Narragansett

Instead of my usual snarky new year's poem, I'm starting this year with a gentle little book.  This is "Narragansett," an accordion-style artist's book I created from cardboard drink coasters, some left-over scraps of nautical maps, and document repair tape in late 2025.  (4x4," opens to 24"). This book is travelling to Kalamazoo, MI right now, to be part of the annual Illustrated Accordion exhibition at Kalamazoo Book Arts Center. 

I was thinking about the sea.

Copper No. 2

 Still experimenting with some metallic effects.  Here is a book-like (blook?) accordion structure created by painting and hand-cutting a Sundance Catalog folding mailer.  The six panels were hand-cut in various decorative shapes, and then spray-painted and rubbed with copper pigmented wax to give a metallic copper effect.  Closure is a simple thread tie.  This is headed out to Kalamazoo, MI, to join the 2025 Illustrated Accordion exhibit at Kalamazoo Book Arts Center.  It's fun, check it out!

"Copper No. 2" (2025) 6x9"

Lynn Skordal

Sometimes

“Sometimes” is a unique artist’s book I created earlier this year from a repurposed binder and plexiglass panels.  The panel images are heat-transferred, and some of the panels have additional images printed on tissue paper adhered to the reverse.  The book is bound accordion-style with hemp twine.

This book is about process.  I wanted to make a book with transparent pages.  And I wondered if I could heat transfer images with a household iron onto plexiglass.  The more I thought about it, however, the more likely it seemed that the whole effort would end in a Major Fail of melted plexi.  So, I procrastinated for a long, long time.  Years.  Eventually, however, I got tired of worrying about what might happen and plugged in my iron.  When I finished I did have a LOT of melted plexi…but I also had some interesting pages.  It’s not what I planned, but I like what I got.

So, this little book is a reminder:  maybe just stop worrying and give it a go: 

Sometimes you just have to try it.

Even if you know it won’t work.