Stone Fence Press

Stone Fence Press ~ Ohio (Julie Friedman)

House shaped bookworks Reasons not to travel series

Tan Lines By Julie Friedman 2004. Edition of 6. 14.5 x 16” open; 5.25 x 4" closed with eight folded pages. Text computer generated and transferred to the paper with a solvent. Color images are made from a linocut (black outlines) with a five color monoprinted image below. Tan Lines is ready by slowly unfolding the structure and following the arrows (hand stamped icons) to each new page. When the book is totally unfolded an image of a sunbathing woman is totally exposed. The text tells the (funny) story of a woman (the artist) lured to the beach everyday but guilty about sun exposure. I know it's wrong to sit in the sun. I read the reports. I listen to the doctors' warnings. I really try to deny myself this guilty pleasure. I list all the bad thing that could happen. Sunburn Freckles Dry Skin Wrinkles Cancer! But then comes a day so perfect, so beautiful and warm . I just can't help myself, I have to go to the beach. But do I cover myself from head to toe? Wear a hat? Sit under an umbrella? Avoid the danger times between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.? Wear sunscreen with the number 45 on it? NO, I strip off all propriety and clothes. I slather on the sunscreen (a modest #30) put on a bikini and fall to the sand with wild abandon. Roast each side happily for 30 minutes or so before the guilt (and boredom) sets in. So I run home and peel off my suit, shower, moisturize and admire my tan lines. $250	Click image for more


Do You Wear Pajamas to Bed? A Questionnaire Includes a paper doll with a variety of sleepwear outfits! by Julie Friedman Medina, Ohio: Stone Fence Press, 2003. Edition of 10. 7 x 9"'; 23 pages. Front cover with slit to slip in paper doll with stand. Bound in bookcloth with silkscreen image on front cover. Alternating pages of the female paper doll with mylar image of some type of sleepwear with a question: Do you wear pajamas to bed? In the summer time? In the winter time? When sad and lonely? When you're not alone? Or do you wear nothing at all? $350	Click image for more


Shadow Play #1 By Julie Friedman Medina, Ohio: Stone Fence Press, 2003. Edition of 10. 8.5 x 11"; 2 leaves. Papercutting. Casebound. Bookcloth over boards with screenprint on front cover. This is the first in a series of artists' books by Friedman involving paper-cutting with suggestions of tree branches and utility poles. In 2007 she exhibited similar work. Steven Litt, Cleveland Plain Dealer Art Critic, "In Fine Lines": "Her interest in poles and wires also indicates a desire to find beauty in commonplace things most people would overlook or consider ugly. Julie Friedman's stark images of naked tree branches or utility poles silhouetted against the sky explore a wintry mood close to despair. ...Amid the gloom, Friedman's drawings draw attention to the skeletal structures of branches, poles and wires." $290	Click image for more


Ravishing the Garden By Julie Friedman Medina, Ohio: Stone Fence Press, 2002. Edition of 10. 6 x 7" tunnel book. Linoleum cuts. Julie Friedman: "I was struggling for an idea and my husband offered the thought that I should make something pertaining to my garden and love of gardening. So I designed a book about all the insects that will decimate a garden after all the hard work is put into it. I used the tunnel book form so that it created a stage set format and stressed the idea of looking through a smaller and smaller opening which would lead the eye into the interior space (could be looking down a wormhole or through branches of a bush). "I used very soft linoleum to carve all the images and tried to create fanciful and slightly threatening creatures of the garden. The leaves are drawn so they are positive images and 'whole' on the cover of the book and the leaves on the last page are carved and eaten away. Open the cover of the book and, like a cartoon, there are words to describe the action of the insects devouring the plants." $150	Click image for more


Future Plans or Secrets in the walls By Julie Friedman Medina, Ohio: Stone Fence Press, 1990. 6.5 x 8.5"; 4 double-spread pages with 4 pocket pages. Stitched dos-à-dos binding with 2 of the double-spread pages on each side of a common wall-page. The double-spreads are further attached by a floor paper that folds interiorly when the spread is closed. Bound into wooden house shaped frame and laid into wooden house-shaped container. One book of the dos-a-dos contains architectural terms: adobe, arch, dome, wall, floor; the other deals with what goes on within the walls: heart, peace, laughter, sex. $250	Click image for more


Waiting By Julie Friedman 2002. One-of-a-Kind. 20.5 x 5" closed. Pop out structure with paper cutting. Boards in heavy cream colored paper with a subtle cream color silhouette of houses and trees. Opens by standing the piece on a flat surface and pulling open the covers. Cream paper cut, folded and slotted to create the pop up/out effect. Images include a house, trees, windows, and a two people. A voyeuristic effect of peeking through windows. A contrast of open and shut; of light and dark; of man and nature. $475	Click image for more


Julie Friedman: "As an undergraduate, an interest in the architectural form began with a degree in Interior Design and continued during the process of working on a BFA. I liked to drive through older neighborhoods taking photos of houses that I would never live in. In big cities I would gaze up [at] the facades of old tenements and wonder about its history. Then I created images of houses and other building structures in etchings and monotypes. "I began to create books in the shape of houses that became a metaphor and a symbol for all the angst and anxiety I was feeling at the time. A long distance relationship, the building of my 'real' home and the student housing I was condemned to live in were all grist for the process of creating books. I spent a good many years using this childish symbol/shape to represent the many ideas I explored on living in society with the ones I love. This repeated motif of the simple house shape was used in books I created throughout the 1990's. My work was a constant dialogue with the stimuli of my life."

Bed Time Stories Part Two By Julie Friedman Medina, Ohio: Stone Fence Press, 1996. One-of-a-kind. 9 x 12" closed, 18 x 12" open; house-shaped triptych. Middle panel 9 x 12"; two side panels 4.5 x 12". Paper-covered wooden panels. Two side panels hinged to middle panel and can be closed over the middle panel and secured with metal hinge closure. Colophon: "The content of this book was taken from The Pattern Language by Christopher Alexander. It is a book I admire and have used many times before." Conceive of a house for a couple as being made up of two kinds of places - a shared couple's realm and individual private worlds ... $375	Click image for more


Privacy By Julie Friedman Medina, Ohio: Stone Fence Press, 1996. One-of-a-Kind. 5.5 x 8.75" closed, 20 x 8.75" extended; double-sided accordion of four paper-covered wooden panels hinged with leather. In a small household shared by two the most important problem which arises is the possibility that each may have little opportunity for solitude and privacy. $275	Click image for more



A series of books, currently five, on Reasons Not to Travel. Julie Friedman illustrates all the things that can go wrong when one leaves a familiar environment. Each book has a different structure but the same humorous content. Friedman says, “Each time I think that there are no more reasons not to travel I come up with some more. Hopefully, you get the joke. I Love to travel, and try to as often as possible, but my dear husband is a reluctant traveler. These books feed his worst nightmares.”

Reasons Not To Travel Part 2 By Julie Friedman 2001. Edition of 25. 4.75 x 35.5" open. Accordion fold structure. Bound in black book cloth. Endpapers zeroxed images of a map of England. Linocuts and rubber stamps used for text and image. $250 Got no money Can't speak the language Who will feed the kids? Can watch it on TV	Click image for more


Reasons Not To Travel Part Three By Julie Friedman Medina, Ohio: Stone Fence Press, 2003. Edition of 10. 5.75 x 12" closed, extends to 20.75”. Accordion structure of 4 panels, each panel covered with linocuts. The first and last panels attached to the hand-painted boards. Book three in Friedman's tongue-in-cheek series on reasons not to travel. Crowded plane Lost luggage Crazy taxi rides Reservations – Nope! Small rooms And so expensive $290	Click image for more


Reasons Not To Travel Part Four By Julie Friedman 2003. Edition of 10. 6 x 84" open. Covered in green and white striped decorative paper. Accordion fold structure. Text produced using a paper lithography transfer technique. $375 Is this why You won't come with me on my travels please come	Click image for more


Reasons Not To Travel: Part Five By Julie Friedman 2004. Edition of 10. 8.5 x 8.5"; 9 pages. Black and white striped decorative paper with adhered dye cut of the Leaning Tower of Pisa on front cover. Text produced by a method called paper litho transfer in which a Xerox is made, then rolled with a solution of ink and gum Arabic, and printed onto paper. Five linocuts. $375 Traveling can be such a harrowing experience these days — long lines, expensive gas, security checks. Why do I even want to go away? It must be the food! Ok, so you finally arrive at your destination. It may be five hours later than you expected but you won't complain. No time to rest. Get out and see the sights. Go to the restaurants, museums and stores. Oh the stores! Wonderful chocolate shops and cheeses, books, leather, dresses, shoes, art, music, blah, blah, blah Walk a lot Is it time to go home yet?	Click image for more

Page last update: 02.27.11