Cynthia Gipple
St. Paul , MN
sites.google.com/view/cynthiagipple

Ripple, Lake Observations and Reflections
2022-2023
Watercolors, ink, Burga, Rives BFK, Basis paper, Suminagashi ink on fabric, book board, cotton and linen thread
28″x28″”x10″

I make one-of-a-kind Artists’ Books, prints, shadow boxes, and paper basket vessels. I use traditional knit, knot, sew, coil, stitch, print, paint, and spin, hand techniques.

My projects are inspired by found and reused materials, woods, forests and waterways, architecture, memories, and stories.

I grew up on a small lake. As a young person, I had mentors who supported and expanded my interests in traditional crafts, the natural world, object making like snowshoes and a potter’s wheel, art and print making projects.

I’ve worked as an intern architect, a librarian, and educator. Teaching in Youth Programs at Minnesota Center for Book Arts (MCBA), and completing my MCBA certificate in paper, print and binding, were significant influences in solidified the joining of paper architecture and the book in my work.

Ripple began with painting small watercolors and writing poems near Minnesota waterways. As my collection of the 240 pages grew, I started to think about securing them in an accordion spine. The spine became the structure of this ripple object. Like a ripple, this project grew from the center as a single page, and outward to structure, then container, and on to an object that reflects the whole.

I also work as the handler in a dog therapy team. Winnie and I visit reluctant readers and people in the hospice setting.