This work was done by Rose Smutko in San Diego this year for the session
“Writing on Vellum” in PRIMITIVE TO MODERN.

I Believe

My initial inspiration for this assignment came from a powerful quotation by a Jewish prisoner (anonymous) during the Holocaust. "I believe in the Sun, even when it is not shining. I believe in Love, even when I cannot feel it. I believe in God, even when He is silent."

These juxtapositioned phrases seemed to lend themselves perfectly to alternating between one page of "light", followed by one page of "dark". I used vellum with gilding on each page of "light" alternating with eco-dyed paper for each page of "dark".

Eco-dyed paper is created by placing plant materials onto paper, bundling them over rods and immersing the bundles into hot water.

The string used to secure the bundle onto the rod, created horizontal lines that seem to resemble barbed wire. In order to enhance the feeling of barbed wire, I drew barbed wire with black ink at the bottom of each "dark" page. I also shaded the Gothic letters, as well as the barbed wire, with graphite pencil.

Creating the book itself presented a challenge, since I had never actually made a book before. Enter DIY instruction of Bookbinding 101 on You Tube.  After re-charging my iPhone's battery, I was able to complete my project. I used black paper on both the front and back cover to convey a somber feeling. And, I used twisted black twine to complete this small book - again to resemble barbed wire.ettering on black paper and change some of the inter-line spacing. Some of it looks too tight to me, even though my lines were even and accurate. Isn't it amazing how I can remember doing this "wrong"!? Maybe that's an example of learning from one's mistakes - ? Always valuable, even if annoying... And in doing this piece, I had another realization: I like to paint, which I'm trying to do more of now.