M Kimberly Press ~ Arizona / Idaho
(Mare Blocker)

Alluvium
by Mare Blocker
McCall, Idaho: 2005. Edition of 40.

6 x 9", 20 pages. Laid in letter-fold wrapper with paper hand-sewn at edges. Closure paper tab hand sewn to wrapper. Relief printed on magnani incisioni paper.

Mare Blocker: "The plates are photopolymer from the pen and ink drawings I did of the soil monoliths in the Maynard Fosberg Soil Monolith Collection at the University of Idaho. Soil monoliths are mounted soil samples that range
in length from 2' to about 10' depending on the type and stability of the soil. The pages are sewn together in couplets, using what I call the baseball stitch, then I link the couplets together at the spine. I wanted the stitching to look like sutures. This series is an exploration of the philosophy of phenomenology and how things reveal themselves to us as we are working."
$200

betsy ross' garden
by Mare Blocker
McCall, Idaho: 2004. One-of-a-Kind.

36 x 24" open; 6 x 6" folded. Housed in a lipped clamshell box. An embroidered paper "wallflower" book.

The garden book can be hung on the wall using small headed nails/brads and the eyelets in the corners of the unsewn pages.

Mare Blocker: "In the spring and summer of 2004 I did a series of books inspired by the penny rugs that were popular in US households during the Civil War era. I started making the little disks and thought they looked like flowers, so I made a bunch of them. I laid them out on that striped green paper to see how they would look and thought "This is how Betsy Ross designed the flag. She looked out her window and saw the pattern of her garden."
$600

i only have eyes for you
by Mare Blocker
2003. One-of-a-Kind.
3" high and when extended 10' long on wooden thread spool. Relief printed, hand colored, with papers sewn as a scroll.

Mare Blocker: "I made this scroll while I was teaching at the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts in 2003. Buzz [my husband] and I were separated — due to me teaching in Portland and him being in McCall, Idaho. So I was inspired to make this as a sort of Valentine for him. I got the idea while listening to a Billie Holiday version of the song ["I Only Have Eyes for You"]. I made a linoleum block of eyes and printed numerous sheets by hand, sewed them together and hand-colored them.

"As you get closer to the center Buzz begins to appear in the irises. A little portrait of him is in the core. The spool came from my great Uncle Severin's estate and it usually lived on his mother's spinning wheel. I thought it was appropriate, since he was so sentimental he had a tiny photo of his wife in the center of his pocket watch and looked at her every time he checked the time. He would understand."

Lots of eyes peering from this scroll of paper can't help but bring to mind the old song "I only have eyes for you."

Are the stars out tonight?
I don't know if it's cloudy or bright
I only have eyes for you, dear.
The moon may be high,
But I can't see a thing in the sky;
I only have eyes for you.

I don't know if we're in a garden
Or on a crowded avenue ... you are
Here, and so am I;
Maybe millions of people go by,
But they all disappear from view,
But I only have eyes for you.

$400

Paradise Lost
by Mare Blocker
2003. One-of-a-Kind.
5 x 8" Acrylic ink on paper. Housed in a lipped clamshell box. Hand-colored, accordian bound, Magnani Incisioni paper.

Mare Blocker describes Paradise Lost: "A book about what our President is trying to feed us. Birds are the characters in the book and instead of feeding them worms, Bush (a vulture like bird) is trying to feed the other birds thread."
$450

A Thirteen Day River Trip (Cartas Amorosas)
1998. Edition of 25
11 x 15" Eight hand colored linoleum block printed "letters," inserted into colored tyvek, sewn envelopes and bound into a scrapbook. Self-portraits based on paintings from art history. Printed on Folio paper. Signed and numbered.
$400

Madam La Mare's Mystic Cards of Fortune
1995. Edition of 200
3.5 x 5" Signed and numbered. A Fortune telling oracle consisting of 25 cards and an instruction sheet. The cards are two color linoleum blocks, printed on the French Paper Mill's Packing Carton. Instructions are offset printed on red.

These cards of fortune were divined by Madame Mare Blocker with the assistance of her familiar 'El Maqdee,' the one whose true name should not be spoken. To use the cards the person whose fortune is being told, should shuffle the cards seven times and cut them with their left hand. The Fortune Teller should then lay the cards out in a diamond pattern (illustrated in the instruction sheet), starting from the top down and moving from left to right. The person who wishes to have their fortune told is represented by 24 for a woman, or 25 for a man. These cards are the starting point for the reading, as all the other cards revolve around and take their meaning from these, depending on their positions. Have fun!
$40

Eden
1986. Edition of 30
6 x 6" Signed and numbered. Seven multicolor linoleum prints bound into a concertina with cloth covered case binding and Suminagashi end sheets.
$95

Purgatory: The Soul Alone
1999. One-of-a-Kind
5 x 8" Acrylic ink on paper. Double accordion, with cut-out scenes. Housed in a lipped clamshell box. Depicting three scenes of purgatory: love, hell, heartburn.
$350

Istoriato
by Mare Blocker
New York: 2001. Edition of 50
11" x 11"Case bound concertina, lidded clamshell box. Multiple color linoleum blocks and type printed on Magnani Pescia. Round shaped, case bound concertina. Printed Iris cloth on both book covers and clamshell box. Includes unique plate glazed in the style of Majolica Pottery.
Explores how the design of Majolica pottery changed with the invention of the printing press. Istoriato, story painting, began when potters started to copy prints of masterworks.
$500

Blood on Blood
by Mare Blocker
Jerome, Arizona: 1999. Edition of 100
From Mare Blocker: "I have always loved to tell stories.This book celebrates twenty years of mining my loved ones for material for my work. Quite simply, thanks to my sixty three first cousins, my bazillion other cousins, my friends, and of course my immediate family. Now the facts -- The acid-free recycled paper "memory books," were printed with silver ink and Century Schoolbook type. The linoleum cuts were printed on Magnani Pescia. Much appreciated technical assistance provided by Kelly Roberge, George Glassman, and Buzz White."
$220

Proverbs of Hell
by Mare Blocker
Jerome, Arizona: 2000. Edition of 17
Linoleum blocks printed on Magnani Incisoni.
$125

Artists' Party Games: Horseshoes der Blaue Reiter
by Mare Blocker
Jerome, Arizona: 1995. Edition of 50
7.75 x 7.375" An accordion book with hand colored linoleum blocks printed on Magnani Incisioni.
Games included are, a Pin the Ear on Van Gogh game, Spin the Squeeze Bottle with Jackson, Frida's Archery Set and three others.
$150

M Kimberly Press Out of Print Title:
• Bug-eyed