Plywood, canvas, seashells, acrylic gesso, and acrylic paint

6 x 4 x 1.25 inches (closed), 6 x 8.25 x 0.5-0.75 inches (open)

I make lots of paintings on small blocks of wood.

I like that they can be held, and that people enjoy holding them, but they generally lack an inherent reason to be handled.

Museums have trained us well not to touch the paintings, many of which are fancy, precious, and delicate.

Painting as book, though, begins to signal to the viewer how to have a tactile engagement with a painting whose presence is understood through

smoothness, texture, density, warmth, and sound as much as through imagery.