After my five-week residency at Oaks Spring Garden Foundation (OSGF) last year, I spent a whirlwind of a week visiting friends in the DC, Maryland, Virginia area. During that week, I visited fellow book artist and most gracious host, IBé Crawley in Richmond, Virginia. IBé greeted me with Welcome! All roads lead to Richmond, did you know that? She proceeded to share some of the deep history of the city that resulted in my most recent book, A Day in Richmond.
The train station where I arrived is located in Shockhoe Bottom, which was the center of Richmond’s slave trade and there are several historical sites nearby, including the African Burial Ground and Lumpkin’s Slave Jail. Two brass plaques marking the Richmond Slave Trail were embedded in the ground at the jail compound, and I mentioned offhandedly that I’d take rubbings had I thought to bring some paper and crayons. Well, IBé later produced some clay from her studio, and we returned to the site to roll the clay over the markers,.
Fortunately, I took lots of notes that evening, which came in handy for the text, which incorporates some of the writing on both tiles. Each page takes the reader along a tour of the city, starting with the train station and ending at IBé Arts.
I visited IBé’s studio, a historic building built by enslaved men, which she lovingly restored. From her art center we walked one block, to the former Appomattox Plantation and General Grant’s headquarters at City Point in Hopewell, Virginia. On the grounds grew wild grapes, figs, ginko, and pear trees, among others.
After I returned home, IBé kindly gathered and sent plant samples, which I collographed onto board and frottaged onto the back of the accordion. Additional leaves were frottaged in color, cut out and collaged onto the back side of the accordion.
As I painted watercolor onto the backs of the accordions, my application became freer and more saturated in color, with the blue granulating in pools. It seemed a shame to add additional paint - watercolors often have other things in mind - so I let them be. Five books have full color backs and five have only blue bands.
A Day in Richmond is an edition of 11 and it is also a travelogue. The techniques and materials used in this project reflect my goal for the book to have an immediacy - as though it was created (almost) that day in Richmond.