{In the small courtyard, overlooked. (Our collaborative collage created especially for the cover of the current issue of Imprint, Autumn 2015.)}
Arrived in yesterday's post, one copy of Imprint, volume 50, which the postie kindly left lying flat by our front doormat. Louise and I were, and are still, elated to see our Giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) in John Soane's courtyard gracing the cover of the current issue with nonchalant ease. (Our parrot seems somewhat caught off guard, and the loris up high by the geraniums seems to have something else on his or her mind.) Unlike the anteater, we give no insouciant shrug; we're chuffed.
Our collaborative collage, In the small courtyard, overlooked (2015), was created over summer especially for the Print Council of Australia's collaboration issue. It was made as part of a series from which they picked their favourite. You may recall other animals in the family running through our recent zine, Thither & Hither, launched at Sticky Institute's zine fair in February.
Inside, you will find a written piece by our good friend Dr Olivia Meehan. The Poetic Partnership: the work of Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison made us blush.
The flicker of gold trimmed edges, the delicately hand-coloured plumage of a Yellow-fronted Woodpecker, intricate cut-outs and captivating silhouettes, the skilful illusion of shiny black velvet lit by stars against a midnight blue sky: the work of long time collaborators Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison presents a playful and transporting world. They bring gravitas to their pictorial works with narrative and a theatrical vision. At times this may be borrowed from, or inspired by, the likes of Charles Dickens or Katherine Mansfield, but mostly scribed by Gracia or Louise in original prose or text. Such an approach augments the unique nature of this artistic partnership which produces artists’ books, zines, series of hand drawn pictures and sophisticated collage works. The key aspect of their practice is paper but essential ingredients also include imagination and language. This magical combination, set within the skill-base of each artist, makes for a rousing body of work.
(Long ago now, our collaborative print, The plight of the birds (2003), featured on the cover of Imprint, Volume 38, Number 3, Spring 2003.)
{Our collage, In the small courtyard, overlooked, in hand and on the cover of Imprint's Collaboration issue (Autumn 2015, Volume 50, Number 1).}
{A Poetic Partnership: the work of Gracia Haby and Louise Jennision by Dr Olivia Meehan in the current issue of Imprint. (Thank-you so very much, @oliviatokyo. We are chuffed, flattered, giddy. X)}
{Gracia Haby, As if from the clouds, restless, 2014, artists' book.}
