Tara Bryan

I am having trouble writing & drawing these days so I thought I would try and let the inspirational squid out of the jar or in this case the Jack! out of the bookbox?! If you squeeze hard enough the ink will ooze out like a concertina and you'll be absorbed by the master bookcraftery of Tara Bryan. I have always had a soft squishy spot for Artist's books, ever since I visited the Chicago Center for Book and Paper Arts gallery. It made a lasting impression and doing an artist book myself is a constant on that 'to do' list before the ink runs out. That's why I have to wake up and take notes from Tara's bag of visual tricks. Tara's art books are stunning and creative in design. Sculptural, tactile and architectonic, the books take on a physical presence in one hand and a very functional play on the words in the other. In this case, 'Jack!' takes the form of a jack-in-the-box or 'Down the Rabbit Hole' expands or descends into the literary manifestation thereof. And it is this bunny that happily jumps in big head first into the paper walled world that she has built! Let the squid out tentacles and all.