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Spaces to Receive No. 4: Mending and Fading
Spaces to Receive No. 4: Mending and Fading explores the bowl as a vessel for giving, receiving, and holding space. Mended bowls carry the marks of time and care, while fresh fruit reminds us of the beauty and impermanence of what we hold. Together, they reflect on connection, transformation, and the quiet art of embracing both what endures and what eventually changes.
Accordion structure. Pochoir monoprints and Tetra Pak dry point etchings with chin collé. Printed on Fabriano Unica paper with sewn thread and gold foil| 30 pages | 5.25 x 5.75 x .75 inches | Varied edition of 4| 2026 |Photograph by artist
©Debbi Commodore 2026
Becoming
Becoming is a set of three artist books—Persistence, Attention, and Courage—reflecting on fifteen years of becoming the artist I am and imagining the years ahead. Recurring imagery moves through each book: bold, layered colors in Persistence speak to the past; Attention inhabits the present, holding what is known, the uncertainty of what is unfolding, and the recognition that I arrived here through the support of others; Courage looks forward with muted, dreamlike tones. The triangular structure gathers past, present, and future, while stitching marks time—threads of remembering and dreaming.
Bound in Daniel E. Kelm’s wire-edge structure, Stonehenge, Fabriano Tiziano, Fabriano Unica, pochoir monoprints, brass rods, various DMC and beading thread
Persistence (5.75 x 5.75 x 2 inches), 15 panels or 30 pages
Attention (4.25 × 4.25 x .25 inches), 3 panels or 6 pages
Courage (6 × 6 × 2 inches), 15 panels or 30 pages
©Debbi Commodore
Spaces to Receive No. 1
Spaces to Receive is the artist’s exploration of transformation through interactions with water in the ordinary spaces of her day.
The push of discomfort, the pull of hope
I move in the ordinary spaces of my days
Warm water on my face gently awakens me
Gentle mist tickles my skin as I rush out the door
Puddle ripples mark where I have been
Cool water from the glass provokes my fingertips
Still water of the slack tide reflects an image of a stranger
Hot water unsettles me as I wash up after a meal
Droplets of rain race down the window distracting my gaze
Hot steam from the kettle dances and sings beckoning me back
In the ordinary spaces of my days
The water receives me
Might these be a baptism?
Might these be my spaces to receive transformation?
Artist designed paste paper covering a unique Coptic bound book with 12 signatures of woven pages from an expired work journal providing the space to house 24 pastel interpretations of water | 24 pages | 9 x 8.75 x 1 inches | Unique| 2020 |Photograph by artist
©Debbi Commodore
Spaces to Receive No. 2
Spaces to Receive is the artist’s exploration of transformation through interactions with water in the ordinary spaces of her day.
The push of discomfort, the pull of hope
I move in the ordinary spaces of my days
Warm water on my face gently awakens me
Gentle mist tickles my skin as I rush out the door
Puddle ripples mark where I have been
Cool water from the glass provokes my finger tips
Still water of the slack tide reflects an image of a stranger
Hot water unsettles me as I wash up after a meal
Droplets of rain race down the window distracting my gaze
Hot steam from the kettle dances and sings beckoning me back
In the ordinary spaces of my days
The water receives me
Might these be a baptism?
Might these be my spaces to receive transformation?
Artist designed paste paper covering two flag book structures with woven pages from an expired work journal and artist designed paste paper | 7.25 x 6.25 x 6.25 inches | Unique| 2020 | Photograph by artist
©Debbi Commodore 2020
Spaces to Receive No. 3
Spaces to Receive continues the exploration of the ordinary spaces of a day and the connection to water as a space of transformation since time immemorial.
The push of discomfort, the pull of hope
We move in the ordinary spaces of the days
Warm water gently awakens
Skimming across the surface the cool salt water tingles
The inviting pull of the incoming tide
The wonder of her reach across
time and place
Her dark depths of mystery, the unknown, and time
We are received like those since time immemorial
Together
invited
in wonder
connection
in spaces to receive transformation
Coptic stitch structure, unique water colors on BFK | 80 pages | 6 x 5.5 x 1.25 inches | Varied edition of 2 | 2024 | Photograph by artist
©Debbi Commodore 2024
Revealing Invisible Patterns: A Binding Sampler
Inspired by Keith Smith’s 1-2-&3-Section Sewings I became the student learning 59 non-adhesive binding structures. Like many 18th century young woman working on their embroidery samplers, I too spent countless hours learning each intricate stitch and paying homage to the art of binding.
Stitching is visible and invisible revealing of pattern. Visibly the pattern of stitches bind the section to the cover. Quiet stitches made over the course of time hold memory of daily hopes, despairs, joys and pains until one is ready to look back and hear what they have to reveal. Rilke’s lines capture the invisible patterns in stitching:
In the traffic of our days
may we attend to each thing
so that patterns are revealed
amidst the offerings of chance.
All things want to be heard,
so let us listen to what they say.
In the end we will hear what we are:
The orchard or the road leading past.
A collection of sample binding structures from 1-2-&3-Section Sewings, Non-adhesive binding volume II by Keith Smith| 59 non-adhesive binding structures | container is 7.25 x 6.25 x 6.25 inches | Unique | 2019 | Photograph by artist
This book is in the University of Puget Sound Collins Library collection.
©Debbi Commodore 2019
Visible
Make visible what
without you,
might
perhaps
never
have
been
seen.
~~Robert Bresson
Eight unique paper cuts accompany the quote from Robert Bresson in a unique accordion fold structure | 9 pages | 5 x 6 x 1 inches (12 inch diameter when stretched out and formed into a circle) | Unique | 2016 | Photograph by Chris Tumbusch
© Debbi Commodore 2016