Unique artist’s book, hand painted and hand lettered on handmade paper mounted on foam core board which is backed with Ugandan bark cloth, signed and dated by the artist on the front cover, Elizabeth McKee. Page size: 22 inches wide x 37 inches high x 10 inches deep; opens to 33 feet long when displaying all pages and weights 70 pounds; 9pp. Bound by the artist: hinged pages backed with Ugandan bark cloth that fold up on one another and close with plastic clips covered with polymer clay and wood “arrow” covered with polymer clay threading through loops to fasten, two hinged openings on front panel opening to hand-lettered title in one and hand-lettered names of author and artist and date, hinges are of Tyvek covered with bark cloth; housed in custom-made blue case (weighing 60 pounds) by Cabbage Cases.

Michael Roberts (1902-1948) was born William Edward Roberts and made his living as a teacher. However, he also worked as a broadcaster for the BBC, edited, and wrote poetry. ASSAULT OF ANGELS is his most well-known verse and was included in the FABER BOOK OF MODERN VERSE, which he also edited. His troubling verse touches on the dual nature of life – fear and hate as well as love and joy and death. He died prematurely, from leukemia, at age 46 leaving behind his verse, and the FABER BOOK OF MODERN VERSE, as well as a legacy of a pioneering ecologist years before it was fashionable.

The artist, Elizabeth McKee, relates that she read the resonating lines, “A time comes when the house is comfortable and narrow” when contemplating a move from the relative comfort of her home in Canada to accompany her husband, working for UNICEF, to Bangladesh. Work on this monumental book started in Kenya in 1998-1999; continued in Uganda from 1999-2000, and finished in Maryland, 2000-2003. The author relates that she could not find a visual translation of the line, “Angels are at your door: admit them now” until after 9/11 – when she picked up her brush and finished her images in this book as her intuitive response to that event.

The painting in acrylic and gesso was accomplished with the artist’s left hand – her non-dominant hand. The lettering was done with her right and. In the process, she wore out her two-inch Isabey Chungking brush. The paintings are gluded with acid-free glue (carragheenan, methylcellulose and Elvace) to acid-free foam core board and mat board for front and back covers. The boards were then hinged together with Tyvek strips covered with bark cloth. The Ugandan bark cloth is made from the bark of the ficus natelensis, the most common fig tree in Uganda. This cloth has been used for clothing as well as wall hangings. To make it, the tree is stripped of its bark. The bark is then wrapped in green banana fiber, soaked in water and then steamed over a charcoal fire – which softens it. To further soften it, it is laid out and pounded with mallets – sometimes to six times its original width and a quarter times its length. The cloth is then dried in the sun, taking on its rich brown color. The stripped tree begins to form a new bark within ten days and the stripping process may be repeated thirty to forty times on one tree.

The artist has created an enormous book which is actually a series of 20 double-page (44 x 37 inches opened) paintings with words that interpret the monumental scale of Roberts’ words. The beauty and boldness of the colors and forms – signaling the fantastic size and power of the unknown – is perfectly expressed. Against the backdrop of the cosmos, large angel wings can almost be heard beating, but the effect is not fear. Rather, it is awe.

Priscilla Juvelis