rae's of sun ~ California
(Rae Trujillo)

Bookworks with animals and birds as subjects
Miniature book by rae's of sun

A Rainbow of Dreams
or
Dressed to Drink
By Rae Trujillo
Pleasant Hill, California: rae's of sun, 2010. Edition of 10.

4 x 5.5"; 8 pages. Page stitching with sewing machine. Materials: tea-dyed index cards, lace, glitter, alternative photography. Text typed with manual typewriter. Sewn lace binding. Bound with brocade and lace materials over two-ply museum boards.

Cocktail recipes accompanied by images of color coordinated cocktail dresses.

Rae Trujillo: "The dresses in the photo's are Quinceanera dresses. A girl will wear one of these confections of dreamy material for her fifteenth birthday in parts of Latin America. This birthday is celebrated differently from any other birthday, it is like a coming out celebration, going from childhood to womanhood. When I saw the dresses the first time I was reminded of wedding dresses and the similarity of the celebration. It seems some folks are more concerned with planning the event while other folks are interested in the drinking and party. Two different interests, one big party."
$137 (Last three copies)

Office Gossips
By Rae Trujillo
Pleasant Hill, California: rae's of sun, 2010. Edition of 11.

7.25 x 6.5"closed, opens to 36"; 11 pages. Double-sided accordion extending from the back cover interior. Hinged with Tyvek. Processes: sewing machine stitching, rubber stamp, collage, paint. Bound in a used interoffice envelope with envelope's string-and-tab closure.

The office gossips include Quality Troublemaker, Imperial Timewaster, Loyal Snitch, Velvet Enforcer, Unreliable Wanderer, and Glacial Gazer. The images of the gossips are on both sides of the accordion. One side develops each image by painting a reverse silhouette on a collage of painted papers. The reverse side of the accordion has silhouettes machine stitched over a collage of old accounting ledgers painted white. Each gossip's name is rubber stamped (lest we can't figure it out) by image.

Rae Trujillo: "I commute more or less an hour each way to work. During that time I dream of books. I collect words as I drive, from the radio, reading bumper stickers, truck signage and store fronts. From this collection my characters began to come to life. Stories begin to emerge and connections take shape. It makes the drive bearable."
$147

A Satisfying Twist
By Rae Trujillo
Pleasant Hill, California: rae's of sun, 2010. Edition of 5.

8.5 x 2.5"; 8 pages. Materials: needlepoint canvas, HVAC tape, acetate, irrigation tubing, brads. Text printed on acetate.

Rae Trujillo: "Satisfying Twist is about a UFO and a man who cries wolf. The binding of the book is from odd bits of debris as if the man found them while scouring the area looking for clues to the UFO landing. I wanted the viewer to be uncertain if a UFO really did land or is the man crazy. I wanted the book to give the impression of someone delusional or maybe not.

"It's that part of sanity that is right on the edge. You are not sure, and you begin to doubt yourself and how you look at the world."

In his ol aluminum row boat he drifts
on the lake, as he faces his past
a life filled with novel schemes
and fraudulent boasts
he kept a running tally of every mystery
it was nothing to joke about
he prepared for the real thing in light of fresh evidence
they knew nothing of his universe,
it landed with an awkward splash
things are better left unsaid

$137

Sanity is a Fluid
By Rae Trujillo
Pleasant Hill, California: rae's of sun, 2008. Edition of 6.

5.5 x 7.75"; 9 pages. Accordion structure. Original Cyanotypes.

Rae Trujillo: "The pictures of women are from a 1923 high school yearbook layered with machinery diagrams from 1896. I wrote the poem. I find this book speaks about many issues concerning mental health or aging. But, of course, people will read there own experiences into the images and words."
$227 (Two copies remaining)

HETERONYM
By Rae Trujillo
Pleasant Hill, California: rae's of sun, 2005. Edition of 12.

7 x 4.25"; 15 pages (single sided, verso blank). Covers are aged golden suede boards with a pattern of dictionary symbols and words.

A book of heteronyms, words "spelled like another but differing in sound and sense." The pages are made from an old dictionary. Attached to each page is a french-door fold with a heteronym printed on each "door" exterior. When opened two sentences appear: "The sow suckled her newborn piglets" is paired with "The farmer will sow oats in the back forty."
$120

The Blind Men and the Elephant
The Indian legend as a poem by
John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887)
book design by Rae Trujillo
Pleasant Hill, California: rae's of sun, 2009. Edition of 9.

4.25 x 4.25"; 18 pages. Two books – a codex of Saxe's poem and a maze book of an elephant – held together by a wraparound tie.

Rae Trujillo: "This book reminds me of politics and the trouble we're in. The maze book shows only a part of the elephant at any given time. You have to work to see the big picture, but when you do, it is worth it."
$137

Dreaming Big
By Rae Trujillo
Pleasant Hill, California: rae's of sun, 2009. Edition of 10.

7.25 x 6.5"; 7 leaves. Images hand stenciled on to painted sheet music, then glued on to red Mi Tienes paper. Text typed using "Veronica," the ol' typewriter. Bound using Claire van Vliet's Aunt Sallies Lament structure with strips of brown Mi Tienes paper. Covers of museum matt board covered with fabric and suede.

Rae Trujillo: "Dreaming Big is the tale of a chicken who dreams of playing the honky-tonk piano. Everyone should have dreams, some even come true."
$137

Dances With Wolves
By Rae Trujillo
Pleasant Hill, California: rae's of sun, 2005. Edition of 30.

8 x 6.5", seven leaves made with handmade papers. Illustrations made from handcarved rubber stamps. Binding is waxed linen thread and heise beads.

A delightful presentation of paw prints duplicating dance instructions for six dances from the Rhumba to the Tango. Complete with numbered steps and directional arrows.
$85

A Birdcage in a Hardware Shop
By Rae Trujillo
Pleasant Hill, California: rae's of sun, 2009. Edition of 10.

2 x 3.25"; 5 unnumbered pages. Accordion fold. Pages shaped to resemble a birdcage using wire binding and silver tone beads. Parrot postage stamps tipped onto Duralar.

Rae Trujillo: "The wire edge echoes the birdcage and the postage stamp images remind me of simpler times like the old fashion hardware store."
(SOLD)

Rorschach's Animals
By Rae Trujillo
Pleasant Hill, California: rae's of sun, 2009. Edition of 8.

5 x 2.75"; 20 pages. Made to resemble a box of Animal Crackers with string handle. Each spread contains on the left page (the recto) silhouettes of elephants and on the right page (the verso) ink blots (which may or may not resemble an animal).

Rae Trujillo: "I had been holding on to a bunch of animal cracker boxes for ages. I thought, someday I will do something with them. Well, someday came and went. Enjoy the book with a couple of cookies and a glass of milk. It won't make you crazy."
(SOLD)

Shakespeare
By Rae Trujillo
Pleasant Hill, California: rae's of sun, 2007. Edition of 10.

3.2 x 3.2" accordion book with four panels. Red leather exterior.

Each panel alludes to an instance of 20th-century censorship of a Shakespearean play: e.g. Twelfth Night “Banned in 1996 / Merrimack, New Hampshire / ‘Prohibition of Alternative / Lifestyle Instructions’”
(SOLD)