The next step was to add random texture using several Seth Apter stamps in black ink. I also rubbed the edges with an umber ink pad and used that to create a bit of a dark halo on the edges of each side of each house. An op-Ed in the “Failing” NYTimes on April 12, Plague Season, Through the Eyes of Writers By Dwight Garner offered a series of quotations from writers about different elements of pandemics. Several of these quotes made their way into this book on the architectural side. For the other side I sought out quotes that were more related to the themes I believe are important in this strange time we find ourselves in. I wrote these out with a thin white gel marker. Because the marker was not waterproof I sprayed a gloss varnish to seal the houses.
My original intent was to bind the houses together as an accordion book, but after punching very small houses and attempting a few ways of sewing the hinges I was not happy with the process. So out came the washi tape. I left a small gap between houses for the fold to work in both directions and wrapped the washi tape around both sides. The white and black was too strong so I gave the tape a coat of quinancridone nickel azo gold, and wiped off some of it.
And here is my village of plague houses that might have come from a medieval illuminated book but unfortunately serves as my current pandemic chronicle.
