Library Purchases from Bookworks XV

Congratulations to three CBAS artists—Janice Kagermeier, Lou Kroner and Margaret Rhein—whose entries in Bookworks XV have now been added to the fine collection of artists books at the Public Library of Cincinnati and Hamilton County.

This year the accordion form was used in various ways to produce exemplary works. Jeanne Strauss-De Groote, curator of the Library's collection describes Janice Kagermeier's The Waldron as "striking" and "commemorating the life and destruction of a local Cincinnati Art Deco building located in Walnut Hills. The photographs and the text meld perfectly and the craftsmanship is beautiful."

The Waldon by Janice Kagermeier

The artist writes of her own collaged paper work: "This accordion book was made in remembrance of an apartment building in Walnut Hills, built in 1928 and demolished in 2011. It honors the former residents and the dramatic faces carved into the facade. One one side (shown) listings of Waldron residents during the building's heyday (culled from the Main Library's archival Cincinnati City Directories) are superimposed onto photos of the grotesque faces carved into its facade. On the other side, photos of the Waldron's demolition are visible in the background; in the foreground is a chronicle of building code violations during the then neglected building's final years."

Strauss-De Groote describes Lou Kroner's Don't Bug Me as "a very joyful and amusing little book made with one single sheet of paper. When fully open, the general shape of the book can evoke a small insect walking, creating a perfect harmony between the shape and the content."

Don't Bug Me by Lou Kroner

Lou's use of one sheet of paper for his book is most appropriate since he has recently taught how-to classes in the variety of ways to use this form, most recently to CBAS Study Group. His Bookworks XV entry was ink jet-printed on cardstock with decorative paper covers added.

Margaret Rhein's Memory Book—First Impressions was selected by Strauss-De Groote because it "is a beautiful accordion book containing very evocative printed images of abstract forms, witnessing the artist's rich imagination. The craftsmanship, also excellent, shows Rhein's talent in paper making and printing.

Memory Book—First Impressions by Margaret Rhein

 Rhein has a story to tell about her book that is made with her own pulp painting and water-based monoprints. She started with one of her old handmade paper collages from about 30 years ago. "I remember a friend mentioned that her husband had a paper punch for comb binding at his office so she took some of my handmade paper seconds and punched out rows of tiny rectangular pieces of paper that we were using in a confetti type of paper we were making along with circle shapes from sheet paper punches. I thought the left over grid-like paper was beautiful in its own way and later used it to create this architectural look collage sheet of 22" x 30" paper."

"Years passed and then I decided to cut it into squarish shapes to someday make into a book. When I took Johpaul Smith's printing class 'Yeah, I Can Print That' at [local] Tiger Lily Press earlier this year I was looking around to find interesting papers to print on and this group surfaced. I have also collected textures over the years that will emboss paper—old computer circuit boards, my husband's plastic mechanical drawing stencils, plastic doilies. And I'm especially attracted to circular shapes; these were great for inking up as well."

"I think the relationship between the paper collage and the printing on top enhanced the impact of both. The 14 individual images each tell their own story. I decided to use the accordion book format so that the work could be seen in many formations. I specifically printed some of the shapes to span two pages to carry the eye through the book."
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CBAS gratefully acknowledges all the work by the Library staff 

to make our exhibition possible again this year.