Houses by Carol Es, 2013

Mixed media Japanese stab-bound Artist's book.

Houses, a mixed media Artist's book by Carol Es - cover of book showing handmade die cut

From Careless Press:Houses is the title of poem I wrote back in 1999. It has been through probably a thousand revisions before the final re-write in 2013, when I decided to reconstruct it into an Artists' book. The lines of the poem are broken up among the pages in the book. It is about moving countless times as a child with my dysfunctional family. My parents were always fighting, my mother had mental illness, and with each break-up they had, they bought and sold a house, splitting up my brother and I, but eventually getting back together. Then, the cycle would repeat itself again within a year.


I made the covers of the book out of random cereal boxes. Each one is a little bit different. It also comes in a very simple slip case, also made from cereal boxes (mostly raisin bran).

Most of the text is all letterpressed, including the covers, which are also hand die-cut, meaning I cut them out with an X-acto blade myself.


Houses includes 20 pages of: two simple drawings on black Strathmore Artagain paper, two handmade flower-pressed papers, two original watercolor and ink paintings, a gouache/Sum-e painting on golden handmade paper from Nepal, an original block print, two copper plate etchings on Rives BFK, an embroidered drawing, a small, removable 5 x 5 inch Giclée, and three digitally designed pages with archival Epson Ultrachrome K3 inks. Most of the pages are french folds by the way; that means they're folded where you turn them and open at the binding - which is Japanese stab bound.

Houses is featured in USC's Doheny Library, the special collections at Baylor University's Central Library in Waco, Texas, and the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale University.

Pages: 20 p.
Dimensions: 6 x 9 in.
Edition: 8, signed and numbered.
PRICE: $700.00   Email to inquire. ONE COPY LEFT!

Houses, a mixed media Artist's book by Carol Es - showing cereal box cover and slipcase Houses, a mixed media Artist's book by Carol Es - showing cover with Japanese stab binding Houses, a mixed media Artist's book by Carol Es - showing title page drawing on black Artagain paper Houses, a mixed media Artist's book by Carol Es - showing houses drawing and handmade fly paper Houses, a mixed media Artist's book by Carol Es - showing watercolor and ink painting, original to each book Houses, a mixed media Artist's book by Carol Es - Giclee print of Home is Near the Sea, mixed media oil painting Houses, a mixed media Artist's book by Carol Es - showing letterpress page with embroidered drawing Houses, a mixed media Artist's book by Carol Es - showing one of two etchings Houses, a mixed media Artist's book by Carol Es - showing a printed poetry page Houses, a mixed media Artist's book by Carol Es - showing book with slipcover