Wednesday 13 July 2022

Tam O'Shanter: limited edition artists book


A limited edition of my Tam O'Shanter wordless lasercut books has been created and will be available to purchase online from Sunday July 17th 2022 at 5pm.  There are just fifty copies available in this edition.

Scroll down for photos and more information!

 
 
 
Each copy comes with a booklet of Robert Burns' poem in the original Scots alongside a (brilliant) translation of it into English verse by poet Jim Smith:  
 

 
 
Robert Burns' epic poem Tam O'Shanter is re-told in a wordless paper-cut leporello, which follows the misadventures of a farmer on his way home from the pub and a chance encounter with a coven of witches and warlocks on the way home...
 


 
 

 
Although the lasercut area of this version has the exact same dimensions as the non-editioned version created in November 2021, this version has been instead bound with cloth-bound hardback covers.  Each copy comes inside of a protective display box and with a certificate of authenticity. 
 
 

I'm really pleased with the way that this book has come out and I'm especially happy that Jim Smith allowed me to use his English translation of Tam O' Shanter - it was my favourite translation of the poem.

If you or anyone else would be interested in purchasing one, then copies will be available in my online shop from 5pm on Sunday 17th July 2022 at https://joannarobsonillustration.bigcartel.com/

Do feel free to get in touch with me through the contact form on the shop website if you've any questions or comments about the work!

Monday 11 July 2022

Update: A Knavish Lad at the National Building Museum

This month the Playhouse went live at the National Building Museum (see previous post from June 2022).  Scroll down for images of the installation and their newly installed stage for performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream throughout July and August 2022!

All photography by Elman Studio. Courtesy National  Building Museum.

Photography by Elman Studio. Courtesy National  Building Museum.

Photography by Elman Studio. Courtesy National  Building Museum.

Photography by Elman Studio. Courtesy National  Building Museum.

Photography by Elman Studio. Courtesy National  Building Museum.

Photography by Elman Studio. Courtesy National  Building Museum.

Photography by Elman Studio. Courtesy National  Building Museum.

Photography by Elman Studio. Courtesy National  Building Museum.

Photography by Elman Studio. Courtesy National  Building Museum.

Photography by Elman Studio. Courtesy National  Building Museum.

Photography by Elman Studio. Courtesy National  Building Museum.

Photography by Elman Studio. Courtesy National  Building Museum.

Photography by Elman Studio. Courtesy National  Building Museum.

Photography by Elman Studio. Courtesy National  Building Museum.

Photography by Elman Studio. Courtesy National  Building Museum.

Photography by Elman Studio. Courtesy National  Building Museum.
All photography by Elman Studio. Courtesy National  Building Museum.

I'm delighted with the way the artwork looks within the installation and cannot quite believe that those etched illustrations I created are now several feet high!  It's lovely to see some of the pictures coming through on social media too and I hope visitors to the NBM enjoy looking at the artwork.

I must give thanks here to the Imaging Services at the National Library of Scotland for their digitisation of the etched illustrations in A Knavish Lad. They took my etchings - which were a mere 15cm high - and created files of them with a resolution high enough that they could be reproduced at the size you see here in these photos. 

There is little chance I'd ever have been able to get such a high resolution of those etchings with my own scanner and / or camera, so a big thanks is owed to them for their help here.

The Playhouse is on until Sunday 28th August 2022 at the National Building Museum, Washington D.C.  Further information is available at https://www.nbm.org/national-building-museum-and-folder-shakespeare-library-bring-the-wonders-of-shakespeare-to-the-great-hall/