| Title | Navy Corners |
| Artist / Creator | Judy ODell |
| Artist's Nationality | United States |
| Place of Publication | Laporte PA |
| Publication Date | 2024 |
| Author of Text | Judy O'Dell |
| Process / Technique | Letterpress |
| Structure / Binding | Stab bound |
| Medium / Materials | Pillowcases/ quilted sham for cover |
| Number of Pages | 10 |
| Dimensions (WxHxD) | 16 x 11 x 1.5 inches |
| Edition Size | Unique artist book |
| Signed & Numbered | Signed by the Artist (Unique) |
Navy Corners by Judy ODell
I learned to iron on pillowcases. My mother insisted that pillowcases must be ironed to “make the bed look fresh,” as she would say when I complained about the chore. When we visited her as adults, the beds in the guest room always had ironed pillowcases with crisp lines where they had been folded after ironing. I have continued the tradition. Moving the iron back and forth, I think of my husband’s smile when he sees the newly made bed, my family who will sleep on these when they visit, and, of course, my mother, who died six years ago at age 94. It is an unnecessary chore in the age of permanent press fabric, but it allows my mind to wander while my hands accomplish something. I was about to throw out some old pillowcases, then decided to use them to make a book honoring her ritual. Using phrases from some of my writing about her, I set type and ran the pillowcases through a letterpress. The cover is a quilted sham, and the book is stab-bound.
Artist Bio
Judy O’Dell is a visual artist and writer who has been photographing since she was eight years old. In 2020 she took her first photography workshop at Maine Media Workshops and she has played with analog black and white photography, alternative processes, large format, pinhole, plastic, digital and iPhone cameras and handmade books. She earned her MFA from Maine Media College in 2020. Her thesis project was Goose River Field Notes, a book of photographs and essays centered on the river that runs through her backyard, which was juried into the 2020 Davis Orton Gallery Photobook Show and exhibited online at the Griffin Museum. In 2023 she published Curley Visits Lake Mokoma, a book of photographs and nature writing to benefit a local Conservancy. In 2024 she published 30 Square Miles, a Zine to assist Citizens Against Residential Mining in Union, Maine. Her interests span geology, hydrology, physics, geomorphology, archeology, botany, weather, wildlife, history, and historic photographs and postcards. She explores and photographs from her homes in Rockport, Maine and the Pennsylvania mountains, using whatever camera suits her mood. Her essays capture the facts, observations, and memories triggered by being in these places. Her photographs are images of time, both past and present. She has exhibited work at The State Museum of Pennsylvania, Penn Tech College Gallery, Michael Good Gallery, Camden Maine Library, Pen Bay Medical Center, Praxis Gallery, Davis Orton Gallery, Griffin Museum, Maine Photography Show, Lenscratch, Onslow County, NC Arts Council, Montpelier Museum, Thomaston, ME, Prairie Village Museum, Rugby, ND, and Chestertown, MD Arts League. She has published several essays in Sageing and in the 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 editions of Goose River Anthology.