More Book Plates

Happy Holidays!  It started snowing here in Seattle on Christmas Eve and it continues to fall this morning.  We are planning a Christmas Day urban hike and expect to see some snow people on our walk.

I hope everyone found at least one book under the tree, if you participate in this part of the season.   Will you put your name in your new book(s)? 

We come across book plates in our inventory, though they are usually of the mass produced kind that you can buy in a bookstore or stationery store in a box, with a blank space for your name. Often these commercially made book plates are prints of famous pieces of art.  Sometimes they are reading and/or book themed.  I remember receiving a gift such a box of book plates in sixth grade:  the classic image of the cat on top of a stack of books.

Here are some book plates discovered in our current inventory:

 I particularly like the book plate of the open door.  What exciting world will you enter through the pages of your book?

Presenting Works by Two Seattle Artists: Jon Strongbow and Tim Fowler

We are pleased to be selling works by two different Seattle artists.

In a series started in 1992, Jon Strongbow's detailed black and white line drawings of Seattle cityscapes juxtapose realistic architectural renderings with scenes embracing indigenous cultures from all over the planet, including extinct and endangered species.   There's even a drawing with the old Pistil Books & News storefront on Pike Street in the background.

Pistil Books is carrying his two new books, City of Spirits and Mystic City: 

On our Etsy site, we are also carrying block prints by Tim Fowler, self-taught Seattle based artist, who works in woodcarving, mosaic sculpture, painting, and printmaking.  His mosaic fence and colorful mosaic, metal and wood sculptures (including Easter Island heads, motorcyclists, and devils), and antique (some would say "rusty") vehicles make his home and yard a landmark in Seattle's Central District.  We have one of Tim's wonderful mosaic sculptures - a large salmon - watching over our front yard.

Tim says, "I was drawing pictures of cars and bugs in junior high when my art education stopped, and I haven't gotten over it since."

Tim Fowler has shown his art at Mia Gallery, Garde Rail Gallery, I.E. Gallery, Studio E, and the American Visionary Museum (Baltimore).