ELIZABETH RYLAND MEARS

Description of the collaborative process with my daughter,
L. Lindsey Mears

The process spans many months.

It begins with the two of us in conversation about the time frame in which we are
each available to work on this series. We are individually occupied creating our
own bodies of work--I with glass and Lindsey with book arts and print making--
so our available time to work together is limited. Once we have agreed on a time frame, we brainstorm about the types of glass books and how many we wish to make.

We then work separately. I make the glass pages and prepare them for sand-
blast etching. If the color scheme has been determined I can proceed and make
the flameworked twigs which form either the spines of the books or connectors for individual pages. These glass twigs are then colored and sandblasted. In the meantime, Lindsey writes the poetry, selects images from her vast number of personal photography negatives, and prepares any photo resist which will be
used in transferring text and/or images to the glass.

After the individual preparations, we work together. She usually comes to my
studio for some period of time. It is there that she positions the frisket on the glass prior to my sandblast etching. This is followed by Lindsey applying the images to the glass either in my studio or hers (we use one of several different techniques for this purpose); sometimes we work on this step together. At this point the glass comes back to my studio where I do all the finishing steps of assembly.

Through the entire collaboration we communicate our feelings, thoughts, desires, etc. about what is happening in this creative process. Neither of us tries to control, rather we each give up control of some aspects to the other--that is the wonderful gift of working with someone who is your creative peer and partner. We have had a unique ability of mutual communication and understanding since she was a tiny little girl. Lindsey has always had a wisdom which I greatly respect, and, now that she has come to know me in a capacity other than mother, I believe she feels the same.

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