| Title | Bold Heart |
| Artist / Creator | Laura Russell |
| Press Name | Simply Books, Ltd. |
| Place of Publication | Portland, OR |
| Publication Date | 2016 |
| Contributors | Hanna Bronz, Model |
| Process / Technique | Archival digital pigment prints |
| Structure / Binding | Carousel book |
| Paper Stock | Interior: Red River Polar Matte, Covers: Handmade Walnut Paper by Andrea Peterson |
| Number of Pages | 5 panels |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 4 x 6 x 1 inches closed. Extends out to 26 inches. |
| Edition Size | Edition of 25 |
| Box / Wrapper | Bristol wrapper |
| Signed & Numbered | Signed and numbered |
Bold Heart by Laura Russell
Bold Heart is the second in a series of books about Diana, the Goddess of Hunting—or more precisely, the Modern Day Diana. In this book, my 15-year-old niece poses as Diana (aka Artemis). Photographs of Hanna posing as Diana with her bow and arrows and her prey are paired with photographs of deer hidden in the woods.
Diana was not only the Goddess of Hunting, but she was also the protectress of teenage girls, making Hanna the perfect model. Diana cherished the traits that made her a strong, independent woman. Forever young, she defended untamed nature, high mountains and sacred woods. She was also a protector of women and childbirth and the Goddess of the Moon.
The text featured in this book comes from the Homeric Hymn 27 to Artemis (trans. Evelyn-White) a Greek epic C7th to 4th B.C. In that poem Homer calls her a “goddess with a bold heart.”
Artist Bio
Laura Russell is a photographer and book artist who creates hand-bound, limited-edition artist books that incorporate photographs of our urban landscape and tell a story about our culture and our communities. She has participated in national and international book arts and fine art exhibitions. Her books are collected by individual collectors and are in major collections at museums, libraries, universities and corporations. Laura is also the founder of 23 Sandy Gallery, a fine art gallery in Portland, 2007-2020, which is now owned and operated by Erin Mickelson.
Artist Statement
My goal as an artist is to open our minds to the visual and graphic landscape we look at every day but never really see. If we pay attention, we find that our urban landscape has a story to tell about our culture and our communities. For many years I have photographed vintage neon signs, brick wall ghost signs, graffiti and other examples of language and graphics in our environment. Recently, I have since expanded my photography to our urban social landscape. I use these photographs to create limited edition, hand-bound artist books that are at once a celebration of the vernacular and my own small effort to preserve our social, cultural and commercial landscape.