book is called ‘Moth’, it is a shaped concertina that opens up at the folds at approximately a 45 degree angle. This means it opens up in a circular motion rather like apple peel. One ‘page’ consists of a moth folded in half and then it is attached to the next ‘moth page’ at the wingtip at a 45 degree angle. On one side of the concertina, the ‘inside’ pages consist of faint grey line drawings of various moths with a poem in black text overlaid on top. The ‘outside’ of the concertina features an image of a moth in full colour, repeating page by page.
The poem is about moths that are attracted by artificial lights, and their ultimately futile circling around and around these lights to no purpose. The shape of the concertina opening in a circle reflects this motion. The typeface I have used for the poem has scratchy and splotchy letters in different weights and sizes, the idea was if a moth could write what would the letters look like! The poem reads
Confused, lost in light
exhausted fluttering
suspends gold pinpoints
in beams glittering
a trail captured
chaotic wing beats
that change nothing
night after night
lost, confused in light
I chose to illustrate three moths; Kentish Glory, Cinnabar and White Prominent; two moths that I had recently spotted and after research one that I liked the look of, that complimented the other two. I adapted the illustrations to the form of my book so they are not anatomically correct, rather they carry similar marks of these moth species.
I decided to box my ‘Moth’ books in my idea of a specimen box; reflecting moth specimen collections, moths easily lured by artificial lights to obtain them. The containing box is brown card, folded and glued with an acetate window, hand printed in black ink. The ‘Moth’ concertina is printed with six colour Epson inkjets onto Epson Matte Heavyweight Inkjet Paper; the concertina consists of 9 moth pages, 3 moths printed to one A4 page and then cut, folded and attached to the next set of three moths.
Approximate Dimensions ‘Moth’ – one open moth page L = 15.5cm H = 6.5cm
Approximate Dimensions Box L = 16.3cm W = 7.5cm H = 4cm
I intend to make 10 sets of each moth species, an edition totalling 30. So far I have made 3 and two boxes, so a long way to go. You can buy the two finished boxed ‘Moths’ here online.
(Note on Sept 2014 – there are no ‘Moths’ in-stock right now; they are quite time-consuming to make, and so are produced slowly. I will be stocking them again; let me know which one you would like to purchase and I can make that up as a priority. Email catamongthepigeonspress@gmail.com)
I would love to hear what you think of my ‘Moth’ concertinas.
(© Catherine Cronin)
