PETER & DONNA THOMAS
260 Fifteenth Avenue Santa Cruz CA 95062 (831)
475-1455
Solo - a poem, with a collection of flowers from the lily family
Solo - a poem, with a collection of flowers from the lily family (2023). Donna Thomas. Santa Cruz, California. 9 1/8 inches by 12 1/8 inches. 18 accordion folded pages. Clamshell box. $2800. The text is a poem that Donna Thomas wrote while backpacking solo in the Yosemite wilderness, recalling the companions who hiked with her and enriched her experiences on the trail over the many years she has spent her summers in the Sierra. Binding uses hemlock-bark-tanned elk hide made by Peter and Donna with king snake skin onlay (road kill found in the Sierra foothills and tanned by Donna). Title stamped in gold on front cover. Peter made all the paper. Case bound accordion, green morroco leather spine and foredges, panels on front and back made using hemlock-bark-tanned elk hide made by Peter and Donna, king snake skin onlay (road kill found in the Sierra foothills and tanned by Donna). Title stamped in gold on front cover. The text paper for accordion was made using ochre colored paper (handmade by Peter Thomas) and marbled paperend pages (marbled by Pamela Smith) laced together with green handmade paper strips before folding. The text and maps were hand drawn, painted, and rubricated by Donna. The text is accompanied by seven landscape watercolor paintings (paintings measure 5 1/2 by 8 1/2 inches) and eleven watercolor paintings of lilies, (paintings measure 2 by 3 inches), stitched with thread to accordion, all paintings were done on site in the Sierra Nevada backcountry. Clamshell box, brown cloth covers, green morocco leather spine, yellow handmade paper inside, paper label with title inset on front cover. Artists' statement and notes: I have been backpacking in the Sierra Nevada since I was 10 years old. I take week-long and month-long trips every summer. Sometimes I hike with companions and sometimes I hike alone. I wrote this poem while I was solo backpacking in the back country in Yosemite. On this particular day everything I saw and felt reminded me of past trips, and of the people I had spent time with backpacking. I thought about the camaraderie those people brought to our backpacking trips and to my backpacking life. I did not feel lonely. I love backpacking solo. I love the freedom of being on my own, to find and experience what is out there for me. I just felt grateful for all those backpacking partners, and the places and experiences we had shared.My poem, and this book, were created to express my gratitude for the opportunity to backpack in the Sierra Nevada, gratitude that my parents took me on trips as a child, gratitude that I am still physically able, and mentally prepared, to hike alone. The paintings are ones I made on that solo trip, presented in this very wide landscape format so that when it is opened, the double spreads give the reader the feeling of a long trail and of the vast open spaces of the Sierra. This is the second one-of-a-kind artists' book I made using this poem as a text.
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