stephh

i'm an artist [painting, printmaking, bookbinding/artists' books & odd object-making] and a wordsmith [writing & editing & translating].

update feb 2011: i'm working on a number of new projects so won't be swapping much in the next while (unless i find a swap i just can't resist...!).

printmaking, painting, assemblage, drawing, photography, fibers, words

nature, elements, music, poetry, rilke, andy goldsworthy, rumi, bill viola, nick bantock, philosophy, five rhythm dance, alchemy, tarot, meditation, alembics, mountains, fonts, patterns, anselm kiefer, rhythm, kate bush, gods, dogs, david byrne, peter doig, dancing, goddesses, skeleton keys, dürer, brian eno, yoga, the immateria, hundertwasser, talking heads, borges, jordi savall, spinning, bookbinding, artemisia gentileschi, nigella lawson, the moon, king crimson, botanical illustration, pipilotti rist, peacocks, twins, mary oliver, dictionaries, running, mystics, fish, hieronymus bosch, velvet, bill reid, emily carr, trees, stoics, kelpies.

some things i like: eco-friendly materials; recipes for simple and delicious food with fresh ingredients; good spelling and creative punctuation; shrines and other devotional art; work that reflects the keywords and themes in my random inspiration list above.

not wild about: pastel colors, manga, run-of-the-mill anything, obligatory use of capital letters, evangelical christian material, bento stuff, dollar store/discount items, cutesy, scrapbooking, 'country style', most foodstuffs, most scents, comic sans, confetti, and most cheapie plastic things.

rating, swapping, etc...

i always send out my swaps - if you haven't received something from me, please pm me! i try to be diligent about my rating, so if you haven't been rated for something you've sent me, let me know just in case there's been a mix-up.

i often reuse packaging for sending out my swap items.

canopus in argos series (doris lessing); american gods (neil gaiman); prisons we choose to live inside (doris lessing); meditations (marcus aurelius); the passion (jeanette winterson); the alchemyst, the magician, the necromancer (michael scott); cryptonomicon (neal stephenson); vellum, ink (hal duncan); everything by william gibson; everything by ursula le guin; everything by haruki murakami; oryx and crake, handmaid's tale (margaret atwood); promethea series (alan moore); memoirs of hadrian (marguerite yourcenar); chicago manual of style; the alchemy of paint (spike bucklow), blindness (josé saramago).

wings of desire (wim wenders)

lost, firefly, fringe

this american life: www.thislife.org

• things that you've made that you loved making
• interesting or unusual images of: fish, trees, stones, fire, planets, leaves, anatomical illustrations
• boxes, especially when filled with mysterious, delightful contents
• peculiar and unusual images i can use in my own collages
• interesting and warm socks (EU size 38-40) -- the kind you might wear in the winter while you're curled up on the couch and reading a great book
• line drawings, prints, collages
• specialty papers: beautiful japanese papers, paste paper, marbled paper, papers with special watermarks, parchment, vellum
• soft, luxurious fabrics like velvet
• ribbons and tassels
• beautiful beads (glass, paper, wooden, clay, anything...)
• velvet pouches, bags, boxes
• handmade postcards
• skeleton keys (with or without their corresponding locks)
• dance music