I have submitted my entry in for the Blarney Books and Art Biblo Prize.

I enter each year, not to win, but to be involved and support Jo at Blarney Books in Art, which is in Port Fairy, a few hours from Melbourne, This is its 14th year, staying the same but changing slightly over the years. This year you pay the entry fee and receive a random book title of an Australian book published recently. You then creatively interpret the book in any format.

I first read my allocated book “The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen: Travels with my grandmother’s ashes” – looking for inspiration along the way. I always have in mind to draw in a book, because that is what I do, draw in books. However, initially I was going to draw these on separate watercolour sheets but went back to my comfort zone of drawing in the book. I don’t have to worry about leaving margins, matt board, framing, and D-rings. Every entry goes on the online exhibition and 100 get chosen to be an onsite exhibition, and there are winning categories, However as I mentioned I enter to be involved, not to win a prize.

Here are my initial steps.

“The Three Burials of Lotty Kneen: Travels with my grandmother’s ashes” is about Krissy Kneen’s search for herself.  When her grandmother dies, Krissy sets out with a box containing her grandmother’s ashes, intending to trace her life and perhaps locate some remnants of her family. The book is about identity, belonging, love, family, the search for truth. It is a mixture of memoir, travelogue, fable, myth and recipes.

 I was inspired by the recipes of Jota and Medames of Slovenia and Egypt in the books and also the place of food in the finding of family. The author’s relationship is that “food is beautiful. Food Is art and for me, as for my grandmother, food is the primary way to express love.”

I drew on pages of the book that have the recipes, with watercolour pencil. The description of the individual ingredients to make a recipe are drawn and these are the parts that make up a whole.

Jota in Slovenia

I quickly discovered how much water the paper would take with my watercolour pencils. I draw, add colour and then add water to the page. I had to add the colour, (not with layers I usually use with watercolour paper), and a bit of water to move it around and increase intensity of colour in small areas. I could then go in and add details such as a hard line. But looking at the back of the page I can see it is buckled with water.

I could not add any more colour or water to the page.

Medames in Egypt

I forgot to take photos, so this is the finished page.

See my previous year’s entries at 2021 2020 2019 2018