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

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.

This book is in the University of Puget Sound Collins Library collection.

Visible

Make visible what

without you,

might

perhaps

never

have

been

seen.

~~Robert Bresson