Val Bembenek
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| Catch-All | Bowl Sets | Stab Journals |
- Naturalist’s “Catch-All” Journals: Hardcovers are finished with varied selection of self-made papers and paste paper. Pockets, collecting envelopes, note pad, naturalist quotes, and pencil inside. Acid-free, recycled text pages; pamphlet bound. Silk denim tie cord. 5 by 5.5 inches.
- Paper Maché Nesting Bowl Sets: Abaca and dried Iris leaf paper pulp with a dried lizard, yucca blooms, mesquite beans and branch from our Sonoran Desert, poured on the ground to mix earth and pulp as a representation of our interdependence. 4 feet in diameter.
- Stab-Bound Softcover Journals:Sewn in traditional styles with varied selection of cords, ribbons and embellishments such as vintage buttons, charms, and inspiring quotations. Quality crafted with double-fold covers, separate inside binding, and decorative end papers. Acid-free, recycled text pages. Two sizes: 6 by 4.5 inches and 6 by 7.5 inches.
BIOGRAPHY
Val has used desert and garden plants to create distinctive handmade papers for more ten years. With her paper maché limited edition bowls, she captures authentic rock forms. With handmade books, she celebrates her love of words. Recently she added Japanese stab binding, an ancient craft which lends itself to modern variations, to her paper works.
She has exhibited at regional galleries and teaches plant-fiber paper making and stab binding at the botanical garden and Oracle State Park for Environmental Studies. She is a career news and business writer whose weekend enthusiasm for fiber arts began in the early 1970s, weaving gods’ eyes and weed pockets with wool yarns she dyed with native plants.
More of Val's work can be seen at her website: www.paperartlady.com
Artist Statement
“I consider myself an artisan. At best, I hope my works please the senses. Plant-textured and -colored papers to touch (and sometimes, smell), patterned cord bindings to see, blank journals to fill with personal awareness. At most, I wish to surprise -- with innovative ideas and unique stylings that embrace the eccentricities of nature and my own imagination.”