Above: poster for the gate to my studio.
Silicon Valley Open Studios is coming up fast. We will be open all three weekends, May 5 & 6, 12 & 13, 19& 20, 11am to 5. It's a fun event, but fraught with stress for me. I always laugh at the idea that the hostess is supposed to make everything look effortless. Where do we get these ideas? I suspect they come from a time when middle class people could afford to hire "help." Or they wanted to give the impression that they didn't really do the hard work, even if they did. My assumed expectations can be an onerous thing. The entirely genial Zymoglyphic Museum will be open to the public on the same days. Together we bill ourselves as "Studio 19," which qualifies us as a group in the Open Studios catalog.
Above: parts for Spirits Under Glass
Here are my plans for the next 8 days: Friday and Saturday I will try to get some more work done on my current project, Spirits Under Glass, the book that holds the Zymo 127 photos. Sunday is World Wide Pinhole Photography Day, an event I cannot miss. Then I will spend the week getting ready for Open Studios. I have notes from previous years, and will use them to make a to-do list, in order of priority. It includes: clear off the big work table, set up the display, check the tags, make new tags if needed, clear off the shelves where I like to show some of my collections. This year I also need to hang another light, hang new prayer flags outside, and find my old jewelry work. I also want to make some more small books, like Bird Life. Oh, and I want to prepare a demo or two. The sign for the gate is already prepared, and I bought boards for a bigger display. Inevitably I am in the middle of a project that I will have to set aside. I try to make complete notes for finishing and store all the parts, tests, samples, sketches, in one box.
Above: filing the back for Spirits Under Glass.
I love seeing the mess in other artist's studios, so I don't clean up completely, or cover my storage with black sheets. Depending on how my time goes, you may see my metalworking area looking extremely messy.
The demos I have in mind are simple wire-edge binding and making pinholes (for pinhole cameras). If I forget to do the demo, *Please* remind me. I'm not always aware of the time. I'll probably take a poll on the day. I can always show you how to use a jeweler's saw if you ask. Or if you want to see a particular demo, email me at art at judithhoffman dot net and let me know. Demos are usually about 15 minutes.
There is an old-fashioned map here and a digital map on my Open Studios page. I hope you can come by.
Spirits Under Glass ©2012, 10.75 x 8.25 x 1.25 inches. Davey board, Arches cover, acrylics, brass with heat patinas, beveled glass, 23 photos printed with archival inks, varnished. Bound with brass screw posts that have decorative brass heads soldered on. Book created to hold the photos taken with the handmade Zymo 127 pinhole camera in the Zymoglyphic Museum. The camera takes 127 format film, cut down from 120.
On the left: The entrance to the Underworld. Right: A Creature made entirely of bones.
In 2006, during a family "art camp," I started taking photos with matchbox pinhole cameras. This eventually led to making my own cameras, taking photos with them, and making books to contain the photos. Early on, while I was playing with the matchbox pinhole cameras, considering them a motivating "hobby" rather than an art project, I took some photos in one of Jim's Zymoglyphic Museum dioramas.
These photos were so atmospheric I started trying to get Jim to make pinhole cameras and take photos. He did try some black and white film photos during one of our family "art camps." But he didn't enjoy the process. Later when I started making cameras and began to consider them as serious projects, I set up small scenes on my work table to photograph. Finally I decided to make my own Zymo cam and take the photos I thought needed to be taken in Jim's museum. That is this project, which may actually be almost completed.
This was my Dad's. At this point I don't know how much information in here is useful, but it's been an inspiration for my artist's books for years. You can see by the white paint splatters on the cover that it has been lying around on my work table a lot.
Isn't it amazing what casual exposure from our childhoods can do? I love the dials and interactive quality of this little book.
You can see more pages in my flickr set, 
I have been working on several books. One, titled Spirits Under Glass, was done last week. There were so many interesting metal scraps on my work table, left over from a variety of projects, I decided to make an all-metal book with some of them. Here is a selection of left-over parts that will possibly become another book after I take some photos of the two finished books. There is a larger panorama on 
One of my books is on the cover of the 
A visitor this afternoon took a photo of me with 
Photos of 