fernwerks press ~ Minnesota
(Wendy Fernstrum)

O Drop
By Mevlana Jaluddin Rumi
2005. Edition of 80.

2.75 x 3.75" letterpress printed by Wendy Fernstrum while artist-in-residence at Minnesota Center for Book Arts on a Vandercook 219, using photopolymer plates. Typeface is Caslon adapted for use with photopolymer plates. Inside pages are BFK Rives (white). Outside paper is Hazuki Unruyu along the spine and Wave paper on the covers.

A fine press edition of a poem by mystic poet Mevlana Jaluddin Rumi (affectionately known as "Rumi" in the West). "O Drop" appears in Rumi's Mathnawai, a mystical epic in six volumes.
$45

Household Objects:
A Mix 'n' Match Project for both sides of the brain
By Wendy Fernstrum
2002. Edition of 500.

Fourteen individual "flash cards" printed on both sides. Text composed in Courier. Drawings and poems by Fernstrum.

Standard edition packaged in 8.25 x 6.25" Ziploc baggie. Deluxe edition housed in 7" square Tupperware container with orange household rubber gloves.

Wendy Fernstrum: "Fourteen cards for the left brain: Prose poems that describe the character of the household objects I’ve drawn. I set neither the objects nor the drawings in front of me while I wrote. Instead, I thought about my relationship with the object and considered what the object represents in the household, beyond its utilitarian purpose. Each blind contour drawing (numbered 1 through 14) corresponds with a prose poem (labeled A through N). Use both sides of your brain to match them and identify common household objects."

                                                              [K]

              You don’t fool me. I see the way you eye wrinkles on my skin,
              making plans even as you huff
              and puff your dragon’s breath
              on splayed out creases
              and folds. Hotheaded, jealous,
              you redirect your unrelenting venting when my attention wanders, searing allegiance into me with an angry version of               a hickey. Have I never come back for more? Drawn by your heat, I marvel at your sensitivity to different materials:               bossy with cotton, sly with silk. You always get your way.

Standard edition $25
Deluxe edition $40

Literary Essences
By Wendy Fernstrum
2000. Edition of 25.

11.5 x 9.5 x 1.5" handmade clamshell box covered with Japanese bookbinding fabric. Includes a set of 26 essence vials, 26 diagnostic cards, a hand-bound guidebook for using the essences, a set of index cards, and a pair of tweezers.

Part spoof of our self-help here’s-a-pill world, part demonstration of a heartfelt belief of the efficacy of literature. This book, according to the artist, is a step by step guide to the use of literary essences as natural heath remedies for emotional and spiritual well-being. Open the box, and find 26 vials of literary essence. Each vial contains lozenge-sized circles (allegedly punched from pages of 26 works of literature) in a solution that captures the precise and particular odor of that work. (Leaves of Grass is easy. And perhaps The Hobbit. But the smell of Beckett’s Westward Ho?)

Each essence – hence, each book – cures, alleviates, or engages certain feelings, symptoms, or conditions. The index cards tell you exactly what. Directions call for the ingestion of 4 paper circles to commence the healing. In a private communication, the artist cautions: “NEVER – I repeat NEVER – handle essences with your bare hands! Their potency will be diminished.”

Wendy Fernstrum: "Flower essences are herbal infusions used as natural remedies for mind-body wellness. Literary Essences plays with the idea of literature as an elixir, a ‘you are what you read’ approach to wellness.

“Inside the clamshell box are essential tools for using essences of literature. Each vial contains the punched-out holes of pages from a copy of the book identified on the label, along with a scent. The guidebook answers important questions such as, 'What if I take the wrong literary essence or too much of the correct one?' A set of diagnostic cards identifies the 'positive qualities' and 'patterns of imbalance' associated with each book. A pair of tweezers assists in the extraction of an essence from the vials.”

“One way to approach Literary Essences is to find among the vials a book you’ve read. Locate its matching diagnostic card to learn how that book may have helped you. Then unscrew the cap of the vial to see if the scent corresponds with your memory of the book…..”

“Another approach would be to use the guidebook and the diagnostic cards to identify a book you don’t know, but should. For example, if you long for less longing, you might try Samuel Beckett’s Worstward Ho. Do you worry that something bad may happen but you’re not sure what? Grace Paley’s Later the Same Day may be of assistance. Case studies show that reading the book while taking the essence helps to instigate a positive emotional shift.”

As they say in the South, “This is a hoot with a little owl behind it.”
$1,200

Homage to Trees
Wendy Fernstrum
Minneapolis, MN: 1997. Edition of 50.

Comprised of five letterpress books, each 3 x 4.125" housed on or within a box measuring 10 x 13.5". The text pages of each book were printed on a sheet of Zerkall Nideggan paper which was then cut into two strips, folded into an accordion booklet, and the one end of each glued together. The ends of this booklet are then slipped into a non-adhesive cover comprised of two boards and five sheets of paper. The type was set in 11 pt. and 14 pt. Bembo, 12 pt. Narrow Bembo Condensed Italic, with ornaments along the top of each page. Type composition by Michael Bixler. Printed on a Vandercook #219 Press at Minnesota Center for Book Arts .

Wendy Fernstrum: "Homage to Trees is an artist book revealing unusual relationships between humans and trees. Trees are sacred. They are more than just resources for physical comfort or aesthetic beauty. In this series of books I describe rituals and traditions in which people approach trees for metaphysical gifts such as wisdom, transformation, health, and fertility….

"Each book references many examples of specific relationships between humans and trees. In the first book, the reader learns about the healing properties of trees. In the second book, the reader finds information about trees as cosmological symbols and links between metaphysical planes in many different religions. The third book describes cultures which revered trees in
fertility rites. The fourth book talks about cultures which regarded trees as sources of wisdom. And in the fifth book, the reader learns how trees reveal the secrets of transformation.

"'Homage to Trees' encourages readers to explore a holistic and rewarding relationship with trees….As an artist who relies greatly upon paper to translate concepts into form, I am well aware of the fact that we cannot live without consuming resources. We can, however, learn to use our resources wisely. Part of that knowledge is based on cultivating a respectful relationship with nature and, specifically, with trees. This project is my homage to trees, thanking them for all they provide both physically and spiritually, and my vehicle for sharing what I have begun to learn by listening to trees."

Added note from Fernstrum: "Special thanks to Nathaniel Altman, whose book 'Sacred Trees' was an invaluable source of information and inspiration."
$750