FOJ: Friends of Jody

My email had a double dip of good news this afternoon. Together with MCBA, the St. Paul Library's Minnesota Book Awards has inaugurated an award for a Minnesota Book Artist. Minnesota has such a rich book culture and a lively book arts community that this new award makes great sense.
The best-est news however (a favored adjective of my niece, which is sometimes highly appropriate) is that well-loved and talented artist Jody Williams has been given the inaugural award.
To say that Jody works in miniature is a gross understatement. "Two Hundred Specimens" (above) measures 10" x 10" x 3" (that's inches) and contains over 200 specimens from a residency in Ireland. It also includes a lovely book of her poems and botanical drawings from the trip. Take a moment to look at the drawers and shelves in this cabinet. Somewhere along my own journey of understanding good book art, I realized that success comes when you can integrate text, visual imagery and structure. Jody is one of the few artists who always meets that criteria.
You might have a tendency to believe that someone who works that small is all wound up and not much fun. Jody's work is certainly detailed and beautifully done, but she is also a wonderful person to share a mid-summer gin & tonic with or vent to on some minor but irritating flaw in the universe.
Her sense of humor shows up in her work as well. "Condensed Creatures" (above) is an accordion book (sized at 1.5"x 1.5"x 1.5") that lays out the unusual characteristics of an imaginary set of animals...in alphabetical order, of course. For a few years, she published "The Diminutive Digest," a compendium of all things small. The boxed set of 10 is a treasure.
As much as I admire Jody's art, I also love what a generous teacher she is. On the faculty at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design, she has a loyal and devoted following of students. At MCBA, her following is just as devoted, if not a bit older. I'm only sorry that I've taken all of her classes ("Box-making made simple," "Box-making made hard" and "Extreme box-making") as they always pushed me to the next level in my own work.
I'm so happy that she's been chosen for this award. I know no one who deserves it more!