Dear ,
I hope you’ve had a good start to the year. I’m currently in the UAE where I’m teaching about natural materials, so have mercifully escaped Britain’s current freeze.
This first newsletter of 2024 features a new artist book that I feel strongly about, and is showing signs of a different way of working. But in this month of beginnings, I must also announce an ending: after ten years of working in a dedicated art space, I am closing my studio.
The outer reason is that the cost of living crisis, inflation and shrinking of the art market have made it impossible to sustain the expense. I’m simply not making that kind of money. But there’s a deeper reason, which is that I’m ready for changes in my practice, and being shackled to the location and costs of a studio has been holding me back.
The work will continue in the limited space of my home for now. But I face the headache of storing a lot of old work and I would really rather not. So I’m having an exceptional sale on much of my available artwork. Please download this pdf to see the pieces on sale, and discounts offered. If you’ve previously loved works I made but they weren’t within budget, get in touch to discuss and please don’t be shy about it. I’d rather find homes for these old pieces than have to destroy them.
Even if you’re not looking to buy art, please feel free to pass the PDF around, or this newsletter; the more people see this before mid-March, the better.
There are other ways you can support me in this transition if you feel so inclined:
Take out a paid subscription on my Substack (more informative) or my Patreon (more personal);
Shop for small-scale art, books, supplies or greeting cards on majnouna.com;
Shop for art prints in my Redbubble shop;
Save the date of March 9 and 10: I’m thinking of holding an open studio for my last weekend in the space, for a last chance to look at work in person, with small items to sell and also freebies. I'll have to confirm and send details next month.
From March I’ll be open for freelance illustration work again and misc commissions, contract work, possibly even part-time, so keep me in mind if you need or know of anything.
I’m going to be away for much of February so won’t be able to dispatch anything until I return; thank you for understanding! I’ll communicate as best I can until then.
Till next month, I hope you’re keeping warm,
Joumana
Lately on Caravanserai:
Jan 2: New Year, New eyes
(All posts are free to read for 4 weeks before they become reserved for paid subscribers.)
Anthropocene, Book I. Mineral pigments on paper, hand-cut and coptic-bound with linen thread. Cover: Painted paper and olive-waste “leather”. 13x18 cm closed, 26x18 cm open.
This portable manuscript recounts the six days of Creation as written in the Book of Genesis. But holes soon begin to appear in the pages and then multiply, making the text increasingly difficult to read. These lacunae are in fact the silhouettes of extinct animal species, wiped out by human activity within my own lifetime. Their absence undermines the meaning and integrity of the text: By punching holes in the web of life, we are destroying something sacred, the original Book of Creation, without which all our scriptures are meaningless.
The title (“Book I”) suggests, however, that this story isn’t over. The next book remains to be written. What will we make of it?
More pictures and information on majnouna.com.
The original book is available to buy, as are pre-orders for a limited edition of 10 reproductions that will be available in late February.
I am teaching Manuscript Kufi again at the Arab British Centre in London. We’ll have a Zoom introduction in the evening of Feb 29, followed by a weekend in-person at the ABC on March 2-3.