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Syracuse University Library – Special Collections Research Center

Bears

Bertha Rogers, Delhi, NY

Bears is a one-of-a-kind book in a box. The box is made of imitation suede with tied corners, centered by an iconographic mixed media work of a bear and a bird. The box is embellished with imitation gemstones. The book within the box is 80 pages long, the paper being Thai mulberry papers and Japanese papers. Each page is separated by a vellum divider. The book is a sequence of four poems by the artist, each with bears as the subject. Each sequence includes at least two illuminations created from India ink, watercolors, gilt leaf, pastel, pencil, and acrylic. The text is printed in Arrus Bold Type, Roman, Lucida Handwriting, and Arial, all Adobe Pagemaker 6.5 and True Type fonts, on Epson 7460 Inkjet and Epson 1280 Inkjet printers. I began the book in 1999 and completed it in 2005.

Bertha Rogers has served as project director of "Five Historic Dolls" for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, NYC/Strong Museum, Rochester, NY and is the founding executive director of Bright Hill. Her awards include a Ludwig Vogelstein fellowship for her exhibit "Even the Hemlock" and its accompanying book/catalog; several NYSCA and NYFA grants, an A. E. Ventures Fellowship for excellence in and contributions to her field, and residence fellowships to many artists' colonies. Her translation, with her own illustrations, of Beowulf, the Anglo-Saxon epic, was published, in a hand set type edition, by Birch Brook Press in 2000; Three Conditions Press published her chapbook A House of Corners in 2000. For Girl Buried in the Peat Bog, Six Swans Artists Editions published her limited edition artist's book in 1999. She has created hundreds of artist's books and boxes and illuminated manuscripts. More than 250 of her poems have been published in journals and anthologies, and her visual art and book arts have been exhibited in more than 200 juried exhibits and solo shows throughout the US. She is also Poet Laureate of Delaware County, NY. More information about the artist can be found online at http://www.bertharogers.com.