THINGS YOU CAN FIND COLORING BOOK
Illustrations by Elsa Senner. Self Published 2016.
Elsa Senner's illustrations depict careful renderings of various flowers and fungi. The work is influenced by the abundant plant life in coastal Maine and the Boston gardens. "Things You Can Find" features eight pages filled with unique collections of oyster mushrooms, irises, black-eyed susans, pansies, & more.
Featured in the deCordova Museum Gift Shop, Newport Art Museum Gift Shop, Mass Audubon Gift Shop, New England Wildflower Society Gift Shop, Zen Coloring online store, & Amazon.
"SWATCHBOOK" SCREENPRINTS
art book, screenprint on fabric & paper, mixed media, 7x5" 2015
The swatch book is a record of a textile mill's production, containing samples of printed designs and original paintings. The earliest swatch books date back to 5000 BC. While the typical layout we know gained popularity in the 19th c. United States, France, and England.
Swatch books serve not only as an invaluable record of symbols that have been used and reused for centuries, but also as a source for future patterns in contemporary times. They show symbols that have been reinterpreted over the course of human history. The patterns of motifs in textiles are a collective visual language – an intercultural memory. The context changes but the symbols endure, altered only by each artist who handles it and gives it characteristics of a new time and place.
I find value in the decorative – it surrounds us on a daily basis but its mostly disregarded. The historical complexities that are held in textile motifs can be overlooked.
